this fine morning, a shooter has taken a gun onto an expressway in santa barbara. some witnesses say he was making anti-obama comments.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212183389.shtml

i wonder how this will affect the vote of the people sitting in traffic.

Well, wait a mimmit!  That article said he hadn't fired the gun, so he's not yet a shooter, just a waver! 

Waving a gun in one hand and a flag in the other and desparaging Obama...what could be more American than that?
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/13/icon_rendeer.gif

this fine morning, a shooter has taken a gun onto an expressway in santa barbara. some witnesses say he was making anti-obama comments.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212183389.shtml

i wonder how this will affect the vote of the people sitting in traffic.



way to tell my story T.


He was actually trying to make a Pro Obama statement but um... failed miserably


And for the record... if someone holds themselves hostage tying up traffic in your city for hours please don't call the police dept. to ask when it's gonna be over.  ::)


I got hundreds of calls asking me that question.  Ya know the truth is - its gonna be over when he shoots himself, gets shot by police or surrenders.

Fortunately he surrender.  One of my best friends was the hostage negotiator in the call  8)

Here's a news clip.  http://www.keyt.com/news/local/33750964.html?video=YHI&t=a


The officer heard on the PA saying "We're not going to hurt you....."  is my friend.

snozberries, that's so cool!

anyway, apparently the guy hung up a flag and that's all he wanted. rather odd case.

i bet your friend has lots of stories. dag.

snozberries, that's so cool!

anyway, apparently the guy hung up a flag and that's all he wanted. rather odd case.

i bet your friend has lots of stories. dag.


yeah my friend has great stories. The only reason I get to hear them is, even though we work at different agencies we work in the same field so he can share... but I can't betray his confidence so you'll only hear from me what I hear on the news.


That guy was a nut. An Iraqi war vet who wanted to call attention to the plight of US soldiers. He tried to get into a radio station on Halloween. He was dressed in fatigues & wearing a black ski mask too but they wouldn't let him in.



The gun he had was not loaded... that guy's an idiot thinking what he was doing was a good thing.  Last night some families of soldiers went and put flowers on the spot where the "gunman" stood as a sign of support of his message... HELLO! can we not reinforce the message in mind that what he was doing was a good thing?

yeah my friend has great stories. The only reason I get to hear them is, even though we work at different agencies we work in the same field so he can share... but I can't betray his confidence so you'll only hear from me what I hear on the news.


That guy was a nut. An Iraqi war vet who wanted to call attention to the plight of US soldiers. He tried to get into a radio station on Halloween. He was dressed in fatigues & wearing a black ski mask too but they wouldn't let him in.



The gun he had was not loaded... that guy's an idiot thinking what he was doing was a good thing.  Last night some families of soldiers went and put flowers on the spot where the "gunman" stood as a sign of support of his message... HELLO! can we not reinforce the message in mind that what he was doing was a good thing?





I know quite a few Vets who are stirred up over this election.  Not to sound callous or anything but he was trying to be peaceful.  My brother is a Gulf War vet and he is pissed off about how the Government treats vets.  Being that this is a guy who has the know how to do serious harm to people my parents have him on their 40 acre farm.  Away from everyone till it's over.

I know quite a few Vets who are stirred up over this election.  Not to sound callous or anything but he was trying to be peaceful.  My brother is a Gulf War vet and he is pissed off about how the Government treats vets.  Being that this is a guy who has the know how to do serious harm to people my parents have him on their 40 acre farm.  Away from everyone till it's over.



Sorry Kathie I don't call standing on a freeway overpass waving a gun peaceful.  Loaded or not the officer's can't tell until the event is over.
If my friend had not been able to negotiate the guy to surrender then someone would've had to shoot him and then they would have to live the rest of their lives knowing they shot (possibly killed) an unarmed man... how is that fair? And how does that call attention to war- 

The city was at a standstill for four hours. Some business couldn't open because people were on the freeways, healthcare workers couldn't get to the hospitals, teachers couldn't get to schools, other people needing help from police had their calls delayed because deputies had to come in from cities 20 miles away... and they had to find away through the traffic as well...

I don't know maybe NY & LA have SWAT teams that do nothing but SWAT... but in SB our SWAT teams in the city & county are comprised of officers who normally work patrol so when a situation like this arises those officers are pulled off the street to handle the call... plus they literally shut down the freeway so one officer was staged at each end blocking the freeway and diverting all that traffic through the city... then officers at to be staged to block every possible access route to keep people from accidentally driving into the line of fire.  Santa Barbara City, Santa Barbara Sheriff and CHP all had to put officers out to help.


I just think he caused more trouble than it was worth.

Sorry Kathie I don't call standing on a freeway overpass waving a gun peaceful.  Loaded or not the officer's can't tell until the event is over.
If my friend had not been able to negotiate the guy to surrender then someone would've had to shoot him and then they would have to live the rest of their lives knowing they shot (possibly killed) an unarmed man... how is that fair? And how does that call attention to war- 

The city was at a standstill for four hours. Some business couldn't open because people were on the freeways, healthcare workers couldn't get to the hospitals, teachers couldn't get to schools, other people needing help from police had their calls delayed because deputies had to come in from cities 20 miles away... and they had to find away through the traffic as well...

I don't know maybe NY & LA have SWAT teams that do nothing but SWAT... but in SB our SWAT teams in the city & county are comprised of officers who normally work patrol so when a situation like this arises those officers are pulled off the street to handle the call... plus they literally shut down the freeway so one officer was staged at each end blocking the freeway and diverting all that traffic through the city... then officers at to be staged to block every possible access route to keep people from accidentally driving into the line of fire.  Santa Barbara City, Santa Barbara Sheriff and CHP all had to put officers out to help.


I just think he caused more trouble than it was worth.




Not only that Santa Barbara is one busy place.  So can we have drop in centers for people like that during the election?  Keep them on an even keel and out of trouble.  You're right, it's also a waste of tax dollars.

Not only that Santa Barbara is one busy place.  So can we have drop in centers for people like that during the election?  Keep them on an even keel and out of trouble.  You're right, it's also a waste of tax dollars.


thats a good idea