3 officers shot in Pittsburgh

[cali]

Source: CNN


Posted: 08:45 AM ET
(CNN) — Three officers were shot in Pittsburgh on Saturday, as they responded to a domestic call, Allegheny County police confirmed.

A gunman is apparently holed up inside a home in the western Pennsylvania city. The conditions of the officers were not known.

Police couldn’t say whether the officers were from the city, the county or other departments. There were no further details.



Read more: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com /

[Tim01]

1. Uh oh. A domestic call.

Police hate domestic calls because frequently emotions area running dangerously high.

[Junkdrawer]

2. Stanton Heights...n/t

[cloudbase]

12. I haven't lived in the 'burgh for over 35 years,

but I remember Stanton Heights being a reasonably nice area. Have things changed there?

[Junkdrawer]

13. Not really. That's why this is getting big local media coverage....

Shootings in middle class neighborhoods are rare....

[theoldman]

3. A local officer got shot when he knocked on the door.

It was the result of poor training. You don't stand in front of a door if the guy inside may have a gun that can shoot right through the door.

[bitchkitty]

4. Three were shot.

It sounds a bit more complicated than that. Hope they're okay.

[Junkdrawer]

6. Channel 12 just had an eye witness who reports automatic weapon fire earlier...n/t

[cali]

5. per CNN- It's a hostage situation. over 80 shots have been fired. n/t

[tigereye]

7. a relative of mine lives not too far from there - big news item here...

typically it's a very quiet middle class neighborhood...

[slackmaster]

8. Every cop I know says domestic calls are the worst part of their jobs

They'd rather go after gang-bangers or roust drunks.

[Bunny]

9. Channel 4 reporting that some or all of the injured officers are still pinned down

under fire and emergency crews are unable to reach them. The person inside the home has an AK 47 rifle He is reported to be a23 year old white male, there may be one other person in the house.

[cali]

10. This will not end well

It's unlikely that whoever he's holding hostage, will survive.

[bread_and_roses]

11. I'm sure some defender of an omni-armed citizenry will be here soon to correct

the name/type/calibre/whatever of the firearm used, as they did yesterday in one of the Binghamton threads, going on about the inaccuracy of reporters and "excess verbiage" of gun/rifle/firearm descriptions, as if that matters one iota to the dead and bereaved.

As I have close ties to both Binghamton and Allegheny County I am feeling even more enraged that in this country one is apparently never safe from some crank or nut or psychotic - breakdown victim with a gun/rifle/bazooka whatever else floating around out there in US in vast and untracked numbers of private hands, unlike virtually everywhere else in the civilized world.

[krispos42]

14. It doesn't matter to the dead and bereaved

It matters for the inevitable public-policy discussion that follows.

Remember when incorrect facts go unchallenged and unchecked throughout the media? Little thing called "Saddam attacked us on 9/11".

[bread_and_roses]

18. I am all for accuracy in reporting, BUT

to focus on the particulars of the type of weapon in the immediate aftermath of over-whelming human tragedy strikes me as a peculiarly blinkered focus. Rather like nit-picking over the tonnage, or whatever, of the bomb while the dismembered and incinerated ramains of children are being removed from the hut or slum in Iraq or Afghanistan.

And in the end, with guns in US, it really doesn't seem to matter much, does it? Whatever the type, every day people die tragically at the hands of fanatics, crazies, regardless.

[hack89]

19. I matters a lot if you want to craft policies that actually solve the problem

it is not nit picking. The original AWB is a classic example - a poorly crafted law that had no appreciable impact on the number of rifles on the streets or violent crime.

[bread_and_roses]

21. It does not matter in the first hours of a tragedy

which is what is being discussed - at least by me. As for the rest, I try to aviod engagement with the gun-rights crowd here, so go right ahead, I am done, as my original point was that the exact details of the weaponry do not interest me. I got drawn in here by being personally connected to these areas, but a scan of recent news raises the probability that some such scenario is coming soon to a theatre near you and everyone else, so I suspect I'll have lots of sad company.

[hack89]

25. It does matter if people

turn it into a means to advance a political agenda. Anyone that wants to restrict personal freedoms on emotion and bad facts needs to be challenged immediately - look no further than the Patriot act to see the danger.

[Junkdrawer]

29. Yeah, it's going to get harder and harder to get police support for the NRA agenda....

A real tragedy...

[hack89]

31. The police cannot be trusted to defend your freedoms

there is a reason why "police" is so important in becoming a police state. The police have always been an obstacle to civil rights - why should they then have any special say in changing the Bill of Rights? Do you care what they say about the first amendment in regards to wire tapping for example? I didn't see many cops criticizing the Patriot Act.

[krispos42]

32. I agree

However, both sides of the issue tend to jump onto the hardware as soon as it happens.




Considering the state of the economy and financial system, I'm not surprised this is happening. Saddened, but I figured this was going to happen as the layoffs and forclosures mounted.



Historically, mass shootings are very rare events. I made this chart from DoJ data, and posted it with the overall homicide rate for comparison.







However, something tells me there's going to be a big spike in the orange line this year

[Paladin]

33. Standard Gun Nut Practice.

They rant and rave about the media not having a perfect description of the firearm used---as if initial reports from a Godawful tragedy like this one are 100% accurate. What you have to keep in mind is that to gun obsessives, these slaughters are a perfectly acceptable tradeoff for their ability to keep their gun safes crammed full. They oppose every single

[X_Digger]

44. Two things...

The description of the gun is important when legislators try to use the emotion from an event like this to pass an agenda item that would have nothing to with the situation. Imagine a toddler dies in a boating accident and then legislators call for the banning of spoons.

Secondly, as I said in another post, the cost of a free society is that some aberrant individual will abuse that freedom. The answer is not to remove the freedom, the answer is to address the causes of aberrant behavior. Yes it is a trade off, but one our government lives by- freedom isn't free.

[Paladin]

46. Oh, Brother.....

A temporary lack of perfectly accurate description of a firearm is tantamount to blaming a boating accident on spoons? That's not even a respectable effort on your part.

And howsabout enscribing "Freedom Isn't Free" on the victims' tombstones? Think what a comfort that would be to all the grieving families......

[X_Digger]

47. I agree- don't speculate at all until facts are known

I guess the result of having 24x7 coverage is that talking heads feel that they have to fill dead air with whatever rumor or speculation gets passed around- I call it bad journalism. Reminds me of the drivel coming from Faux news prefaced by 'sources say' that turned out to be hogwash.

[-..__...]

55. Well, if you mean 'now can we have reasonable/sensible gun control legislation'...

the answer is still a resounding no.

[cabluedem]

86. We need to crack down on the militia gun-nut types before they use a truck bomb. nt

[Bunny]

17. Family member reports that suspect is surrendering now.

[happyslug]

66. That is an awful picture of the shooter you posted

Gray suit, tie, beard, typical right wing dress. Probably has written articles in the New York Times by his looks, an maybe even be honored by some prize named after the the inventor of some explosive used in warfare.

Now Paul Krugman would OPPOSE what this shooter did, but by your picture of the Shooter Paul Krugman would have nothing to do with a man who appears as the man in your picture

Sarcasm off

Mt point is short statements and a large picture tend to become one, you are discussing the shooter and have a huge picture under your statement. People will connect the two, even if they are NOT related. I suggest you ditch the picture OR make a caption that clearly shows it is Paul Krugman NOT whoever you are making a statement about.

[Richardo]

72. Does it hurt when you stretch that hard?

Bunny's progressive bona fides are well known to the group.

[happyslug]

83. I know that, but the picture and comment are TO close

People have to be careful, this is a PUBLIC forum, and you have to write not only for people who know you, but also for people who don't.

[happyslug]

15. 1016 Fairfield Avenue, Stanton Heights, Picture of House

http://images.county.allegheny.pa.us/CLTcgi2/webimage.d...
http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Images.as...

Owner is a "POPLAWSKI MARGARET CATHERINE" according to the Allegheny County Assessment web site.

Picture map of area:
http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Map.aspx?...

1015 looks very similar, but across the street:
http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Images.as...

[ohio2007]

16. "Little boxes" on a hillside..... nt

[bigworld]

22. wow, you're good, Slug... thanks

[happyslug]

65. Every house in Allegheny County is on line....

The web site was opened up as part of the settlement of the long on-going tax assessment problem starting in the early 1990s. Today, assessments in Allegheny County is done annually, and updated on line as the assessments are done. The one line part of the program was to give people easy assess to HOW their home was accessed and access to comparable homes to make sure everyone knew why their home was assesses as it was.

[Bunny]

20. JUST CONFIRMED: TWO OFFICERS ARE DEAD, THIRD IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION

There is a fourth injured officer that they have not been able to get to yet.

[Junkdrawer]

23. They probably held that back so that the shooter would surrender....

and release the hostage.

[qanda]

24. I am from Pittsburgh and I have family who live in Staton Heights

My heart is just sick over this.

[Bunny]

26. THIRD OFFICER HAS DIED, SUSPECT HAS SURRENDERED

Fourth wounded officer is believed to have a hand wound. Suspect's mother in law is believed to be in the house, she is wounded too. House may be booby-trapped.

[qanda]

27. Information is coming out that at least five officers have been injured

Three officers have been killed.

On edit: Five may be the total shot, including the three that have died.

[Junkdrawer]

28. 23 yr, old Ex-Marine...May have used an AK-47...

Iraq Blowback?

[Bunny]

30. He was dishonorably discharged from the Marines for mental issues.

[slackmaster]

45. Which means federal law prohibits him from possessing any kind of firearm

[Brooklyns_Finest]

49. dishonorable Discharge?

I have never known anyone to be dishonorably discharged for mental illness. To my knowledge, there is nothing dishonorable about having a mental disorder. If his commanders deemed he was unfit to serve due to his illness, I would assume he would have recieved a general or administrative discharge. I am not a JAG officer, so I might be wrong. If anyone knows the policy please let me know.

[uppityperson]

56. Even Steven Green was "honorably" discharged. RIP Abeer, Hadeel, Fakhriya and Qassim.

Google Steven Dale Green, if you don't know who he was.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Artic...

[Posteritatis]

53. Last I checked mental illness isn't a crime, even under the UCMJ

He had to have done something else.

[cabluedem]

85. Another Tim McViegh in the making. Well, not now since he is in jail. n/t

[sufrommich]

34. From Free Republic:

To: PennsylvaniaMom
Get ready, people.

I live in Western PA. The murderer is an ex marine whose friend claims he was upset at the current direction of our government. The friend is claiming that the murderer is upset at his rights being taken away by the current government. This is what the news is now reporting locally.

Three officers have been killed. Two more officers have been injured.



132 posted on Saturday, April 04, 2009 11:38:09 AM by wpa_mikeb
< Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies>

[JayMusgrove]

35. Well, if what that Freeper is saying is TRUE, (seldom the case),

they should have taken THIS guy's guns away long ago!


In my opinion, when we let people have guns after being discharged from the military for mental health issues, I think we need to re-think SOMETHING about gun ownership.

I know, guns don't kill people, people do, but geeze, if we know some "people" having guns are a big risk, let's think about what we can do to save police person's lives.

[PA Democrat]

37. Two local news stations have reported similar stories.

One report from a neighbor said he was "politically active" and "very unhappy" about the state of the country. Another station said a friend reported that he was a "gun enthusiast" who was very unhappy about "the direction" the country was heading. And there was another comment from a friend I believe, something to the effect that he was worried about "his rights".

I guess it will be a while before all the facts are sorted out, but it does indeed sound like this is a guy who should not be permitted to own weapons. The police have responded to domestic calls at the same house in the past.

One station said that he started firing at the police as they were approaching the house or getting out of the car. They described the situation as an "ambush".

[sufrommich]

38. Very sad. Thanks for the updates. nt

[JayMusgrove]

39. Thanks for the update. I agree, this guy

was a loose cannon, and now 3 police are dead.

[llmart]

42. We need more rightwing, hate radio shows......

so they can keep these kind of people riled up.

[KillCapitalism]

43. Mmm...yeah.

Shooter was probably a fervent Rush listener and Hannity & Glenn Beck viewer.

[RamboLiberal]

81. Get this - local Pittsburgh radio wingnut host on KDKA Dmitri

was going to interview someone from the Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence and ask them if they feel like they bear any blame because they make people fear their guns are going to be taken away.

This jerk also works for Dicky Mellon Scaife's Tribune Review.

No, he should look at his own conscience and that of his fellow wingnut hosts like Mike Pintek and Fred Honzberger who are constantly putting crap on that Obama is going to take your guns, birther idiots like Berg, calling Obama "Dear Leader", etc.

Tonight from what I'm hearing about this killer being a wingnut who feared Obama taking his guns I think the local wingnut idiots at KDKA radio and that other piece of crap Jim Quinn and his Warroom have the blood of these officers on their hands!

[llmart]

93. You are so right...

I, too, feel they are partly responsible for it. This is nothing but the Clinton era redux. That's when this whole meme about "Democrats are going to take your guns away" stuff started. That's when that stellar human being McVeigh got riled up. I think they need to put a stop to these programs. We need to start boycotting their sponsors and letting them know why.

[PA Democrat]

36. Local news reported that neighbors said the shooter was "politically active"

and was "very unhappy" about the state of the country.

Another report was he was expelled from a local Catholic high school for "disciplinary problems". He joined the Marines but never made it out of boot camp. He was kicked out but no info as to why.

Police have responded to domestic calls at the same home in the past.

The two surviving officers don't seem to have life-threatening injuries. One has a gun shot wound to his hand and the other suffered a broken leg.

[progressivebydesign]

74. he also had a failed radio show and was obsessed with gun rights.

There is a reason why someone like him SHOULDN'T have a gun. Thank you to the NRA, and hate-mongers like Limbaugh and Beck, for egging on these violent paranoids.

[Blue_Tires]

80. RE: the Marines...

the MSNBC story said he threw a tray of food at a drill instructor....yeah, this was a real cool-headed one....

[RamboLiberal]

82. He was kicked out of the Marines for throwing a food tray at a DI

PUNK ASS LOSER!

[Blue_Tires]

51. so what was his screen name, I wonder?

and I wonder which books from our favorite usual suspects will be found at his house?

[PA Democrat]

52. Scroll down to post #48 to see the video of the interview of the shooter's

best friend. The guy held some twisted ideas.

[pinniped]

70. The Turner Diaries seems to be a favorite of this type.

.

[hedgehog]

60. "Get ready, people"? Ready for what? Demands for gun control

or an uprising? Free Republic is scary.

[New Dawn]

78. If the FBI spent more time spying on the GOP...

And less time trying to prevent Americans from visiting Cuba and organizing ant-war protests, less people would get killed in incidents like this.

[PA Democrat]

40. Richard Poplawski has been identified as the shooter.

Friend reported that Poplawski was very vocal about his political views and about his views on gun rights, but never dreamed his friend would do something like this.

Reporters have found his My Space page.

[happyslug]

63. Must have been his mother's house, see my previous thread on the house

#15
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

The woman who is named on the title may not be his mother, but she has the same last name and purchased the property in 1999, 10 years ago when the now 23 year old ex-marine would have been 13 years of age, which is why I assume the owner is his Mother.

[pam4water]

41. CNN TV is still such on the Bringhamton storey. Local press conference on

Pittsburgh Stations at 3:00 pm today. Wonder if CNN will carrier it.

[PA Democrat]

48. OMG. Shooter was afraid that our "Zionist controlled government"

was going to take his guns away. Listen to the interview of the shooter's best friend. Someone fed this guy some pretty sick ideas.

http://www.wpxi.com/video/19094713/index.html

[Brooklyns_Finest]

50. This is bad

I really didn't think people like this really exist. People really believe the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Mike Savage, and Glenn Beck.

This one has nothing to do with guns and everything to do with hate radio and the republican party.

[hedgehog]

61. What's scary is that while the shooter is reportedly mentally ill,

the friend who purports to be "normal" appears to accept the description "our "Zionist controlled government"".

[JayMusgrove]

67. I noticed that, too! I wonder if

there are a lot of others out there who "appear normal" and believe all this right wing antisemitic bull....

And we have Rush and the rest of the flamers firing these people up.

Disgraceful

[llmart]

79. Oh, you don't have to wonder.......

I think there are plenty of them out there.

[KamaAina]

54. See, if only police officers had guns...

...oh never mind.

[gizmo1979]

57. Hey I had the same Idea

in another post.What will gun nuts use for an excuse this time?

[rainbow4321]

58. Looks like he made a youtube video

Not of himself but he put together different clips of stuff.

Um...the "stick figures fighting" part might tell a little more about his frame of mind, shall we say?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l22Oh8kkTU

[CANDO]

59. CrooksandLiars has FauxNews saying he feared Obama taking his guns.

Two friends of his say he was convinced Obama was soon going to ban guns and infringe on his rights. The wing nuts are losing their minds. My mother's husband(both fairly reasonable Repubs up to now) has been e-mailing me survivalist web sites lately. I don't know what the hell he expects out of me. He knows where I stand politically.

[hedgehog]

62. Too bad someone didn't take this guy's guns away!

The people who knew him best also knew he had guns.

[951-Riverside]

64. Idiot.

2-3 weeks after 4 officers were killed in Oakland and 24 hours after 14 people were killed in NY the buffoon decides to make a statement about gun rights by killing 3 cops.

...Some help he is to his "cause".

[hedgehog]

68. Well, I wouldn't try to put much meaning into what he claimed he was thinking.

He could just as easily have shot the cops thinking they were pod people coming to "turn" him. It just so happened that his paranoia was camouflaged by accepted attitudes in his social circle. People were upset after the Virginia Tech shootings because the people who realized the shooter was losing touch with reality didn't notify anyone in authority. I'm not certain that even if they had put the information on a billboard, he couldn't have gone out and legally bought a gun.

[pinniped]

69. Yesterday, before the NY shooter's identity was known, some nuts on a gun-nut site were....

carping about how other people thought a white conservative guy was thought to be the immigrant killer.

While they were vindicated yesterday, they are mad as hell today.

Some of these same nuts believe the anti-gun forces are programming or paying people to go berzerk in order to further their agenda.

I think some of those guys really believe this.

The sky is falling, even Faux is turning on them.

Quote from nut: However, the media is sensationalizing it... yes, even FOX News sadly enough.

[Why Syzygy]

77. Can someone tell these

loons that Obama isn't going to CHANGE the Constitution?
If we can't even disarm Iraqis, "we" sure cannot disarm American citizens.
They would have to turn all the pot smokers out of prison to make room for the gun holdouts.

[osaMABUSh]

71. Richard "Pop" Poplawski video on youtube

He posted this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l22Oh8kkTU SICK

[progressivebydesign]

73. the gunman was apparently obsessed with Pres. Obama "taking away his guns"

And that piece of human filth decides that murdering 3 officers in an ambush, with an AK-47, is somehow a way to prove that they shouldn't be.

THIS is the garbage that Limbaugh and the NRA peddle for $$$$$. All along they have played to the unstable minds out there... what is entertainment to Limbaugh and the other haters, is like gasoline on the fire of mental illness and paranoia.

RIP to the officers... too many gun deaths, too much grief. When will we ever lose the NRA stranglehold in America??? England had 59 gun deaths in 2006, we had over 10,000.

[Pavulon]

75. Swiss had 34..Not about guns

about people.

[boilinmad]

88. 'gun rights'....

...what a ridiculous concept. GUNS FUCKING SUCK.

[Pavulon]

89. Yep, zurich is a variable darfur...?

and people have weapons? how is it possible. Work harder, convince others of your position and amend the constitution. The did it with booze. Stunning success.

[xocet]

76. If the SWAT Team had had guns, this would not have happened!

The situation is tragic.

One should remember how badly those 2nd Amendment "Rights" need to be protected, so that a safe society may exist for all. (Note: if one wants a gun so badly, one should join the "militia" and get access to one's own gun! Nowadays, the militia is called the National Guard or the US Army or the US Marines or the US Navy or the US Air Force or the US Coast Guard....)

How MANY shootings have there been in how many days now - 3, 4, 5? How many is ENOUGH? Does the NRA and its band of merry defenders want more of this? Apparently, SO!

Frankly, having guns in the hands of the populace does not appear to be a very good solution to any particular sort of problem. How about trying something different instead of clinging mightily to something that just does not work? Let's improve the country and regulate guns more strictly - not go backwards societally to the Wild West.

P.S. Fuck the NRA; they are clearly part of the problem at this point, not part of the solution.

P.P.S. While I DO NOT advocate the action that this following statement implies, I sometimes think that it would take some deranged moron to expend a few clips at an NRA Convention for them to wake up to the reality is that all they have is a false sense of security.

[cabluedem]

87. What would NRA Pres. Heston say if he could see how many people are getting killed? nt

[Pavulon]

90. So you are campaigning to amend the 2nd, or just jacking?

there is clear legal structure around the ownership of firearms. However if you wish a ban, enact one. I am sure it will be a wonderful success, like the war on drugs and prohibition. I mean how hard is it to get some weed, coke, hookers? All banned. All over the place.

Good luck.

What exactly do you plan to regulate?

[gauguin57]

84. I heard the shooter was "afraid Obama would take his guns away."

Right-wing radio and Faux News have the BLOOD OF THOSE POLICE OFFICERS on their hands. Repeating over and over the lie that Obama said he'd take everyone's guns away. They repeat it till the sheeple believe it, and then go off the deep end.

May the lying right-wing media rot in hell for what they've done.

[panzerfaust]

91. His best Friend said ...

(reportedly) "Poplawski had feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon", said Edward Perkovic, his best friend."

He won't have his guns to play with in prison either. Wonder if he thought about that?

Wonder if he was a right-to-life advocate, it would be consistent with what I take as the general conservative view that "right to life" ends at birth - else how can they support all the death and dying their political view glories in?

Mark up three more for the fun-with-guns lobby. To me it sounds as though he was too mentally unstable to be an owner of firearms under any reasonable law.

[dropkickpa]

92. Okay, I live very close to this area

Heard the gunshots, and know several the guy's neighbors. As per the police officers I know who heard the initial 911 call and the neighbors who were stuck in their basements during the stand-off (including the one whose house is all shot up now), the initial 911 call was his mom calling because when he came home drunk and him and her got in a fight about their dog (don't know if it was his or hers) pissing and shitting on the floor. She called 911, made no mention that he had guns and she didn't give any indication that he was any sort of threat, let alone had assault weapons, then she barricaded herself in their basement before police got there. The son, wearing a bullet proof vest, immediately opened fire when he opened the door to the police, killing the first 2 responding officers.