Shooter Murders Policemen
04 April 2009 9:53 pm by Taylor Marsh
Distraught over losing his job, 23 year-old man Richard Poplawski told a friend he was “going to die today,” then after police were called to his home checking out some sort of “domestic disturbance,” which still hasn’t been fully explained, he opened fire murdering two cops, then, proceeded to have a gunbattle that had SWAT and other Pittsburgh teams on the scene firing over 100 rounds.
A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and “lying in wait” opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday, killing three of them and turning a quiet Pittsburgh street into a battlefield, police said.
[...] 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.
Perkovic, 22, 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.” [...]
This follows a similar pattern in other homicides when the shooter involved often telegraphs violence to come, whether to himself or others.
But the report that, according to his friend, Poplawski was afraid of some fictional Obama gun ban was on its way, reveals a loose grasp on reality by the shooter. The only thing to which Obama is committed with regards to guns is enforcing the laws, which is as it should be.
However, one element in today’s world that also plays a part, particularly since the shooter mentioned an Obama gun ban that is a fear threat of the right used by people like the N.R.A., is that people like Poplawski are the perfect target for the right-wing fearmongering hate speech circling the media airwaves since conservatives lost their hold on everything.
But no one is responsible for the cold blooded murders of the three policeman but Richard Poplawski.
That the shooter warned something was coming, however, even supposedly saying he was “going to die tonight,” is a not a minor part of this story. Everyone needs to take words of this nature seriously when they hear them. In these troubled, fragile times, when the bottom has fallen out of lives, we can’t afford to shrug these dire statements off.
Prayers go out to the families of the slain Pittsburgh officers and the larger police family there, all of whom are grieving.
Let’s not forget what happened in NYS yesterday either. Violence certainly has gripped this nation. My prayers go out to all the families from yesterday and today. It’s such a terrible tragedy.
Here in the Springs we have people forcing their way into homes when the people open the door. I told hubby that I’m going to lock the storm door from now on. As nice a neighborhood as this is, I don’t trust anyone anymore. It is so sad that we have to live like this.
I remember years ago when we live on the farm, we never had to lock the doors.
5 more DEAD today due to Gun Violence …
Faux Noise is winning some dirty message wars currently …
Okay, so the man goes to G-20 and not only gets agreements on more stimulus from outside the US, but stops a near fist-fight between two other country leaders. Then he goes to NATO and – despite negative predictions – gets them to agree on more help in Afghanistan. The DOW sees its best four weeks since 1933 – and on top of that he accurately predicts (probably) the NCAA tournament champs. Next weeks he may try walking on water just to see if it’s possible.
Fox News (O’Reilly) story ? OH MY GAWD. His ‘approval’ rating DROPPED from 62% last week to only 60% this week (using a survey with a +/- 5% error level). “America is Losing confidence in Obama!” (direct quote)
Yeah. And did we also mention he’s the anti-Christ and the world is coming to an end?
This is getting *really* pitiful.
“But no one is responsible for the cold blooded murders of the three policeman but Richard Poplawski.”
Ms. Marsh, I lovez ya, ya knowz I doz, BUT by your reconning here Hitler wasn’t responsible for the Deathcamps, the Leaders in Rawanda weren’t responsible for the Genocide and Jim Jones SURE couldn’t be held responsible for Congressman Ryans death and all those bodies rotting in the jungle were just a coincidence.
Can’t blame those folks just because someone was dumb or brainwashed enough to actually ACT on what the leaders/loudmouths had been saying.
Hell, maybe we even need to dig up a whole bunch of folks we buried after WW2 and apologize!
Come on, secularh, your argument seems to suggest that personal responsibility doesn’t exist. Hitler, seriously. As you note, leaders is plural and devised human destruction does imply conspiracy, etc. Everyone who joined the leaders were guilty, but you can’t blame children; that’s a different story. As for WW2, that’s just ridiculous. I’ll let it go at that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3MiD_U4CHQ
How ’bout a little kum ba ya?
I do agree with sec in the since there are those people who spread hate, fear, and lies for their own personal benefit ( a la NRA, Limbaugh, Beck, Malkin). When their poisonous seed falls on fertile ground they do have responsibility for the poisonous fruit of their labors.
Mr. Poplawski shot three people in cold blood, armed with an assault rifle and a bulletproof vest. He held off policemen for four hours. The notion that Obama indirectly caused this is obscene, and hypocritical. We need a ban on assault weapons, period. And while I disagree completely with the reasoning in Heller, it is pretty clear that such a ban would pass constitutional muster.
Did I say this nut case wasn’t responsible? Let me go back and check…NOPE! But he is the small fry. Beck, limpwithnoballs, the nutjobs at the NRA, that wackjob Bachman(I think that’s how you spell her name)
THEY are the ones instigating the nut cases. THEY bare ultimate responsibility. THEY need to be held accountable. Charlie Manson never killed anybody. Yet he’s doing life.
“but you can’t blame children; that’s a different story”
Scratches head…are you saying this nut job is the CHILD of limpwithnoballs, Beck and the rest of the nutcases? I don’t understand this line at all Ms. Marsh, lovenotwithstanding.
secular
It’s akin to screaming “fire” in a crowded theatre and the expressing dismay that some people are trampled to death.
You brought up Rawanda, secularh, and the continent of Africa where children are indeed involved in the genocide.
ogenec says (and others who agree):
05 April 2009 at 9:46 am
You need to do a bit of studying on assault weapons and guns, because “banning” them doesn’t do squat. There are always parts to buy that will allow anyone to have an assault weapon outside the ban. Please also explain why a law abiding citizen should be kept from owning any firearm he or she wants. Gun collectors, some of whom never fire a shot, should be kept from owning guns because of some nut job? Really? But even if they do fire the guns, why again should they not be able to own them?
The sanctimonious tone is much appreciated, TM. I know a fair amount about guns, thanks. And I may be rightly accused of many things, but not being thoughtful is not one of them.
Let’s turn to your logic. You contend that “a law abiding citizen should [not] be kept from owning any firearm he or she wants.” That’s extreme libertarianism, and a philosophy this country has utterly rejected in just about every other instance. Take the debate about Wall Street, as one example. Applying your logic, why should the innocent Wall Street banker be subject to severe restrictions on remuneration because of a few thieves? Here’s another — Why should any drugs (not just cannabis) be outlawed, just because a few addicts overindulge? Here’s a third — Why should there be speed limits, just because a few people are incapable of handling their cars at high speed? Here’s a fourth — why have antitrust regulations at all? What’s wrong with monopolies, as long as they make good products?
The answer to your question is fairly obvious, and is the same for the hypotheticals I posed: in each such case, society has determined that the benefits to the few are outweighed by the risks to the many. So, as much as I resent it, I have to idle at 45-65 mph when I drive a car capable of 200 mph with ease. For you, that will mean you can shoot or display most guns. Just not AK-47s. It’s a small cost that you and I should willingly pay for the protections afforded by society.
By the way, I have had enough of this “rugged individualist” mentality to make me puke. It’s completely fake. If, all of a sudden, this country reverted to a Lockeian, survival-of-the-fittest mentality, very few espousing this claptrap would actually make it.
Ahhh, the old “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” argment. Give me a break. Look at all the shootings of the last 2 weeks. These people don’t have guns, guess what, chances are these violent acts don’t happen. I didn’t hear of them stabbing someone to death. Without the idiocy of the gun culture in this country, and that includes you Taylor, many, many crimes and deaths would not occur, and that includes policeman being gunned down.
I never read a story about some “law abiding citizen” getting the chance to protect themselves. 99% of these stories is someone using the guns to kill innocent people. Guns should be banned, period, unless you hunt or are law enforcement. And this is coming from someone whose entire family are NRA members. Guns kill people because they give them the feeling of power they normally would not have, not to mention the opportunity from a distance they normally would not take otherwise.
You are wrong Taylor and the NRA is wrong. Guns kill people every day.
Prayers go out to the families of the slain Pittsburgh officers and the larger police family there, all of whom are grieving.
Remember the family and friends of Poplawski, too. In addition to their grief, they must also contend with the shame and responsibility they must feel for the actions of a very sick man.
I wonder if we will hear any stories in the MSM of the culpability of folks like Beck and Bachman and Bill’O and Rush in these crimes?
The guy in Tenn killed all of those people because they were “liberal” and instead of the field day the press would have had if the dude had had Al franken’s books in his car there was not much after the 1st few days.
No one in the MSM called out the purveyors of this BS hate speech. We have free speech, but you are also accountable for your words.
Now we have a cop killer who truly belived the BS the NRA and the gun makers have been spreading since Obama was elected and this may have played into his delusions.
I want these groups, these purveyors of hate shamed on national TV. I want them to have to do interview after interview explaining why none of this has anything to do with them. This shit has got to stop…on both sides.
Of course “law abiding citizens” should have a right to own guns, the only problem is that you never know when one of those “law abiding citizens” just might snap and use their legally obtained weapon to take out a few of their neighbors.
Here is Arkansas there was a big stink because the weekly newspaper had a link, on their website, to the public record of who has a conceal and carry permit.
Jesus, you would think the man had accused them all of being puppy killers. The stink that was raised, the death threats that were made and yes, even the legislature had to get involved. I think I have a right to know if my crazy neighbor has a gun. This week a bill was brought up to “protect the right to hunting” here. Nuts…they are NUTS.
and in the end, i give you Eddie Izzard on “People kill people”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsN0FCXw914
If I was the family of one of these officers, I would be asking some serious questions on air from the networks that allow Lou Dobbs(CNN), Hannity, Beck(Fox), et al, spout their poison on air everyday. This is like a dog whistle to people with mental issues already. I would also be asking the members of congress and the senate how long they are going to allow people like Michelle Bachman and Diaper Dave Vitter to encourage people to revolution and tea parties. Somebody has got to say enough is enough.
I can find no better person to ask the question, than a family member who has lost someone dear to them, because of this craziness. Just as John Walsh and other have done, they can turn their personal tragedy into something that will do good for the country and stop this from happening in the future.
I am all for free speech, but when you are inciting people to violence that must be considered a crime and a menace to our society.
ogenec says:
05 April 2009 at 10:58 am
chazmonk says:
05 April 2009 at 1:34 pm
People still don’t get and won’t address that “banning” assault weapons won’t actually ban anything fully. Call it “sanctimony” if you want, change the subject, say I’m wrong it you like, but it’s a fact.
People driving cars, driving while drunk also kill. Liquor kills. Tobacco kills. The list is endless.
We also have a lot of very good gun laws, but we also need a database, and to use our technology better as well, and that’s just for starters. We are not members of the NRA because they’re extreme, as well as part of the problem, because they stand in the way of common sense transparency on guns. That’s where people should focus as well.
Taylor Marsh says:
05 April 2009 at 8:59 pm
I addressed the futility argument quite well, methinks. To use my analogy about speeding, people still speed regardless of speed limits. And ingest drugs, regardless of their prohibition. Same with prostitution.
Guns are no different than speeding, drugs, or prostitution. There will never be 100% compliance. But, at the margin, proscribing these activities means that some people don’t engage in them. All else equal, that in turn means some people are spared loss of life and limb as a result. And that’s a good thing. Only hard core libertarians think otherwise, like the folks at Reason. And they’re just Ayn Rand nuts.
The “sanctimonious” charge was not based on your views, which I respect, but on your telling me very snidely to “do a bit of studying.” In case you hadn’t realized, I’ve studied quite a bit. And I’m studied by nature
“Taylor Marsh says:
05 April 2009 at 10:11 am
You brought up Rawanda, secularh, and the continent of Africa where children are indeed involved in the genocide.”
Ms. Marsh, I lovez ya, ya knowz dat. But I am in a smiling (if it’s possible to smile over this sort of thing)state of amazement. Rawanda was an attempted Genocide against the minority Tutsi population by the majority Hutu population instigated and fueled by radio broadcasts exhorting the Hutus to “exterminate the cockroaches” etc. etc.
Straight up politicol leader instigated Genocude.
The Child soldiers are more Sudan and Somalia and the Congo. Also Uganda. I never referanced them, reprehensable as the military, or gun thugs, may be it’s murder and not Genocide.
I’m all for a 100% enforcement of existing gun laws along with a mandatory reporting to a central location any and all criminal and mental records relavent to gun ownership.
I can kill you just as dead with my black powder navy Colt and because it’s a kit it dosen’t even come under the jurisdiction or control of “Gun Laws”
When I was younger and crazyer I was a full fledged “gun nut” and had axcess to ALL maner of fire arms and ordinance. If you want it, it’s out there.