Pittsburgh gunman kills 3 cops 'cuz he's afraid of a new AWB...

[AZRedhawk44]

No, I'm not making it up.

BP vest, assault rifle.  Creates domestic disturbance then lays in trap for police response.  Kills 3, gets in a gunfight with SWAT.  Lives through ordeal with bullet holes in his legs (because of the vest).

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512560,00.html

Condolences to the officers' families.

Legislatively, this is BAD.

PITTSBURGH —  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.

Police Chief Nate Harper said the motive for the shooting isn't clear, but friends said the gunman recently had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.

Richard Poplawski, 23, met officers at the doorway and shot two of them in the head immediately, Harper said. An officer who tried to help the two also was killed.

Click here for photos.

Poplawski, armed with an assault rifle and two other guns, then held police at bay for four hours as the fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them, according to police and witnesses. More than 100 rounds were fired by the SWAT teams and Poplawski, Harper said.

The three slain officers were Eric Kelly, 41, Stephen Mayhle, 29, and Paul Sciullo III, 37. Kelly had been on the force for 14 years, Mayhle and Sciullo for two years each. Another officer, Timothy McManaway, was shot in the hand and a fifth broke his leg on a fence.

Poplawski had gunshot wounds in his legs but was otherwise unharmed because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Harper said. He was charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault and a weapons violation.

The shooting occurred just two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. The officers were the first Pittsburgh city officers to die in the line of duty in 18 years.

"This is a solemn day and it's a very sad day in the city of Pittsburgh," Harper said. "We've seen this kind of violence happen in California. We never would think this kind of violence would happen in the city of Pittsburgh."

At 7 a.m., Sciullo and Mayhle responded to a 911 call from Poplawski's mother, who remained holed up in the basement during the entire dispute and escaped unharmed, Harper said.

Photo EssaysPittsburgh Police Shooting
When they arrived at the home, Sciullo was immediately shot in the head. Mayhle, who was right behind him, was also shot in the head.

"It appears he was lying in wait for the officers," Harper said.

Kelly, who was on his way home after completing his overnight shift when he heard the call for help, rushed to the scene and was killed trying to help Sciullo and Mayhle, Harper said. SWAT teams and other officers arrived and were immediately fired on as well.

Don Sand, who lives across the street from Poplawski, said he was woken up by the sound of gunfire. Hunkering down behind a wall in his home, he saw the first two officers go down and then saw Kelly get shot.

"They couldn't get the scene secure enough to get to them. They were just lying there bleeding," Sand said. "By the time they secured the scene enough to get to them it was way too late."

Poplawski 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."

Perkovic said: "I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot."

Poplawski had once tried to join the Marines, but was kicked out of boot camp after throwing a food tray at a drill sergeant, Perkovic said.

Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said Poplawski feared that President Barack Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."

Vire, 23, said Poplawski once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful. He said Poplawski owned an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum.

Obama has said he respects Americans' constitutional right to bear arms, but that he favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he would approve of curbs on ownership of assault and concealed weapons.

Poplawski had been laid off from his job at a glass factory earlier this year, said another friend, Joe DiMarco. DiMarco said he didn't know the name of the company, but knew his friend had been upset about it.

The last Pittsburgh police officers killed in the line of duty were Officers Thomas L. Herron and Joseph J. Grill, according to a Web site that tracks police killings. They died after their patrol car collided with another vehicle while chasing a stolen car on March 6, 1991.

In 1995, an off-duty officer was shot with his own gun after he confronted a group of teenagers about graffiti. Tests later showed the officer had been drinking.

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 133 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2008, a 27 percent decrease from year before and the lowest annual total since 1960.

Poplawski had often fought with neighbors and had even gotten into fist fights with a couple, Sand said.

"This is a relatively really quiet neighborhood except for him," Sand said. "He was just one of those kids that we knew to stay clear from."

Harper confirmed police had responded to calls from the Poplawski house several times but said the incidents were still being investigated.

Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said the well-kept single-family houses with manicured lawns are home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city workers.

"It's just a very quiet neighborhood," Gift said.

[Standing Wolf]

Poplawski 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.

Too convenient. I don't mean it couldn't be true. I mean I don't believe the raw number of purported "mere coincidences" I've been seeing lately.

[Matthew Carberry]

Are there "more" or is that just a perception fueled by media attention?

[RocketMan]

There have been a lot lately.  Including this one, we are up to 47 for the months of March and April so far.
A quote from a Fox News story:

A string of attacks in the U.S. in the last month left 47 people dead in all.

A gunman killed 10 people and himself in Samson, Alabama; shootings that began with a traffic stop in Oakland, California, left four police officers and the gunman dead; an apparent murder-suicide in Santa Clara, California, left six dead; and a gunman went on a rampage at a nursing home last Sunday, killing seven elderly residents and a nurse who cared for them.

On Saturday, a man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call in Pittsburgh, killing three of them, a police official said.

The story is here:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512559,00.html

You are right.  This will renew calls for an AWB.  They will eventually get one through, in my opinion.  All of these nuts, especially this last one, are making it easier for our politicos.

[Gewehr98]

What's an assault rifle? 

I always thought it was a rifle used in an assault. 

YMMV, of course, but let's not use terms coined by anti-gunners when none are warranted...

[mtnbkr]

FWIW, I heard a talking head on TV this morning claiming that this wouldn't do much to increase calls for a ban because people are more concerned with economics at the moment.  Paraphrasing, but that was the gist of his statement.

Chris

[gunsmith]

Been kinda tracking the story, a bunch of morons in the killers friends/ family.
Killer had a dishonorable from the Marine Corp and wasn't legal  ( to own guns ) in the first place
and his dumb mom called the cops to "evict" him, not knowing that eviction is a civil procedure, not a police matter- the only things the cops would have done is tell her that.
Killers friends do not know the difference between a AK semi - auto clone and a machine gun
and tell everyone he had a machine gun.

[longeyes]

Too convenient. I don't mean it couldn't be true. I mean I don't believe the raw number of purported "mere coincidences" I've been seeing lately.

The same thought I've had...

I'd like to think there are limits to the Left's diabolism.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm not quite ready to believe the left could get a guy to go suicidal for gun control. 

But I could easily believe his acquaintances were paid off to portray him as a gun rights militant.

That being said, the most simple explanation is that he really did make statements about gun rights, and Obama, and people really thought that's why he was shooting cops who came to his house. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

and the whackjob statements on the web were just a front? more likely a paranoid loser

[LadySmith]

more likely a paranoid loser

Those types usually wind up being more useful to an enemy than to anyone else. 

[Ryan in Maine]

I'm not quite ready to believe the left could get a guy to go suicidal for gun control. 

"Hey, your life is headed nowhere. You do this favor for us and we'll take good care of your family/friends/girlfriend - make sure they have the life you can't achieve/provide for them."

Anti-gun extremists have already been caught trying to cause harm in gun safety/CCW classes. We know they lie. We know they're irrational. We know they'll spend millions of dollars to try and save face. We know they won't admit when they're wrong.

As unlikely as it might sound, I wouldn't call it far-fetched. Any tragedy with a firearm is good press for the anti-gun extremists. A resounding victory, if you will.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I wouldn't call it far-fetched.

what would you call it?

[Ryan in Maine]

Terrible. Sad. Pathetic. Tragic. Selfish. Heartless.

But not far-fetched.

It's basically what anti-gun extremists have attempted to do in gun safety/CCW classes already, but on a much larger scale/stage.

Don't get me wrong, man. I felt bad after typing that. I really did. But I didn't feel wrong.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

and you can formulate that kinda conspiracy even in light of this guys history as a whackjob? loser comes home to mommas basement after drinking all night and gets stupid and you wanna try to make an infowars type scenario?

[HankB]

Three cops down, and the SWAT team opens fire on the bad guy and shoots him multiple times. Contrast this with the shooting at the immigrant center a few days ago, where over a dozen NON-COPS were killed, many wounded and pleading for help on the phone . . . and the cowardly - yes, cowardly - cops cooled their heels for over an hour and didn't go after the bad guy until it was safe.

Clearly, cops are FAR MORE important than non-cops.

<expletive> <expletive> <string of expletives>

 

[stevelyn]

Anti-gun extremists have already been caught trying to cause harm in gun safety/CCW classes. We know they lie. We know they're irrational. We know they'll spend millions of dollars to try and save face. We know they won't admit when they're wrong.

Not only that, but they've been caught loading live rounds into display guns at gun shows.

[MicroBalrog]

I agree with CS&D. Not with his delivery... but with his general idea, yes. I doubt this is a set-up.

...the sky is falling.

[crt360]

Three cops down, and the SWAT team opens fire on the bad guy and shoots him multiple times. Contrast this with the shooting at the immigrant center a few days ago, where over a dozen NON-COPS were killed, many wounded and pleading for help on the phone . . . and the cowardly - yes, cowardly - cops cooled their heels for over an hour and didn't go after the bad guy until it was safe.

Clearly, cops are FAR MORE important than non-cops.

<expletive> <expletive> <string of expletives>

 

And then the cops called the guy a coward for offing himself instead of shooting it out with the police.  WTF?

[RoadKingLarry]

Killer had a dishonorable from the Marine Corp and wasn't legal  ( to own guns ) in the first place

Well fancy that, a criminal breaking the law...

[AZRedhawk44]

Three cops down, and the SWAT team opens fire on the bad guy and shoots him multiple times. Contrast this with the shooting at the immigrant center a few days ago, where over a dozen NON-COPS were killed, many wounded and pleading for help on the phone . . . and the cowardly - yes, cowardly - cops cooled their heels for over an hour and didn't go after the bad guy until it was safe.

Clearly, cops are FAR MORE important than non-cops.

<expletive> <expletive> <string of expletives>

 

You know... this is the most cogent and poignant observation from which one can derive any form of logic surrounding this entire situation.

"Officer down" means more to cops than a dozen dropped peasants.

What's that mean for the rest of us peons?

Carry.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Not only that, but they've been caught loading live rounds into display guns at gun shows.

Could you cite cases of this? And of the troublemakers in the CCW classes? I've heard mention made of it, but never any articles or anybody's first-hand accounts.

[Ryan in Maine]

and you can formulate that kinda conspiracy even in light of this guys history as a whackjob? loser comes home to mommas basement after drinking all night and gets stupid and you wanna try to make an infowars type scenario?

That's why it works. You wouldn't approach a well-off model of good citizenry to do such a thing. You make the offer to the whack job - the screw up - the one with nothing going for them. It's obvious that the folks responsible for pretty much every shooting you'll hear about are disturbed individuals in some form or another.

I'm only trying to express my suspicion here.

We've even had politicians who hoped for more shootings to help them advance their anti-gun extremism (the politician out of Seattle, WA I believe it was). Anti-gun extremists want more shootings. The bigger the body count the harder they high-five each other. The more intimidating the weapon the more they forward the e-mail about the story. I don't think it's far-fetched to think they'd (they'd meaning anti-gun extremists) set something like that in motion.

I'm not creating a conspiracy here, man. I'm pointing out a possible natural (and devastating) progression of things.

far-fetched
   /ˈfɑrˈfɛtʃt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [fahr-fecht] Show IPA
–adjective
improbable; not naturally pertinent; being only remotely connected; forced; strained: He brought in a far-fetched example in an effort to prove his point.
Also, farfetched.

Origin:
1575–85

Related forms:
far-fetchedness, farfetchedness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

farfetched

adjective
highly imaginative but unlikely; "a farfetched excuse"; "an implausible explanation"
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Steve:
Sorry, I don't have citations handy. It's been discussed in-depth on THR and I believe here on APS too, possibly. A search ought to yield some results. It's too early in the morning for me to mess with the search function though. 

[ShortTimer]

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2009/04/pittsburgh-cop-killer-is-anti-semite.html

[MicroBalrog]

Perkovic is obviously anti-semitic, but Poplawski?

Mr. Poplawski was opposed to "Zionist propaganda"

I am also opposed to Zionist propaganda, but that doesn't make me an anti-semite.

That guy was an obvious evil whackjob, but truth is not served well by painting anybody opposed to Zionism as an anti-semite, although of course many anti-semites use anti-Zionism to cover up their sins.