Gunmen Kills Three Pittsburgh Police Officers PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) ―
Police officers leave the scene of a shooting April 4, 2009, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said.
Friends said 23 year-old Richard Poplawski feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.
Three officers were killed.
Police planned to release more details at a 3 p.m. news conference Saturday.
Poplawski was arrested after a several-hour standoff.
One witness reported hearing hundreds of shots.
The shootings occurred just two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.
Poplawski's friends at the scene described him as a young man who thought the Obama administration would ban guns.
One friend, Edward Perkovic, said Poplawski feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon."
Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said he feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."
Perkovic, a 22-year-old who said he was Poplawski's best friend, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, "Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell your family I love them and I love you."
Perkovic said: "I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot."
Vire, 23, said Poplawski once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful.
Vire said his friend had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum.
Another friend, Joe DiMarco, said Poplawski had been laid off from his job at a glass factory earlier this year.
DiMarco said he didn't know the name of the company, but knew Poplawski had been upset about losing his job.
The officers were called to the home in the Stanton Heights neighborhood at about 7 a.m.
Tom Moffitt, 51, a city firefighter who lives two blocks away, said he heard about the shooting on his scanner and came to the scene, where he heard "hundreds, just hundreds of shots. And not just once - several times."
Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said he heard rapid gunfire as he was letting his dog out.
He said the neighborhood of well-kept single-family houses and manicured lawns is home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city workers.
"It's just a very quiet neighborhood," Gift said.
http://kdka.com/local/officers.shot.Stanton.2.975820.html
FAILED LIFE FOR KILLER 'COWARD'
The lunatic behind the Binghamton massacre was a pathetic, gun-loving coward who got divorced, lost his job and was driven to depression because he could barely speak English after many years in the United States, officials and people who knew him said yesterday.
His life in the pits, Jiverly Wong, 41, became a regular at Gander Mountain, a sporting goods store, in the six months leading up to the rampage, buying and returning as many as six guns after firing each a few times.
Wong -- who has a daughter in California, according to a coworker -- would get agitated when staffers had trouble with his broken English.
"He would get frustrated," Dave Henderson, who taught a class at the store, told the Press & Sun Bulletin of Binghamton. "There was times I wouldn't even talk to him anymore."
It was not clear if that was where he bought the two guns found on his body after Friday's massacre: 9mm and .45-caliber pistols.
His former co-workers at the ShopVac vacuum-cleaner assembly facility were equally frustrated by his communication problems, and were worried about his gun-loving ways.
On Mondays, when asked about his weekends, Wong routinely replied, "I went to a shooting range," said ex-colleague David Carrico, 18.
"He liked shooting guns. I was worried he would come into work one day, get angry and shoot us all."
It wasn't until five months after his November firing from ShopVac that he finally did snap -- but he directed his rage elsewhere, at the language school from which he essentially flunked out.
Wong on Friday picked up a pair of guns, hoisted a bulging sack of ammunition and marched maniacally into the American Civic Association, killing 13 people before turning the gun on himself. Another four victims remain hospitalized, but are expected to survive.
A clearer picture emerged yesterday of Wong's tale of woe before his grisly end.
The last 10 years of his sorry life included cocaine addiction, a bank-heist plan that never came to fruition, a divorce and lost jobs in New York and California.
Wong -- who at one point changed his last name to Voong, and also sometimes went by the name Linh -- was born in Vietnam to an ethnic Chinese family.
He came to the United States in the early 1990s with his family and became a naturalized citizen.
Wong quickly wound up in trouble, as court records in Los Angeles show that he was charged with forgery in 1992. It's not clear what became of the case. His family finally settled in Binghamton.
He got a gun permit in the mid-1990s.
New York officials investigated him in 1999 after an informant said that he was planning to rob a bank and had a "crack or cocaine" habit, Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said. Nothing came of the allegations.
A couple of years later, Wong left for California, where he got a job driving a delivery truck for Kikka Sushi and lived in a cheap Inglewood motel. At the fleabag pay-by-the-month joint -- near the airport with bars on the windows -- all he had in his room was a bed and a 52-inch TV, fellow tenant Eric Sherman told The Post.
"All he would do is sit inside his apartment and chain-smoke," he said. "He didn't talk much and I just thought he didn't talk because he didn't really speak English."
Los Angeles court records also show that Wong was married. He was divorced in July 2005.
That was quickly followed by his abrupt departure from Kikka Sushi -- and the West Coast altogether.
Wong complained he was disgruntled at the company, where he made $500 per week.
Back in Binghamton, Wong was able to hold down a steady job at ShopVac until he was laid off, but was again upset over his low pay.
"I work so hard, but they only pay me $8 an hour," he complained to colleague Donald Ackley.
He was also tormented by some coworkers and sat alone in the lunchroom.
"Sometimes they picked on him a little bit," he said. "They would say, 'It's wrong, it's Wong, it's wrong, it's Wong.' "
Depressed and angry, he tried to better himself in the area where he was most vulnerable: his lack of English skills. He enrolled in an intermediate-level class at the association.
But once again he failed by hardly bothering to show up.
"His attendance was so erratic, he was dropped," said Elisabeth Hayes, his English teacher, who was out on vacation on the day of the massacre. Her substitute, Roberta King, 72, wound up dead.
"This was a nasty act of irrationality. Why did he have to do that?" Hayes asked. "We could have been there for him if he needed support. The class was kind to him.
"It's a true American nightmare."
In his final months, Wong -- who wore a hearing aid, according to driving records -- was miserable, surviving on $200 in unemployment benefits and living in his parents' gritty home.
By the time he was ready to commit his cold-blooded crime, the only place he found solace was at a gym, a pal said.
"He seemed a little depressed," said Son Quach, a grocery-store owner who had worked out with him at the Court Jester gym in nearby Johnson City.
He also griped about a recent break-up with his girlfriend, but would not elaborate.
Wong was inconsolable and often whined about his "bad luck."
"We picked up that apparently people were making fun of him and he felt that he was being degraded because of his inability to speak English and he was upset about that," Zikuski said.
The police chief said Wong's suicide was his final act of failure.
Police believe Wong planned to go out in a blaze of glory in a gunfight with cops, but got cold feet when he heard sirens and put a bullet between his eyes.
"He must have been a coward," Zikuski said.
"We speculate that when he heard the sirens, he decided to end his own life. He was heavily armed, had a lot of ammunition on him and, thank God, before more lives were lost, that he decided to do that."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052009/news/nationalnews/failed_life_for_killer_coward_162952.htm
Murder Of 5 Children Shocks Wash. Trailer Park
Children, Ages 7 To 16, Found Dead In Home; Father's Body Found Miles Away
GRAHAM, Wash. (AP) ―
KIRO-TV Local Coverage Authorities were still puzzling Sunday over what might have driven a man to slaughter his five children inside their home.A single bouquet of flowers was left on a cinder block Sunday morning at the mobile home where the children were slain, apparently by their father, 34-year-old James Harrison, who also took his own life.The neighborhood was quieter Sunday morning. The dozens of investigators who swarmed the scene after the bodies were discovered Saturday had gone.A few people drove slowly past in the neatly kept mobile home, in a quiet park nestled among towering evergreens. The home's front yard was still littered with toys: bicycles, a swing set, a trampoline and a basketball hoop."How could something like this happen?" asked Mary Ripplinger, whose kids were playmates of the slain children. "Everyone's asking: Why did he do it? It's not right."A relative visiting the family's doublewide trailer at the Deer Run mobile home park Saturday couldn't get anyone to answer the door but looked through a window and glimpsed a child lying motionless on a bed.Pierce County deputies called to the home 15 miles southeast of Tacoma found four children murdered in their beds and the fifth slain in the bathroom. The four girls and the youngest child, a 7-year-old boy, apparently had been shot."This was not a tragedy. It was a rotten murder," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said. "This appears to be the terrible work of the biological father. If that doesn't break your heart, I don't know what does."Earlier Saturday, police found Harrison dead in his still-running car near the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, about 18 miles north of Graham and 30 miles south of Seattle.He had apparently killed himself with a rifle, Auburn Police Sgt. Scott Near said. No note was left in the car.The mother's aunt, Penny Flansburg, identified the couple as Angela and James Harrison and the children as Maxine, Samantha, Heather, Jamie and James. Harrison worked as a diesel mechanic and his wife works at Wal-Mart, Flansburg said.She was at a loss to explain the crime."They were pleasant together," Flansburg said. "We can't even figure out why."Ryan Peden, a classmate of the eldest daughter, who was 16, said she told him Friday night that her parents had gotten into a fight and her mother had left. The father followed the mother and tried to get her to return, said Peden, 16.Carolyn and Raymond Bader, former neighbors of the family, told The Seattle Times they often heard the father yelling at the children. The Baders said they called the sheriff's department and Child Protective Services several times with their concerns."We did all we could to help these kids," Raymond Bader said. "We tried to protect these kids. We did what we could."
http://cbs3.com/national/father.kids.dead.2.976262.html
This is an email i received just this past week, kind of goes a long with the first three articles, so take it for what it is worth
Here they go...please send this to everybody on your list...
Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.
Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into
the House.
This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.
Even gun shop owners didn't know about this because it is flying under
the radar.
To find out about this - go to any government website and type in HR 45
or Google HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of
2009. You will get all the information.
Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm - any rifle with
a clip or ANY pistol unless:
• It is registered
• You are fingerprinted
• You supply a current Driver's License
• You supply your Social Security #
• You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of
their choosing
• Each update - change or ownership through private or public sale must
be reported and costs $25 - Failure to do so you automatically lose
the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.
• There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a
child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any
child under 18.
They would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your
gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable
for up to 5 yrs. in prison.
If you think this is a joke - go to the website and take your pick of
many options to read this. It is long and lengthy. But, more and more
people are becoming aware of this. Pass the word along. Any hunters in
your family - pass this along.
Peter Boyles is on this and having guests. Listen to him on KHOW 630
a.m. in the morning. He suggests the best way to fight this is to tell
all your friends about it and "spring into action". Also he suggests
we all join a pro-gun group like the Colorado Rifle Association,
hunting associations, gun clubs and especially the NRA.
This is just a "termite" approach to complete confiscation of guns and
disarming of our society to the point we have no defense - chip away a
little here and there until the goal is accomplished before anyone
realizes it.
This is one to act on whether you own a gun or not.
If you take my gun, only the criminal will have one to use against me.
HR 45 only makes me/us less safe. After working with convicts for 26
years I know this bill, if passed, would make them happy and in less
danger from their victims.
http://thomas..loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.45:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45
You know that this was an honest mistake. The only way that it would have been a crossed line with Ms. Clinton's line if it would have been a lesbian sex line.
Reporters call Hillary Clinton, get phone sex line" (CNN) – Journalists who dialed in to a White House conference call Thursday hoping for a media-friendly reception got a far friendlier response than they were counting on.
Instead of hearing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones on the other end laying out foreign policy and security threats, reporters were greeted by a recording on a phone sex line.
"Do you have any hidden desires? If you feel like getting nasty, then you came to the right place," said a suggestive-sounding woman.
The White House says an aide merely mistyped the 800-dial in number — a mistake not likely to happen again.
It's a new administration, but an old problem: Some homeowners seeking mortgage relief from a Bush administration hotline in 2007 instead reached a Texas-based group that provides Christian education after President Bush slightly jumbled the correct number at a press briefing.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/02/reporters-want-hillary-clinton-get-phone-sex-line/
Last week my boy Hugo is hugging Irans president and now he is going to China, he is trying to become a big player and is worth watching.
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to visit China
April 5, 2009 - 2:50pm
BEIJING (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will pay a two-day visit to China starting Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said.
No other details of the visit were given in a brief ministry statement issued Sunday, although Chavez has said he plans to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Venezuela sees China as a partner in diversifying oil sales away from the United States, which buys about half the South American nation's heavy crude despite political tensions. The two countries plan to build four oil tankers and three refineries in China capable of processing Venezuelan crude.
China and Venezuela have invested in a $12 billion fund to finance joint development projects in areas including oil production, infrastructure and agriculture and to boost Venezuelan oil exports to China from 330,000 barrels to 1 million barrels a day by 2015.
The visit by Chavez follows a sweep through the Middle East last week, including a stop in Iran where he said on Wednesday that he has little hope of better relations with Washington under President Barack Obama because the United States was still acting like an "empire" in his eyes.
http://wtop.com/?nid=111&sid=1642602
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