History > 2006 > USA > Gun violence (I)

5 Dead After Gunman

Opens Fire in a Church in Louisiana

May 22, 2006
The New York Times
By JEREMY ALFORD

BATON ROUGE, La., May 21 — A man opened fire inside the Ministry of Jesus Christ Church here during a Sunday morning service, killing four in-laws and wounding another before kidnapping his wife and killing her, law enforcement officials said.

The man, identified by the police as Anthony Bell of Baton Rouge, also abducted three of his children, including an infant, as the service was nearing its end, the police said. The children were later found unharmed.

Mr. Bell, 25, was charged with five counts of first-degree homicide and one count each of attempted first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping.

Resting his hands on his knees and shaking his head outside the church, a small metal-frame structure attached to a guitar shop, Chief Jeff Leduff of the Baton Rouge Police said: "When you start stacking up human life like this, it's sad. It's a sad day for the whole city."

Chief Leduff refused to release the names of the dead.

But Jeffery Howard, 47, of Baton Rouge, a church member, said his parents, Gloria and Leonard Howard, were among the dead.

Mr. Howard identified the suspect's slain wife as Erica Bell and said he was her godfather. He said the other two people killed were Deloris McGrew, Mr. Howard's aunt, and Darleen Mills, his cousin. Mr. Howard said the wounded woman was Claudia Brown, Ms. Bell's mother and the head pastor at the church.

"He killed some good people," Mr. Howard said as about 50 friends and relatives spilled out of his family's home into the yard. He added that the suspect "called my aunt before he did it and told her what he was going to do."

Mr. Howard said the shootings probably stemmed from domestic problems between the Bells.

"She was getting on with her life and wanted to keep worshiping and following God, and he just wanted to run on the streets," Mr. Howard said. "He was in and out of her life a lot."

He said Mr. Bell had problems keeping a job and often gambled.

Chief Leduff said Ms. Bell's body was found in a parked car at the Ardenwood Park Apartments, a few miles from the church. Mr. Bell was discovered nearby, he said, crying and holding the infant, and was taken into custody.

Chief Leduff said the other two children were apparently dropped off at another residence before Ms. Bell was killed. By evening, the three children who were abducted were sleeping at the Howard family home.

The church's members are mostly related, Mr. Howard said, and total membership numbers about 100. At an average Sunday service, 20 people might be in attendance, he said.

At the apartment complex, residents walked about holding children, swapping details — from grossly misleading to fairly accurate — and looking to the back of the parking lot where police officers lingered.

"Ain't nothing like this ever happened out here," said Tina Jones, 33, with her back to a window displaying a variety of religious regalia. "I mean, I let my kids play out here all the time."

Chief Leduff said it could take considerable time to confirm everyone's connections and to determine Mr. Bell's motives.

Mr. Howard said that Ms. Brown's condition was stable and that she was recovering at a local hospital.

    5 Dead After Gunman Opens Fire in a Church in Louisiana, NYT, 22.5.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/22/us/22church.html

Va. shooter's family offers condolences

Posted 5/19/2006 11:28 PM ET
USA Today

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — The parents of the teenage gunman who killed two law officers in a police station ambush offered their condolences Friday as well as a plea for improvements to Virginia's mental health services.

Brian and Margaret Kennedy said they doubted their 18-year-old son, Michael, knew his victims.

The family "suspects that Michael embarked on his actions of May 8 as a result of his deteriorating mental condition," the Kennedys said in a statement.

Michael Kennedy had a history of mental health problems and had recently escaped from a psychiatric center in Rockville, Md., where he faced carjacking and theft charges.

Although investigators have said they do not believe the Kennedys are criminally responsible for the actions of their son, police are hoping to gain insight from them into the reason for the ambush.

Michael Kennedy fired more than 70 rounds from a modified AK-47 assault rifle in the parking lot of the Sully District station before officers shot and killed him.

Since then, the family has been in seclusion, releasing only faxed statements through their attorney, Richard MacDowell.

Friday's statement offers sympathy and regret to the Garbarino family.

The Kennedys are "devastated that this tragedy has caused yet a new dimension of pain and sorrow," the statement reads.

Master Police Officer Michael E. Garbarino died Wednesday, eight days after the attack. His funeral is scheduled Saturday at the same church where Detective Vicky O. Armel, who died at the scene, was honored a week earlier.

    Va. shooter's family offers condolences, UT, 19.5.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-19-va-shooting_x.htm

US gun group wants ban on weapons seizures

Thu May 18, 2006 6:07 PM ET
Reuters
By John Rondy

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (Reuters) - The National Rifle Association launched a drive on Thursday to prevent police from confiscating legally owned guns during disasters ranging from hurricanes to a potential bird flu pandemic.

"The truth is there is no scenario in which lawful gun owners should agree that government can come into their homes and disarm them," Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the influential gun lobby group, told a news conference on the eve of its annual convention.

The group aired a video in which several New Orleans residents said their guns were taken by police in the turmoil after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city August 29.

The NRA dropped a lawsuit against New Orleans last month after the city agreed to return guns confiscated during Katrina's aftermath. Police Superintendent Warren Riley had said most of the 700 guns police obtained were taken not from legitimate gun owners but from empty homes to keep them out of the hands of looters.

LaPierre said the group would ask every mayor and police chief in the country to sign a pledge saying they will never forcibly disarm law-abiding citizens in their jurisdictions.

In addition, the group said it would seek state and federal legislation to make it a crime to take guns away from such citizens, with a penalty of immediate arrest and "hard prison time."

But Milwaukee Deputy Police Chief Brian O'Keefe disagreed.

"At the time in New Orleans there were reports of rescuers being shot at out on the street. It wasn't the law-abiding citizens that were out there firing at rescue workers," he told a news conference.

It would be a problem, he added "to say that we are not going to take a weapon from somebody that is out on the street when we are trying to clear an area, especially when an officer confronts him ... we are not going into people's homes to take guns ... it's a lot of hype," he said.

LaPierre said signing a pledge to not disarm citizens should be easy because mayors and police chiefs "have already sworn to support the U.S. Constitution in their oaths of office..."

The Constitution's Second Amendment states that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Chris Cox, of the group's Institute for Legislative Action, said legislation is needed because "Katrina blew a hole in the Constitution that'll hemorrhage until we stop it."

LaPierre said the changes are needed because "every day we're reminded that we face fearsome disasters. We're told that terrorist attack is inevitable. We're advised to store food and water. We're told to be prepared for bird flu pandemics, gas shortages, hurricanes, earthquakes and other tragedies ..."

"If you are packing 30 days worth of food and water, the people who don't have food and water will come for yours, and the robbers and the looters, and the bad people will come for you also, and you better be able to protect yourself," he added.

    US gun group wants ban on weapons seizures, R, 18.5.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-05-18T220736Z_01_N18241626_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-GUNS.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-U.S.+NewsNews-10

New York City sues 15 gun dealers

Mon May 15, 2006 3:43 PM ET
Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City sued 15 gun dealers from five states on Monday in what officials called the largest lawsuit of its kind to keep criminals from getting guns, and they blamed the federal government for not doing its job.

The city filed the suit in U.S. federal court after it launched an undercover sting operation that found dealers allowed convicted felons to buy guns through surrogates, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a news conference.

The dealers from Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia were targeted because of the large number of guns that have been traced back to them following crimes committed in New York City, officials said.

Bloomberg has chastised lawmakers for not tightening gun-control laws, and on Monday he blamed the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for not enforcing existing laws.

"To say ATF is asleep at the switch is an understatement," Bloomberg said.

The suit asks the U.S. federal court to halt illegal gun sales by the dealers, appoint a special officer to monitor the dealers and require them to submit to mandatory training.

The suit also seeks an unspecified amount of money to compensate New York City for its costs plus punitive damages to discourage other dealers from making questionable sales.

"These gun dealers are the worst of the worst," said John Feinblatt, the city's criminal justice coordinator.

Other cities have filed such lawsuits against individual gun dealers, but the New York suit is believed to be the first targeting a large number of dealers from several states, said Michael Cardozo, the city's top lawyer.

The city hired undercover private investigators who, in teams of two, attempted "straw purchasing," where a convicted felon or someone who does not want a gun traced to him will use a friend or family member to pass a background check. Then the gun gets handed over to the suspicious person.

Federal law bans gun dealers from selling when they suspect the gun is not for the person purporting to be the buyer.

Gun violence in New York City is up 9 percent over the past five years, and 497 people have been the victim of shootings this year, virtually unchanged from the same period a year ago, according to police department data. In 2004, 92 percent of guns used in New York City came from out of state.

    New York City sues 15 gun dealers, R, 15.5.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-05-15T194247Z_01_N15191422_RTRUKOC_0_US-ARMS-NEWYORK.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-U.S.+NewsNews-6

Mayor Gives Scorn to Guns, and Money to Their Allies        NYT        14.5.2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/nyregion/14bloomberg.html

Mayor Gives Scorn to Guns, and Money to Their Allies

May 14, 2006
The New York Times
By DIANE CARDWELL

A month ago over lunch at the Four Seasons, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg urged a crowd of wealthy political donors to stop giving to candidates who do not support the city's priorities in Washington, like more money to fight terrorism or for a direct rail link to Kennedy Airport.

But when it comes to controlling the gun trade, an issue Mr. Bloomberg has pushed to the top of the city's legislative agenda, he has not been following his own advice. An analysis of Federal Election Commission filings shows that in recent years he has mostly opened his overstuffed checkbook for pro-gun candidates, often contributing the maximum permitted by campaign finance rules.

According to the filings, which list donations above $200, of the 11 Congressional candidates to whom Mr. Bloomberg has made contributions since 2000, 7 received high marks from the political arm of the National Rifle Association, the country's chief gun lobby. And as recently as 2004, Mr. Bloomberg spread $10,000 among three Republican congressmen, John E. Sweeney and Vito J. Fossella of New York and Harold Rogers of Kentucky, none of whom received lower than an A- from the N.R.A. that year, meaning they had a solid record of siding with the pro-gun lobby.

And recently, just days before Mr. Bloomberg gave wallet-size cards to the wealthy donors as handy reminders of the city's needs for when fund-raisers came calling, Mr. Bloomberg sent Mr. Sweeney $4,200, again hitting the maximum donation allowed for the current election cycle.

Indeed, Mr. Bloomberg's financial support is not limited to individual contributions. Earlier this year, he was the host at a fund-raiser at his Upper East Side town house for Mr. Fossella, bringing in roughly $100,000, according to a spokesman for the congressman.

Mr. Bloomberg has never shied away from using his fortune to advance his agenda, including the $160 million he spent to gain and hold his office and the hundreds of thousands he funnels to nonprofit groups to ease the pain of his budget cuts. But the sharp contradiction between his political largess toward certain lawmakers in Washington and some of his recent policy priorities reflects the tricky course he must negotiate as he seeks to become an influential voice on national issues.

Aides to Mr. Bloomberg say that some of the lawmakers he has given to have been champions of the city's agenda in other areas, including transportation projects, money for AIDS programs or, most notably, domestic security. They say he has always used his money to enhance his influence among elected officials in a position to help the city.

"The mayor has said repeatedly that he will help elected officials who can help New York City, even though he may not agree with them on every issue," said Stu Loeser, Mr. Bloomberg's chief spokesman.

"The mayor tries to look beyond areas of disagreement to work with members of Congress who could distribute homeland security funds with risk-based criteria, or reverse cuts to federal housing subsidies, or fund the Lower Manhattan rail link, or otherwise lend influence where we need help from Washington."

But Mr. Bloomberg has become increasingly forceful in pushing the gun issue, particularly in Washington. And at the same time, he has been urging New York's abundant big-money donors to think about the city's priorities in choosing which politicians to support financially.

But in a Congress controlled by Republicans, the lawmakers whom Mr. Bloomberg must depend on to push the city's agenda are sometimes simultaneously working against his priorities in other areas.

In the view of Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the N.R.A., this is because Mr. Bloomberg's positions on gun control are out of step with the rest of the country's. "The problem that he has is if he doesn't support candidates who support the Second Amendment, he almost has no place to put his political dollars."

Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Fossella all voted for the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law passed last year aimed at ending lawsuits like one being pursued by the Bloomberg administration that seeks to hold gun manufacturers and dealers liable when their weapons are used in crimes.

But aides to the lawmakers say the congressmen have been vigorous supporters of the city on other legislation.

"Our office has worked with City Hall and the mayor's Washington office on literally dozens and dozens of issues," said Craig Donner, Mr. Fossella's spokesman, mentioning AIDS, bioterrorism and transportation among them. "So they have a very strong working relationship and a very good personal relationship as well."

"Generally speaking, an elected official and his constituents and other elected officials will agree on some issues but will disagree on other issues," he added.

Election watchdogs say that donations like Mr. Bloomberg's are an outgrowth of the pay-to-play culture of contemporary American politics.

Campaign contributions are "what it sometimes takes to move issues in the political sphere," said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a public interest group. "To get support for important issues you may have to support someone who's on the other side of another important issue. That's just the unfortunate underbelly of politics."

    Mayor Gives Scorn to Guns, and Money to Their Allies, NYT, 14.5.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/nyregion/14bloomberg.html

Officer killed at Virginia police station shooting

Updated 5/8/2006 10:47 PM ET
USA Today

CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) — A teen-age gunman opened fire outside a suburban Washington, D.C., police station Monday, killing one officer and wounding two others before he was shot and killed at the scene, authorities said.

A 40-year-old female detective died at a hospital after the shooting, said police Chief David Rohrer, who did not identify the woman, a nine-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department. A 53-year-old officer was in critical condition and undergoing surgery late Monday night, while the third was treated for minor injuries.

"All information points to the act of a lone, troubled individual — not a conspiracy, not an act of terrorism," said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly. "It would appear that the gunman specifically targeted the police."

Police did not disclose the 18-year-old assailant's motive or identify him. They also were uncertain whether he shot himself or was killed in the exhange of gunfire in the parking lot of the Sully District Station during the 3:30 p.m. attack.

Mary Ann Jennings, a Fairfax County police spokeswoman, said the gunman had a rifle and two handguns and had stolen a van that he drove to the station after unsuccessfully attempting to carjack a pickup.

Jennings said they did not know "exactly who he was targeting except to say he was targeting police officers." He was crouched between two vehicles in the station's parking lot when he was killed.

Rohrer would not discuss details of the investigation.

"It's going to be unraveling slowly," Jennings said. "We don't have a clue at this point. I'm sure some of the investigators are starting to put that together."

It was not clear whether the third officer, a 28-year-old man, was shot or sustained his injuries from flying glass or a ricocheting bullet.

"His family knows that he's coming home healthy and maybe a little banged up, but healthy," Jennings said.

For hours after the shootings, area roads were blocked and nearby buildings, including a high school, were locked down as police sought other possible suspects. Police later determined there was just one gunman, said police spokeswoman Lt. Amy Lubas. An all-clear was given to the school about three hours after the shootings.

"It's always wise in the aftermath of something like this for people to be extra vigilant," Jennings said.

Rohrer said the detective was the first to die at the hands of an assailant in the 66-year history of the department. Ironically, the department had held a memorial service earlier in the day for officers who had been killed in traffic accidents in the line of duty.

"This is a difficult day for us," Rohrer said. "She was an exemplary detective for us. We love her greatly."

    Officer killed at Virginia police station shooting, UT, 8.5.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-08-va-police-shooting_x.htm

15 Mayors Meet in New York to Fight Against Gun Violence

April 26, 2006
The New York Times
By SEWELL CHAN

Asserting that the federal government had failed to curb gun trafficking, mayors from 15 cities gathered yesterday at Gracie Mansion and agreed to intensify efforts to combat illegal firearms.

Mayors Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and Thomas M. Menino of Boston, the organizers of the meeting, said the mayors needed to use every tool, from crackdowns on irresponsible gun dealers to new gun-tracing technologies, because federal authorities had abdicated their responsibility.

"It is time for national leadership in the war on gun violence, and if the leadership won't come from Congress or come from the White House, then it has to come from us," said Mr. Bloomberg, who has made gun violence a signature issue of his second term. "When Congress does not take the lead on a major problem that affects the whole nation — whether it's global warming, welfare, immigration — it's up to the cities and states to do it."

The meeting was the most visible example of Mr. Bloomberg's determination to put the gun issue at the forefront of the nation's consciousness. With the city's efforts to combat gun trafficking faltering at the Congressional and legal levels, the mayor is working to enlist politicians nationwide in the fight to put pressure on Congress and others to tighten the availability of guns.

Mr. Menino said that there were 73 homicides last year in Boston, the highest number in a decade, and that shootings were up so far this year. He described gun violence as an epidemic fueled by a "code of silence" among fearful residents, the return of former inmates to their neighborhoods and a growing phenomenon of "community guns" used by multiple criminals.

"The federal government has vigorously taken on bird flu, another epidemic we hear about daily, but has not done one thing about illegal guns and gun violence on the streets," Mr. Menino said. The group included the mayors of Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Milwaukee, among others.

They signed a six-point "statement of principles" that called for punishing gun possession "to the maximum extent of the law," prosecuting dealers who knowingly sell guns to criminals through so-called straw purchasers and opposing two bills before the House of Representatives that would restrict cities' access to gun-tracing data.

The statement also called for better technologies to detect illegal guns, coordinated legislative and litigation strategies and outreach to other cities.

The leaders pledged to meet again before the end of the year and to expand the number of mayors involved to at least 50. Several said they hoped the meetings would be the start of a national movement to draw attention to gun deaths, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, total 30,000 a year in the United States. Scholars believe that the vast majority of guns used in crimes in this country are acquired illegally.

However, the mayors have little formal influence over national firearms policy, and the political climate in Washington has been largely hostile to new gun restrictions. "There's very little that an individual city can do or that an individual state can do to halt the sale of guns to criminals," Mr. Bloomberg conceded, adding, "This is a national issue that requires national attention."

Several mayors spoke passionately about their frustration with the porous boundaries exploited by gun traffickers. "Even though we have very strict gun laws in New Jersey, it's so easy for a person to go to Pennsylvania and buy straw purchases and come over to the city of Trenton and use them," said Mayor Douglas H. Palmer of Trenton.

Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee recalled the anguish of receiving phone calls at home informing him that a child or a bystander had been shot. "We've had enough," he said. "We want the Congress to respond. We want the Congress to listen to us. We want the Congress to answer these phone calls."

Mayor Gregory J. Nickels of Seattle said, "We're tired of being told that we can't keep our people safe."

Mayors Barrett and Nickels, along with Mayors Laura Miller of Dallas and John F. Street of Philadelphia, made presentations to the group about antigun efforts in their cities. The mayors also heard from experts in the field of gun violence.

"We are not an aberrant country in terms of crime or in terms of violence," said David Hemenway, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, who compared the United States with other industrialized democracies. "The only difference is homicides, where we are way out of whack. We have many more handguns and much weaker gun laws than any other country."

Douglas A. Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, said Mr. Bloomberg's power may be largely limited to moral suasion, particularly given the continuing declines in crime in New York City.

"If gun violence were out of control in the cities, as it was in the cowboy days of the late 80's and early 90's, he might have a better chance," he said. "That said, it might be good politics for the mayor to hold such a high-level meeting. It could crystallize the opinions of urban constituents who disproportionately suffer from gun violence."

Two gun industry groups said that the mayors should focus on enforcement rather than blame gun makers and dealers.

"The policies of the Bloomberg administration on guns reek of elitism," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, who said that it was easy for rich or famous residents to obtain gun permits "while the criminals skirt the system."

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gun manufacturers and retailers, said that Mr. Bloomberg's office had denied its request for a chance to make its case to the mayors.

Mr. Bloomberg and Mayor Philip A. Amicone of Yonkers were the only Republicans among the mayors who gathered yesterday. Others who took part were Byron W. Brown of Buffalo; David N. Cicilline of Providence, R.I.; Jerramiah T. Healy of Jersey City; Frank Melton of Jackson, Miss.; Eddie A. Perez of Hartford; Kathy Taylor of Tulsa, Okla.; and Anthony A. Williams of Washington.

    15 Mayors Meet in New York to Fight Against Gun Violence, NYT, 26.4.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/26/nyregion/26guns.html

Five teens charged with threatening Kansas school

Updated 4/24/2006 4:38 PM ET
USA Today

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) — Five teenagers were charged Monday with threatening to carry out a shooting spree at their southeast Kansas high school in an alleged plot that authorities say was foiled after details appeared online.

The teenagers, ranging in age from 16 to 18, each were charged with one count of incitement to riot and one count of making a criminal threat.

All five appeared in court Monday, where Judge Robert Fleming set bond at $50,000 for Charles New, 18, who was charged as an adult. The four juveniles were being held until a May 3 status hearing.

New would be under house arrest if he were to post bond.

"These are serious allegations and they scared me as I read them," Fleming said.

If convicted, the teens could face seven to 23 months in jail on the charge of incitement to riot and five to 17 months in jail on the charge of making a criminal threat. Each charge also carries a fine of up to $100,000.

The teenagers were arrested Thursday — the seventh anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado — after a message about the plot appeared on the website Myspace.com. All five teens were held over the weekend.

Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Norman has said the teens planned to wear black trench coats and disable the school's camera system before starting the attack between noon and 1 p.m. Thursday.

    Five teens charged with threatening Kansas school, UT, 24.4.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-24-school-threat_x.htm

Alaska students arrested in alleged plot

Updated 4/23/2006 3:53 AM ET
USA Today

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Six middle school students in a small Alaska town were arrested Saturday on suspicion of plotting to bring guns and knives to school to kill their classmates and faculty.

The students had planned to disable North Pole Middle School's power and telephone systems, allotting time to kill their victims and escape from North Pole, a town of 1,600 people about 14 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Police Chief Paul Lindhag said.

The seventh-graders wanted to seek revenge for being picked on by other students, Lindhag said. They also disliked staff and students, he said.

A parent alerted police of rumors of an attack, Lindhag said. He would not elaborate on the case, or what kind of documented evidence led to the arrests.

"These are the ones who had major roles in this," Lindhag said. "All our information came through our interviews."

The students could face charges of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, authorities said.

The alleged plot was the second broken up by police this week. Five Kansas teenagers suspected of planning a shooting rampage at their high school were arrested on Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the Columbine massacre.

School officials in Riverton, Kan., learned that a threatening message had been posted on the Internet, authorities said. The boys ages 16 to 18 will stay in custody through the weekend while prosecutors decide whether to file charges, a judge ruled Saturday.

The North Pole boys, whose names were not released, were among 15 students at the school who were suspended after a parent tipped police Monday evening. A child told the parent that rumors were circulating about the alleged plot, which had been postponed from Monday until Tuesday, Lindhag said.

The suspended students were identified by officers working with a school safety official. Parents were advised to keep their children away from 500-student campus Tuesday. Lindhag said authorities don't believe all the suspended students were involved, but that officials were erring on the side of caution.

"There were a lot of rumors flying around," he said.

The six arrested were taken to the Fairbanks Youth Facility.

Locals are "shocked, saddened and heartbroken about whole situation," but area schools have policies to deal with such a crisis, said Wayne Gerke, an assistant superintendent with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.

"And we feel very thankful that a student felt they could talk to an adult, and very thankful that the adult had the wisdom to contact the North Pole Police Department," Gerke said.

The other students remain suspended while the investigation continues, and police will have a presence at the school for the rest of the year, officials said.

"People are people," Lindhag said. "Something like this can happen anywhere, in a city big or small."

    Alaska students arrested in alleged plot, UT, 23.4.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-22-alaska-school_x.htm

Kansas teens planning Columbine-style attack: police

Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:17 PM ET
Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Five Kansas high school students were arrested after police learned they were allegedly planning an attack on Thursday's seventh anniversary of the Columbine, Colorado, school massacre, authorities said.

The Cherokee County Sheriff said officers found guns and knives in the home of one of the suspects in Riverton, a small town in the southeastern corner of Kansas.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline was taking over the prosecution, his office said. No charges were filed as of Thursday afternoon.

Authorities said the suspects, who ranged in age from 16 to 18, planned to wear black trench coats and target popular students and staff at their high school, just as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did in their deadly 1999 assault in Columbine that left 15 dead.

Kansas school officials learned of the plot after being alerted to a message left on the Web site MySpace.com.

One of the suspects corresponded on-line with a woman who was given a list of a dozen people who were targeted and she contacted police on Wednesday.

Police said the students' motives may have stemmed from them being bullied at school.

    Kansas teens planning Columbine-style attack: police, R, 20.4.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-04-20T231654Z_01_N20296006_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-STUDENTS.xml

Stray Bullet Kills Boy, 2, in Bronx as He Rides With Family to Easter Meal

April 17, 2006
The New York Times
By ANDREW JACOBS

A 2-year-old boy riding to an Easter Sunday meal in his family's minivan was shot and killed yesterday, the unintended victim of gunfire that erupted between two feuding groups of men in the Bronx, the police said.

The boy, David Pacheco Jr., dressed in his Sunday finest and strapped into a car seat, was shot at 2 p.m. as his mother drove him and his two sisters through the Morris Heights neighborhood, a few miles from the family's home in Melrose.

He was pronounced dead 45 minutes later at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, where he was taken by a livery-cab driver who was passing by as an off-duty emergency medical technician was trying to revive him, according to law enforcement officials.

The boy was hit after a man fired at least four shots at a group of men at West Tremont and Harrison Avenues, investigators said.

One bullet pierced the sliding door behind the driver's seat of the gray 2006 Honda Odyssey and passed through the chest of the boy, who was seated directly behind his mother, the police said.

David's mother, Joanne Sanabria, 28, continued driving eastbound another block on West Tremont before realizing that her son had been hit. Witnesses said she stopped the vehicle at West 177th Street, slid open the door and began screaming as she pulled him from his seat.

"The baby looked like a rag doll," said Jeffrey Harkless, 43, who was sitting half a block away when he heard the volley of gunfire, followed by the mother's cries for help.

Angelo Cruz, 42, the emergency medical technician, was passing by when he saw the commotion and stopped to help. He said he placed the child on the minivan's hood and tried to perform CPR, only to realize that David had been gravely wounded by a bullet.

"The loss of blood was massive, that was obvious," Mr. Cruz said. "I knew he was in bad shape."

Rather than wait for an ambulance, Mr. Cruz said, he flagged down a passing Lincoln Town Car and asked its driver to take the boy and his mother to the hospital.

Mr. Cruz, who continued to work on the child as they rode, said David briefly regained consciousness and started to breathe, but by the time they arrived at the emergency room it was too late.

"He was looking real pale," Mr. Cruz said, speaking in the parking lot of the hospital.

As Ms. Sanabria left the hospital yesterday and was besieged by photographers, her grief turned to anger. She berated reporters for their intrusiveness and then urged them to help find her son's killer.

At one point, the boy's father, David Pacheco, smashed a camera into the face of a photographer for The Daily News.

Luis Garcia, the property manager at the building on Bruckner Boulevard where the family lives, described Ms. Sanabria as a tireless mother who held down a full-time job while attending college.

He said that Ms. Sanabria has two daughters, Lezlie, 8, and Lexsie, 11, and that the family moved into the building two years ago.

"She's a really hardworking woman," Mr. Garcia said. "I can hear her footsteps from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m."

David Jr., he said, was a delightful child. "He's very talkative, very cute and always smiling," Mr. Garcia said.

At 1730 Harrison Avenue, across the street from the scene of the shooting, a bullet punched a hole the size of a tennis ball through a fourth-floor bedroom window.

Solomon Nwachukwu, 24, who lives in the apartment with his mother and sister, said he had fallen asleep in the living room when he heard five shots and the sound of glass breaking. He said he thought a baseball had come through the window.

"My sister felt kind of scared," he said. "I can't believe it. This kind of thing never happens on my block."

As of last night, the police had made no arrests in the shooting but said they were interviewing a number of witnesses, including some of the participants in the fight, which involved two groups of men — one black and one Hispanic.

A police official said the group of Hispanic men appeared to have had the upper hand when one of the black men briefly left the rumble, returned with a gun and opened fire from the northwest corner of Harrison Avenue. Moments after the gunfire erupted, David Collazo, 40, who was washing his car down the block, said he saw three men chasing another man down the street.

Mr. Collazo and others said the neighborhood, while far less dangerous than a decade ago, still had its share of random violence.

"They have no respect for nothing," Mr. Collazo said, "not even holidays."

He said the sound of gunfire could be heard every few weeks echoing off buildings in the neighborhood, a working-class enclave of apartment buildings, 19th-century wood-frame houses and newly constructed row homes that have small front yards and driveways.

As the sun set, detectives scanned the sidewalks, looking for evidence, or darted in and out of nearby buildings. Other investigators could be seen on the rooftops of several buildings. Residents were shown a mug shot of a suspect. Late into the night, two blocks of West Tremont Avenue remained cordoned off.

The minivan remained double parked at the center of the block, its door marked by a single bullet hole, a set of rosary beads hanging from the rear-view mirror.

Kate Hammer, Mick Meenan and Matthew Sweeney contributed reporting for this article.

    Stray Bullet Kills Boy, 2, in Bronx as He Rides With Family to Easter Meal, NYT, 17.4.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/17/nyregion/17shot.html

Wal-Mart phasing out firearms

Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:34 AM ET
Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores <WMT.N> said on Friday it is phasing out sales of firearms in about a quarter of its U.S. stores, calling it a decision based on soft demand.

"As a retailer, we make business decisions every day on what products to offer our customers, based on customer demand," the company said in a statement. "In order for each of our stores to be a 'store of the community' and offer merchandise relevant to that specific community ... we recently made a business decision to no longer offer firearms in approximately 1,000 of our locations."

Wal-Mart said it began phasing out firearms sales earlier this year but did not disclose the store locations.

"In stores where there is sufficient demand, nothing will change," the retailer said. "We will continue to evaluate our merchandise selection store by store to make sure we remain relevant to the majority of our customers."

Gun sales and Wal-Mart were linked in a song co-written by Sheryl Crow in an album released last fall. When the retailer refused to carry the album, it drew criticism for censorship.

The offending lyrics -- "Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/with a gun they bought at the Wal-Mart discount stores" -- were part of a song called "Love is a Good Thing."

Wal-Mart defended itself by calling the comments unfair and irresponsible, saying it strictly prohibits selling guns to minors.

The company has been expanding into urban areas and changing its image with a new push into organic foods and running ads in Vogue magazine.

Wal-Mart has 3,800 stores in the United States and more than 2,600 in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

    Wal-Mart phasing out firearms, R, 15.4.2006, http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-04-15T043413Z_01_N145572_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-RETAIL-WALMART-DC.XML

Suspect Named in Shooting at Seattle Party

March 27, 2006
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE, March 26 (AP) — A man suspected of killing six young people at a house party before he turned the gun on himself was identified Sunday by the police as Aaron Kyle Huff, 28.

Mr. Huff fatally shot himself on Saturday morning after opening fire on young partygoers who had invited him to a private gathering after a zombie-themed rave, the police said.

Mr. Huff moved to Seattle five years ago from Whitefish, Mont., the authorities said.

His landlord, Jim Pickett, said Mr. Huff lived with his twin brother.

Mr. Pickett said he saw the brother as the police searched the twins' apartment on Saturday night.

"He gave a look to me like, 'I don't know what's going on,' " Mr. Pickett said.

A police spokesman said the authorities were still trying to determine the motive for the shootings.

Mr. Huff was armed with a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun and a handgun and wore bandoliers of shotgun shells and additional clips for the handgun. In his truck, the police found an assault rife and multiple "banana clips" carrying 30 bullets each.

Four men and two women were killed, and two people were hospitalized in serious condition after the shooting, officials said.

    Suspect Named in Shooting at Seattle Party, NYT, 27.3.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/national/27shoot.html

Man suspected of killing 6, himself known as 'respectful'

Posted 3/26/2006 4:25 AM Updated 3/26/2006 7:28 PM
USA Today

SEATTLE (AP) — A man suspected of killing six young people at a house party before he turned the gun on himself was described Sunday as respectful and polite by an apartment manager.

The man committed suicide Saturday morning after police said he opened fire on young partygoers who had invited him to a private gathering following a "zombie rave" in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

"This would have been so far out of character," said Jim Pickett, the assistant manager of the Town & Country Apartments, where he said the alleged gunman lived with his twin brother.

Authorities identified the alleged shooter as Aaron Kyle Huff, 28, who had moved to Seattle nearly five years ago from Whitefish, Mont.

Montana's Flathead County sheriff's Lt. Dave Leib said he informed Huff's mother Sunday afternoon that her son was dead and was a suspect in the shootings.

Pickett said the brothers were private and good tenants.

"You don't find two boys as respectful as these two always were," he said.

Pickett said he saw the suspected gunman's brother as police searched the twins' apartment Saturday night.

"He gave a look to me like 'I don't know what's going on,'" Pickett said.

Police spokesman Sean Whitcomb confirmed that a search warrant was served Saturday evening on the block where the twins' apartment is located. One person was questioned, but no one was arrested, he said.

"We do believe we have the suspect identified," Whitcomb said. "We are not releasing that identity because we are not 100% certain."

Whitcomb said police were still working on a motive.

Pickett said he never saw either of the brothers with weapons, but saw authorities remove three rifles from their apartment.

The gunman was armed with a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun, a handgun and wore bandoliers of shotgun shells and additional clips for the handgun. In his truck, police found an assault rife and multiple "banana clips" carrying 30 bullets each.

Four young men and two young women were killed, and two people were hospitalized in serious condition after the shooting, officials said.

Police said the gunman left the party around 7 a.m. and came back with the weapons.

It marks the city's worst mass killing since 1983's Wah Mee massacre, when 13 died in an attack at a gambling club, police said.

Police said they did not know if drugs or alcohol were a factor, though Kerlikowske said marijuana and alcohol were found in the house.

Neighbor Cesar Clemente, 25, said he called 911 when he heard the shots. He looked outside to see people fleeing, and two people huddling in the bushes. He called to them. A man made it to his front entryway, shot in the arm and the abdomen. The other collapsed in the bushes.

Clemente asked the man what happened. He said only "I've been peppered." When medics took him away, a few shotgun pellets were left on the floor.

    Man suspected of killing 6, himself known as 'respectful' , UT, 26.3.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-26-seattle-shooting_x.htm

7 Dead in Shooting at Seattle House Party

March 26, 2006
The New York Times
By JESSICA KOWAL

SEATTLE, March 25 — A gunman fatally shot six people at a private house party Saturday morning before committing suicide in the worst mass murder in this city in more than two decades, the Seattle police said.

The gunman had, like others at the party, attended a "rave" concert in the neighborhood and been invited back to the small two-story house in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, said the Seattle police chief, R. Gil Kerlikowske.

Investigators have not established a motive for the shootings. Witnesses told the police that the man had been "quiet and humble" at the party and that he had not argued with anyone.

The man left the party briefly before 7 a.m. and returned carrying a shotgun and a semiautomatic handgun, which he began firing "almost execution-style" and without warning, the police said.

Neighbors on the quiet street heard the gunshots and called the police to the home, located a half block from a public middle school. An officer on patrol arrived a few minutes later and helped two people escaping through a window and a door.

He then spotted the gunman standing outside the house and holding a shotgun. When he ordered him to drop his weapon, the man quickly turned the gun on himself, Chief Kerlikowske said.

Neither the gunman nor the victims, four men and two women, were immediately identified. The gunman was described as being in his 20's and as having lived in Seattle for about five years.

Five people were found dead inside the house or on the porch, and a sixth died in the operating room at a local hospital, officials said. Two other people were hospitalized in critical and serious condition, said Carolyn Hernandez, the nursing supervisor at Harborview Medical Center.

Shootings are relatively rare in Seattle, and Chief Kerlikowske described the killings as "one of the largest crime scenes the city has ever had." The last significant mass murder in Seattle was in 1983, when 13 people were shot to death in a Chinatown gambling club. Last year there were 25 murders.

Two partygoers told the police that they had locked themselves in an upstairs bathroom after hearing gunshots and screams. They were not hurt, even though the gunman fired a bullet through the bathroom door, they said.

Neighbors, who watched the events unfold from their homes, described the partygoers as being in their late teens and 20's. They said they wore dark clothing and had brightly dyed hair, piercings and faces painted with red and white marks.

Some people at the party, possibly including the owner of the house, attended a Friday night electronic-music concert called "Better Off Undead" in a local art space, said Annika Anderson, the concert's promoter. The concert ended at 4 a.m., and some ticket holders, dressed as "zombies," moved on to the party, Ms. Anderson said.

She was worried that the deaths would reflect badly on young people who enjoy rave-style music. "I'm completely devastated," Ms. Anderson said in a telephone interview. But, she said, "you can't hold a subculture liable for one person's actions."

One neighbor, Charles Jackson, 67, heard gunshots as he was getting up to brush his teeth. As his wife called 911, Mr. Jackson rushed into the street and saw several partygoers, some not wearing shoes or coats, dash away from the house.

Mr. Jackson, who has lived on the block for 40 years, said he had never imagined such a thing could happen on his street. "All the neighbors know each other," he said. "We have block parties and stuff like that."

    7 Dead in Shooting at Seattle House Party, NYT, 26.3.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/national/26shoot.html

Gunned down: the teenager who dared to walk across his neighbour's prized lawn

· 66-year-old blasted boy twice with shotgun
· Killing highlights dilemma over firearms death toll

Wednesday March 22, 2006
Guardian
Julian Borger Washington

"I just killed a kid," Charles Martin told the emergency services operator. "I shot him with a goddamn 410 shotgun twice."

He had gunned down Larry Mugrage, his neighbours' 15-year-old son. The teenager's crime: walking across Mr Martin's lawn on his way home. Mr Martin opened fire from his house and then, according to the police, walked up to the wounded boy and pulled the trigger again at close range, killing him.

Even in a country with a long history of gun violence, the killing of Larry Mugrage in a quiet Cincinnati suburb on Monday stands out as particularly senseless. Mr Martin seems to have been liked well enough in the neat bungalow-lined streets of Union Township, but he appears to have been obsessed with the territorial integrity of his patchy lawn.

Neighbours said he would work himself into a rage if they mowed a foot over the invisible dividing line separating their gardens. "He was really warped on that stuff," one local resident said.

Even after killing a young boy, who was apparently running home to fetch a video game, Mr Martin, 66, seemed indignant. "I've been being harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up," he told the operator. "Kid's just been giving me a bunch of shit, making the other kids harass me and my place, tearing things up."

"Okay, so what'd you do?" the police dispatcher asked.

"I shot him with a goddamn 410 shotgun twice."

"You shot him with a shotgun? Where is he?"

"He's laying in his yard," Mr Martin said in a tone of calm satisfaction, as if he had just disposed of a dangerous animal.

Larry Mugrage, a popular hard-working and clever schoolboy, added his name to a high and persistent death toll. A child is killed by a gun every three hours in America. According to the latest statistics, nearly 1,000 children under 19 are shot dead every year. Another 800 use guns to commit suicide, and more than 160 die in firearm accidents.

Forty per cent of American households own guns, but those guns are 22 times more likely to be involved in an accidental shooting, or 11 times more likely to be used in a suicide, than in self-defence. On average, more than 80 Americans are killed by gunfire every day.

But the US gun control debate has faded from the political scene. The Democrats, desperate to win support in conservative states where gun ownership rights are sacrosanct, have muted their enthusiasm for regulation. The party's last presidential candidate, John Kerry, made sure he was pictured shooting ducks at the height of the campaign in Ohio, a swing state.

"The gun control debate on the national stage is non-existent for the time being," said Jens Ludwig, an expert on the issue at Georgetown University. "There are growing rumblings in Democratic circles that gun control is hurting them in the southern and western states they are trying to win."

Instead, the cause has been left largely to pressure groups which have been repeatedly bulldozed by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA). A nationwide ban on assault weapons such as semi-automatic rifles expired in 2004, and other restrictions have been rolled back state by state.

Mr Martin had every right to his .410 (11mm) bore shotgun. Ohio does not require anyone buying any firearm to have a permit. Nor does the state require gunowners to have a licence, although some inner city municipalities have stricter rules. Most state legislatures considering gun legislation are seeking to relax the remaining controls. Last year, Florida introduced a law giving its citizens the right to "stand their ground" and open fire, even in a public place, if they feel threatened, and the gun lobby is trying to pass a bill in the state that would allow workers to bring guns into their workplace with or without their employer's consent.

Under pressure from the NRA, the Republican-run House of Representatives is investigating the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for "abuse" of its power for cracking down on rural "gun shows" where controls on sales are generally looser.

Larry Mugrage will be mourned in Union Township as another victim of inexplicable rage, but the means used to kill him are unlikely to raise many eyebrows. Controls on shotgun ownership have never really been on the table in the debate, and that has been over for more than a year on the national stage. Mr Martin would have been within his constitutional rights to guard his lawn with an AK-47.

The 911 call

Charles Martin called the emergency services operator after attacking Larry Mugrage. This is a transcript:

Martin I've been being harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up. Kid's just been giving me a bunch of shit, making the other kids harass me and my place, tearing things up.

Operator OK, so what'd you do?

Martin I shot him with a goddamn 410 shotgun twice.

Operator You shot him with a shotgun? Where is he?

Martin He's laying in his yard.

Guns in America

32.6% of adults keep guns in or around their home, according to a 2002 survey. An estimated 40% own a gun

30,136 people were killed by firearms in the US in 2003; 730 of these were accidental

1.3m rifles were manufactured in the US in 2004; as well as an estimated 294,000 revolvers; 728,500 pistols; and 732,000 shotguns. Only 132,500 of these weapons were exported

    Gunned down: the teenager who dared to walk across his neighbour's prized lawn, G, 22.3.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,,1736424,00.html

Man shot dead at Calif. Denny's restaurant

Posted 3/17/2006 9:59 AM
USA Today

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A gunman opened fire early Friday at a Denny's restaurant, killing one man and seriously wounding another, police said. It was the third fatal shooting at the restaurant chain in Southern California this week.

The 2:45 a.m. shooting happened after a fight between two large groups inside the restaurant, said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department. (On Deadline: Death finds SoCal Denny's again)

One victim re-entered the restaurant after being shot and died inside, Martinez said. The other victim was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive.

The gunman was being sought by authorities. The shooting did not appear to be gang-related, Martinez said.

The shooting was the third in a Southern California Denny's in three days. In Pismo Beach on Wednesday, a transient with two guns walked into the restaurant at lunchtime, fatally shot two men and wounded a married couple before committing suicide.

And in Ontario, a 37-year-old man was fatally shot in a Denny's parking lot Thursday after a fight. The gunman was still being sought.

    Man shot dead at Calif. Denny's restaurant, UT, 17.3.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-17-dennys-shooting_x.htm

Three dead, two hurt in Denny's shooting

Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:04 PM ET
Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man opened fire with a pair of handguns at a central California Denny's restaurant at lunchtime on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding two others before apparently taking his own life, police said.

Police responding to the restaurant in the beach community of Pismo Beach found three people, including the gunman, dead and two other customers suffering from gunshot wounds.

"He came in with two guns, shooting away," Pismo Beach Cmdr. Jeff Norton said. "We don't know if he targeted anyone specifically."

Norton said the shooter's fatal wound appeared to be self-inflicted.

Both of the wounded victims were taken to local hospitals near Pismo Beach, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. There was no immediate word on their condition but Norton said that at least one was able to give a statement to police.

Authorities did not immediately release the names of the gunman, who was identified only as a white male, or the victims.

"We are shocked and saddened by this incident that occurred. It appears to be a random act of violence and right now I can't give details of the investigation, it's still in progress. We are cooperating with the Pismo Beach Police Department," said Angelica Jimenez, spokeswoman for Denny's, which is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The Pismo Beach restaurant is owned by Denny's Corp.

    Three dead, two hurt in Denny's shooting, R, 15.3.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-16T040418Z_01_N15412984_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-SHOOTING.xml&archived=False

Police: Boy opens fire with handgun, injures 2 students

Posted 3/14/2006 9:31 PM Updated 3/14/2006 10:54 PM
USA Today

RENO (AP) — An eighth-grader opened fire with a pistol Tuesday outside his middle school cafeteria, injuring two classmates, authorities said.

A student injured in a school shooting is taken to a waiting ambulance in Reno
By Marilyn Newton, Reno Gazette-Journal via AP

A teacher at Pine Middle School coaxed the boy to drop the gun, then "bear hugged" him until more staff arrived, said Reno police Lt. Ron Donnelly.

"It was a heroic job done," he said. "She de-escalated a very dangerous situation."

The 14-year-old was charged as an adult with attempted murder and was jailed on $150,000 bail, Donnelly said.

The victims' injuries were not life-threatening, he said. A boy was treated for a gunshot wound to arm, and a girl was treated for a superficial leg wound from shrapnel.

Donnelly said the victims had no relationship with the suspected gunman, nor had they had any disputes or arguments with him.

"It appears he decided to engage in school violence," the officer said. "He brought a gun to school today and randomly targeted these two students."

Investigators were withholding the names of the victims and the teacher, who school officials said did not want to be identified.

Police recovered the .38-caliber pistol, and were trying to determine where the boy got it.

More than a dozen students and others witnessed the shootings just before 9 a.m., police said. When the teacher heard three gunshots, she came out into the hallway from a nearby room and confronted the boy, Donnelly said.

"She basically challenged him, verbally challenged, him, 'Drop the gun, put the gun down,'" Donnelly told KKOH radio in Reno. "She empathized with him, tried to be understanding and de-escalated the situation."

As a precaution, authorities put the school on lockdown for about an hour, then canceled classes.

"Some people were crying," Jamie Coombs, who was in math class at the time, told KOLO-TV. "They made us stay in the classroom and bolt the door and put papers up against the windows."

    Police: Boy opens fire with handgun, injures 2 students, UT, 14.3.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-14-school-shooting_x.htm

Gunman kills woman at Detroit church; 2 wounded

Posted 2/26/2006 3:19 PM Updated 2/26/2006 11:15 PM
USA Today

DETROIT (AP) — A suspected gunman who opened fire with a shotgun during a church service Sunday morning killed a woman and wounded two people before he shot himself a mile away, police said.

Investigators believe a domestic dispute led to the shooting at Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church about 11 a.m., said Second Deputy Police Chief James Tate.

A 9-year-old child, sitting near the unidentified woman who died, was hit in the hand by a buckshot pellet, Tate said. Police didn't know the relationship of the pair.

As the gunman fled the church, he critically shot a man trying to protect his wife from a carjacking attempt, officials said.

Many of the hundreds of people in the church screamed as they ducked under the pews for protection, said Ann Armstrong, 30, who was attending the service.

"I seen him come in through the balcony door, and he pulled the gun from under his coat," Armstrong said. "He just started shooting her, then he shot at the pulpit."

No one at the pulpit was hit, but a bullet struck a musical instrument she said.

More than five hours after the shooting spree, Tate said officers spotted the suspect, who was identified as 24-year-old Kevin Lorenzo Collins, walking about a mile south of the church.

Collins shot himself to death before police captured him, Tate said.

Church members embraced each other after the gunman left and continued to pray as police started coming in, Armstrong said.

"It was a lot of crying, a lot of hugging and a lot of praying," she said.

Church members then continued the service, Tate said.

"They didn't let this incident stop the reason why they came to church," he said. "They came to worship."

    Gunman kills woman at Detroit church; 2 wounded, NYT, 27.2.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-26-church-shooting_x.htm

Gunman holding hostages in Phoenix high-rise

Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:02 AM ET
Reuters

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A gunman was holding multiple hostages on Thursday at a National Labor Relations Board office in a central Phoenix high-rise building, police said, but a female hostage was able to escape and another was released.

The man apparently pulled out a weapon and took as many as nine people hostage on Thursday afternoon on the 18th floor of the building, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman.

Hill told CNN that nobody had been hurt and no shots had been fired.

Police said on Thursday night a woman being held was able to flee after the hostage-taker let her leave to go to the bathroom.

Another female hostage was released later.

"I don't know why, but she did ask to be able to leave and he did allow that to happen," Hill told reporters.

"Again, one step at a time, one hostage at a time -- We're doing the best that we can to get everybody out safely."

Negotiators made contact with the man and were trying to resolve the situation in the heart of the city's main business thoroughfare, Hill said.

"We are in negotiations with the suspect," he said. "We are hoping that those will bring a peaceful resolution."

The incident apparently began when the suspect entered an NLRB hearing.

"There has been a family situation ongoing apparently related to employment," Hill said of the suspect. "For whatever reason, today he chose that time to go into the NLRB hearing and that's where this started and that's where we're still at."

The remaining hostages are inside a hearing room, police said.

Co-workers and family members of the hostages were at the scene.

A heavy police presence surrounded the building and several fire units were present.

    Gunman holding hostages in Phoenix high-rise, NYT, 24.2.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-02-24T050214Z_01_N23382051_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-PHOENIX.xml

Teenager Attacks Three Men at Gay Bar in Massachusetts

February 3, 2006
The New York Times
By KATIE ZEZIMA

BOSTON, Feb. 2 — A teenager armed with a hatchet and a handgun seriously injured three people early Thursday at a gay bar in New Bedford, Mass., the police said.

The teenager, Jacob Robida, was being sought Thursday night by the police, who issued an arrest warrant charging him with three counts each of assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and hate crimes.

Mr. Robida, 18, entered the Puzzles Lounge around midnight, the police said, and asked the bartender whether it was a gay bar.

When the bartender told him it was, Mr. Robida pulled out a hatchet and struck a man in the head, then struck a man who had tried to help the victim, said Capt. Richard Spirlet of the New Bedford police.

Captain Spirlet said that Mr. Robida pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot the man who had tried to help the first victim, then shot a third man across the bar.

The police said two victims were in critical condition.

A bartender named Phillip, who would not give his last name, told local television reporters that Mr. Robida ordered a shot of liquor, drank it, asked if he was in a gay bar, ordered and drank another shot, and attacked the first man.

The bartender said that Mr. Robida had aimed the gun at him, but he said that the gun failed to fire.

"I heard a click, and his eyes were just squinted," the bartender said.

The Associated Press reported that a court filing attached to the arrest warrant said a patron of the bar had recognized Mr. Robida from New Bedford High School, but Captain Spirlet said that Mr. Robida was no longer enrolled there.

The A.P. reported that a police affidavit said officers had found "Nazi regalia" and anti-Semitic writings on the walls of Mr. Robida's home.

Captain Spirlet said Mr. Robida had attended the junior police academy in New Bedford, which teaches discipline to adolescents.

New Bedford, an old whaling port, is a working-class city on Buzzard's Bay, about 60 miles south of Boston, and Puzzles Lounge was well-known among gays.

Before the attack on Thursday, Captain Spirlet said, the police had never had a problem at the bar.

Richard Macedo, who has owned the bar for 15 years, said it had never been the focus of any discrimination and said he had not known Mr. Robida. "It's hard to believe," Mr. Macedo said.

A candlelight vigil was held Thursday night at the bar, which remained open.

    Teenager Attacks Three Men at Gay Bar in Massachusetts, NYT, 3.2.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/03/national/03bar.html

Death Toll Climbs to 8 in California Postal Plant Rampage

February 2, 2006
The New York Times
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

GOLETA, Calif., Feb. 1 — The death toll in the shooting spree at a postal plant here climbed to eight on Wednesday after a woman injured in the rampage died and the police discovered that the killer had first fatally shot a former neighbor.

The authorities said Wednesday that a couple of hours before the mentally disturbed killer, Jennifer San Marco, 44, shot six former co-workers at the plant Monday night and then killed herself, she surprised a former neighbor at the condominium complex where she had lived and fatally shot her in the head.

Bullet casings at the apartment of the former neighbor, Beverly Graham, 54, matched those at the plant, Sheriff Jim Anderson of Santa Barbara County said Wednesday.

Hospital officials earlier Wednesday announced that Charlotte Colton, 44, who was shot in the head, had become the sixth postal worker to die.

The turn of events came as several people described Ms. San Marco, who had moved from Goleta to Grants, N.M., in late 2003 or early 2004, as prone to bizarre and sometimes racist behavior.

"She was crazy; everybody knew it," said Nita Graham, Ms. Graham's mother, who said her daughter had complained to Ms. San Marco about her loud "singing and yelling."

People who knew her in New Mexico said she seemed to be growing worse, frequently taking her clothes off, seeking to start a racist publication and angrily shouting at unseen people.

It was unclear whether Ms. San Marco was receiving any treatment, though Sheriff Anderson said she was detained for a few days in a mental facility in 2001 after an outburst at the postal plant. Sheriff Anderson said that contrary to previous reports the only encounter his deputies had with Ms. San Marco was in February 2001 when they removed her from work and took her to a mental hospital, where she was placed on an "involuntary hold" for 72 hours.

Postal officials have said she left her job at the Goleta plant in June 2003 on disability for mental problems after employees reported her angrily talking to herself. Co-workers said deputies were called, but the sheriff said records show the only encounter with them in 2001.

Jeff Tabala, a former employee at the Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center, where the killings took place, said several of the postal building victims were black or Hispanic or Filipino.

But a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department reiterated that investigators believe the victims were chosen at random and that it was not being investigated as a racially motivated attack.

Mr. Tabala said he found Ms. San Marco difficult to talk to.

"I had heard she was from New York so I approached her and asked her about it, but she was agitated and stand-offish," Mr. Tabala said.

The authorities said they could not confirm any connection to New York.

Relatives of Ms. Graham, whom they described as an easygoing woman who loved swimming with the seals in the nearby sea, said she had a strained relationship with Ms. San Marco.

Ms. San Marco would "rant and rave" occasionally and Ms. Graham would ask her to go back inside her home, said Les Graham Jr., her brother.

Ms. Graham's mother said she had phoned her daughter on Tuesday morning to warn her that a rampage had occurred near her home, but by then Ms. Graham was already dead.

Residents of Grants, N.M., in the desolate high plains, also described Ms. San Marco as strange.

Terri Gallegos, deputy clerk for the Village of Milan, next to Grants, first encountered Ms. San Marco in July 2004 when she applied for a business license, eventually rejected, to start a publication called The Racist Press.

Ms. Gallegos said she Ms. San Marco would not elaborate on the nature of the publication. Later, she said, Ms. San Marco applied for and did not receive a license for a cat food plant.

Ms. Gallegos said residents often saw Ms. San Marco mumbling to herself and arguing with unseen people.

Maureen Foley contributed reporting from Goleta, Calif., for this article, and Dan Frosch from Santa Fe, N.M.

    Death Toll Climbs to 8 in California Postal Plant Rampage, NYT, 2.2.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/national/02postal.html

Ex-Employee Kills Six at Post Office in California

January 31, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:49 a.m. ET
The New York Times

GOLETA, Calif. (AP) -- A female ex-postal worker opened fire at a mail processing plant, killing six people and critically wounding another before committing suicide, authorities said early Tuesday.

Deputies responding to a report of shots fired about 9:15 p.m. Monday found two people dead outside the plant.

Two wounded women were located inside and were taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. One died and the other was listed in critical condition early Tuesday with a gunshot wound to the head.

Nearly five hours later, deputies found four additional bodies, including one believed to be the female shooter, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said. The shooter, who was not identified, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, he said.

''We do not believe there is any additional threat to the community,'' Anderson said.

It was one of the deadliest shootings in a Postal Service facility since a series of high-profile cases in the mid '80s and early '90s, including one in which a part-time letter carrier killed 14 people in Edmond, Okla., and then took his own life.

The Monday night rampage sent dozens of employees running from the sprawling distribution center and prompted authorities to warn nearby residents to stay indoors.

Postal employee Charles Kronick told KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara that he was inside the building when shots rang out. Some 50 to 60 employees were seen running from the plant.

''I heard something that sounded like a pop, and then I heard a couple seconds later, another pop, pop, pop,'' Kronick said.

His boss came running over and told him to get out of the building, Kronick said, adding ''We all hightailed it out real quick.''

Many workers fled to a fire station across the street, said Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Keith Cullom.

The victims' names were not immediately released. Sheriffs' Sgt. Erik Raney said all the victims were believed to be current employees.

Investigators didn't yet know how many guns were used, how the shooter entered the complex or what the motive might have been, Raney said.

Postmaster General John E. Potter said families of the victims were being notified and counselors would be available to the families and employees at the plant.

''Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to the families of the victims and to our employees who have suffered through this tragic incident,'' Potter said in a statement issued in Washington.

The 200,000-square-foot facility is located just a few blocks from the University of California, Santa Barbara. About 300 people are employed at the plant in Goleta, about 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

------

Associated Press reporter Christina Almeida in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

    Ex-Employee Kills Six at Post Office in California, NYT, 31.1.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Post-Office-Shooting.html?hp&ex=1138770000&en=bcd2df50eb399395&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Maryland boy, 8, charged in shooting of girl, 7

Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:24 AM ET
Reuters



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maryland prosecutors have filed charges against an 8-year-old boy who shot and wounded a 7-year-old girl after threatening to rob her at a suburban day-care center, The Washington Post said on Wednesday.

The boy's father, "a felon with a lengthy record," was arrested and charged with leaving a firearm within reach of an unsupervised minor and other offenses after the Tuesday shooting, the Post said.

The third-grader had sneaked his father's .38-caliber revolver into the facility in his backpack on Tuesday, the paper said, quoting law-enforcement officials. He had been suspended in the past for bringing a weapon to school.

Police had initially said the boy accidentally shot the girl, a second-grade student, as a group of six children were attending a before-school program at the For Kids We Care day-care center in Germantown, Maryland, a Washington suburb.

But the Post said, "The sources said the boy threatened to rob the girl and then fired the gun once, striking her in the upper right arm."

The girl was reported in stable condition in a Washington hospital on Tuesday night, the paper said.

The boy "was charged as a juvenile with numerous counts that police declined to outline," it said. He was placed in the custody of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

    Maryland boy, 8, charged in shooting of girl, 7, NYT, 25.1.2006, http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-25T162426Z_01_N24169514_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-DAYCARE.xml

Police: Boy shoots girl at Maryland day care center

Posted 1/24/2006 3:15 PM Updated 1/24/2006 7:13 PM
USA Today

GERMANTOWN, Md. (AP) — A 7-year-old girl was shot in the arm at a day-care center Tuesday after an 8-year-old classmate brought in one of his father's guns and it accidentally went off, authorities said.

The father was arrested for gun offenses, and court documents outlined an extensive criminal record. The boy also was charged, but authorities said that was done only so he could be helped by juvenile authorities.

The boy had the weapon in a backpack and was playing with it when it went off, said Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles.

The girl was taken to a Washington hospital with a wound that was not considered life-threatening.

There were six children at the For Kids We Care Inc. daycare center at the time of the shooting, authorities said. Police said the boy had found the gun, a .38-caliber Taurus revolver, in a container in his father's closet.

Police charged John Linwood Hall Sr., 56, with leaving a firearm in a location accessible by an unsupervised minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas Gansler declined to give any details of the charges against the boy because of his age. The boy was to have his case reviewed by the Department of Juvenile Services, according to a police news release.

Neither youngster's name was released.

Hall has an extensive criminal record dating to the 1960s, according to court documents. It includes several convictions of assault with intent to maim and gun charges. He could be sentenced to five years in prison if convicted of being a felon in possession of a handgun and three years on the delinquency of a minor charge, authorities said.

The documents said there were "numerous" other weapons in Hall's apartment that his son had access to. Hall was in custody and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Gansler said the boy knowingly brought the gun to the day-care center and that the charges filed against him were in the "best interest of the 8-year-old to make sure he gets the help he needs" from the state.

    Police: Boy shoots girl at Maryland day care center, UT, 24.1.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-24-daycare-shoot_x.htm

Fla. boy shot by police unlikely to live -reports

Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:00 AM ET
Reuters

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Florida student who was shot by police after aiming a weapon that turned out to be a pellet gun at a SWAT team remained on life support on Saturday and media reports said he was not expected to live.

Christopher Penley was being kept alive at a hospital so his organs could be harvested, the reports quoted family lawyer Mark Nation as saying. Nation and hospital officials could not be reached for comment.

Police said Penley, an eighth-grade student at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Florida, near Orlando, was shot after he took another pupil hostage at the school, threatened to kill himself and aimed what appeared to be a handgun at police.

The gun wielded by Penley turned out to be a pellet gun made to look like a 9 mm pistol, police said.

No one else was injured in the incident, officials said.

Police said Penley held another student hostage after that student spotted what looked like a gun in Penley's backpack.

The hostage escaped and the student with the gun fled into a bathroom, where he held more than 40 law enforcement officers, including a SWAT team, at bay, according to police.

"The student displayed a black, semi-automatic handgun. SWAT members pleaded with the suspect to drop his weapon," the Seminole County sheriff's office said in a statement on Friday.

When he aimed the weapon at a SWAT team member, "lethal force was used," the office said.

    Fla. boy shot by police unlikely to live -reports, R, 15.1.2006, http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-15T050010Z_01_N14162496_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-SHOOTING-SCHOOL.xml

Family to donate organs of shot eighth-grader

Posted 1/14/2006 9:00 PM
USA Today

LONGWOOD, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a 15-year-old boy accused of terrorizing classmates with a pistol warned authorities the weapon likely was fake before police shot him in a middle school bathroom, a family attorney said Saturday.

Christopher Penley, of Winter Springs, was accused of pulling a pellet gun in a classroom Friday and pointing it at other students. When he later raised the weapon at a deputy, a SWAT team member shot him, authorities said.

Officers who had responded to the 1,100-student school in suburban Orlando believed the gun was a Beretta 9mm, and didn't learn until after the shooting that it was a pellet gun.

The boy's parents, Ralph and Donna Penley, were in contact with authorities during the incident and told them they believed Penley did not have a real gun, said family attorney Mark Nation. Ralph Penley went to the school to attempt to talk his son out of the situation.

"When he got to the school, they would not let him in and he was later told Christopher had been shot," Nation said.

Penley announced the boy was clinically brain dead Saturday, Nation said. "His organs are in the process of being harvested."

Friends and investigators say Penley was bullied and emotionally distraught, and went to school that day expecting to die.

Patrick Lafferty, a 15-year-old neighbor who has known Penley about six years, said he wasn't surprised by what happened. He said Penley was a loner who "told me he wanted to kill himself dozens of times."

"He would put his headphones on and walk up and down the street and he would work out a lot," preferring to keep to himself, Lafferty said.

Kelly Swofford, a family spokeswoman and neighbor of the boy's parents, said the boy had run away from home several times. Her 11-year-old son, Jeffery Swofford, said Penley had said he had something planned.

"He said 'I hope I die today because I don't really like my life,'" Jeffery Swofford said.

Maurice Cotey, 13, told WKMG-TV in Orlando that he struggled with Penley over the gun after everyone else left the classroom.

"He got me towards the closet door, he turned me around, and ... started to point the gun at me, so I started to grab for it. And he pulled it away and then I grabbed for it one more time, .... twisted it and I pointed it at him."

Cotey said after he put the gun to Penley's legs, the gunman kicked him into the closet, where the two scuffled further, before Penley ran out of the classroom.

The school went into lockdown.

From there, Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said, Penley traversed the Milwee Middle School campus before ending up in a bathroom. By then, more than 40 officers, including SWAT and negotiators, were on scene. He refused to drop the firearm, Eslinger said, and was shot after pointing it at a SWAT deputy.

Jeffery Swofford said Penley had been in a disagreement with someone, allegedly over a girl. There was going to be a fight Friday, he said. "I heard a rumor that he had a BB gun, but I didn't think he really had one," he added.

    Family to donate organs of shot eighth-grader, UT, 14.1.2006, http://usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-14-school-shooting_x.htm