Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Freeway Shooter Caught

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 03-18-2004, 04:17 PM:

They caught our Freeway Shooter this week. This guy was randomly shooting at cars on one of the Interstates that run through Columbus, OH. No one is sure just how long he was doing this, as the police did not take this seriously until he killed an innocent passenger. Either he didn't intend to hit people or he was one terrible shot.

Contrary to what the news has said, the town never shut down "in fear", although everyone that drove on that particular stretch of road watched VERY carefully for anything strange.

For any of you driving trucks through this area, it was the south part of I-270. There is a lot of traffic there as it connects I-71 from Cincinnati to Cleveland to I-70 that runs across most of the country.

I was personally concerned because these shootings took place about 1/2-mile from the elementary school where my wife is principal. There were some nightime shootings at school buses and at least one school.

Reports are that he is a paranoid schizophrenic, and that he surrendered peacefully and is not fighting extradition.

I'm glad this is finally over.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-18-2004, 04:54 PM:

Dare I say that this is a very powerful argument in favour of greater restriction over the private ownership of firearms? Charlton Heston et al argue that it's not guns that kill, but people. But surely this is what happens when a cheap, mass-manufactured form of technology which is able to kill - quickly, easily and with minimal expertise needed from the operator - is readily available without restriction. It makes it easier for people, especially mentally ill people, to do a lot of damage.

Last autumn I was mugged at knifepoint on the London tube (subway), and spent the following few hours thinking that if only I'd had a gun, I could have blasted him to buggery. But after I'd calmed down it occured to me that if I could legally and easily have been carrying a gun, then so could he - and he'd have surely blasted me to buggery first.

Just my limey £0.02 worth...

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-18-2004, 05:36 PM:

The scary thought for me concerning the highway shooter in Columbus is this guy made stupid mistakes to get himself caught, just like the snipers that terrorized Virginia and Maryland. Of course, he had the strategic disadvantage of mental health problems. The thing that got him caught was firing a gun into a neighbor's house. They knew who he was and knew he did it. Ballistics on the bullets showed a match.

A shooter with no interest in notorious glory could terrorize an area for years and never get caught. Law enforcement authorities really need to work on ways how to battle such crimes. American-based terrorists could do this. So could international terrorist through our pourous borders.

Concerning gun control, when someone really wants to kill another person, he'll find some way to do it. I agree with registering guns and thorough background checks when purchasing guns (and maybe it ought to extend to ammo as well). But I don't agree with gun bans.

There's lots of stabbing deaths here in the United States. I recall a traffic incident in New York where one angry motorist confronted another amid gridlock. He got stabbed in the throat and died in seconds. Of course, there's the infamous use of knives in highjacking the planes involved in the 9-11 terrorist disaster. Do we need to ban knives?

We could consider banning baseball bats since mobsters and skinheads like using those on occaision when bludgeoning someone to death. Maybe crescent wrenches, Maglites or anything else able to crack a skull should be considered.

There was a story just this week about a guy who killed his wife and mother-in-law with his car. Should we ban cars? Seems like a solid argument to do so, especially when half of all fatalities are caused by drunk drivers. We saw how banning beer worked out.

And then there's the thing with banning guns. The movie "Bowling for Columbine" actually makes the point that banning guns may not be the answer. Canada has a gun ownership rate equal if not higher than that of the United States. Yet Canada has nowhere near our murder rate.

The problem isn't guns. It's our popular culture and media. Americans are indoctrinated to be suspicious of neighbors and anyone who doesn't look like them. We're made to believe violence and even cruelty are tools to solve problems. And we have the relentless carrot-and-stick game the media plays with us on promoting various lifestyle obsessions. Very unhealthy cultural environment. I'm actually surprised we don't have more people shooting each other!

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-18-2004, 06:43 PM:

And this clown was caught right here in Sin City. Hardly surprising--fugitives often seek refuge here, drawn by the impersonal nature of the place, gobs of cash everywhere, and the abundance of cash-under-the-table jobs available. It's a good place to lay low.

But this guy didn't even try to hide. He was spotted on surveillance cameras while sitting in one of our casino sports books, and traced back to his motel room, where he was checked in under his real name. He's currently sitting in the county slammer while the Ohio authorities set up the extradition.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-18-2004, 09:11 PM:

I understand the fellow lived with his mother. Probably not too much fun for a guy in his late twenties. Perhaps going to jail was the only way for him to move out of the house!

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-19-2004, 01:13 PM:

Knives and cars can be used as lethal weapons, but they also have a whole range of legitimate and constructive uses. With a few exceptions (e.g. a farmer using one for pest control), the vast majority of guns do not. They are designed for the one and only task of killing people, quickly, easily and with minimal skill needed by the operator.

quote:
The movie "Bowling for Columbine" actually makes the point that banning guns may not be the answer.

Are you thinking about the Wisconsin farmer scene, when he put a gun to his head in order to demonstrate that as long as he didn't pull the trigger, the gun wasn't in any way dangerous? If so I'd say it kind of makes my point for me. That farmer is a sane individual who would never shoot himself or anyone else who wasn't endangering his safety, but not everyone is rational. And when the irrational people can easily get hold of guns too, you've got a problem.

quote:
Concerning gun control, when someone really wants to kill another person, he'll find some way to do it.

It's not really those people I'm worried about (well of course I am, but not in the context of gun control). It's those who don't really want to kill another person, but find themselves in a stressful situation and with the means to do so.

I suppose a meaningful firearms ban would be more difficult to implement in the US than here because we've never allowed private individuals to own firearms as a matter of right. As a result, the only people who have them are professional criminals. But with so many firearms already in legitimate ownership in the US, I'd guess that bringing in any serious firearm control measures now would risk creating a massive black market - a similar situation the massive taxes on alcohol and tobacco here encouraging vast quantities of the stuff to be smuggled in from Europe, mainly by private individuals.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-19-2004, 05:09 PM:

quote:
Are you thinking about the Wisconsin farmer scene, when he put a gun to his head in order to demonstrate that as long as he didn't pull the trigger, the gun wasn't in any way dangerous? If so I'd say it kind of makes my point for me.

No, I'm thinking about that guy at all. Michael Moore made a very interesting point that Canadians have just as many guns as Americans, but not anywhere near the homicide rate. We have our media and culture to blame for that. Want to cut down on the rate of homocide in America? Deal with what's in the heads of Americans instead of what they can get in their hands.

To consider the Wisconsin idiot guy, lots of people do stupid things with anything featuring a potential for dangerous use. Banning one kind of tool (guns) won't solve this problem.

When I was in 10th grade I watched my shop teacher demonstrate "safe use" of a band saw and cut off two of his fingers right in front of us. We were dumbfounded by a cliche playing out in front of us. We didn't know whether to laugh or be horrified.

I guess my view on this is similar to that of George Carlin. Life should be hard and very dangerous for stupid people. It might just be a good way to thin out the herd!

Unfortunately, there are too many lawyers in this world suing the crap out of everyone and trying to "idiot proof" everything.

Take diving boards for instance. I really detest it to an extreme how diving boards have disappeared from nearly all commercial swimming pools. None of the hotels have them anymore. They're gone from most country clubs. Forget seeing one at a public swimming pool. And they're even disappearing from most residential pools as well (since that makes your home owner's insurance go up). A pool without a diving board is just a big, boring, bathtub. Pools without diving boards suck ass. If someone pulls some hair-brained stunt on a diving board and cracks open his head, it is his own damned fault. He did it. Not the person who owns the pool.

The same thing applies to gun safety. The very first thing anyone learns when being taught the proper handling of guns is that all guns must be treated as if they are loaded. Never point them at anyone and never, ever point them at yourself.

The best argument one can make against guns is the heat of the moment type of murder. Still, to attack that problem correctly you have to attack the problem of how many Americans don't put a high value on human life. There are people in this country killing each other with their bare fists. The emphasis on individuality and personal gain/glory helps America be innovative. But it is also our Achillies Heel too. Things like violence and selfish greed are big problems and I think our culture characterizes those things as virtues instead of vice.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-19-2004, 08:21 PM:

quote:

Bobby Henderson: ... The very first thing anyone learns when being taught the proper handling of guns is that all guns must be treated as if they are loaded. Never point them at anyone and never, ever point them at yourself. ...

Agreed!

When I was a kid, there were guns in my house as early as I can remember. There was an explicit rule: Misuse of a gun or even touching one without permission = Instant punishment with no appeal. (Usually, this meant a belt across the ass.)

I can only remember getting punished once when my father handed me a shotgun and I didn't rack it open to be sure the chamber was clear. That cost me a boot in the ass! Will I ever forget to check a gun that's handed to me again? No!

How about this quote from www.nfpa.org

quote:

There were 38,300 reported home electrical fires in 1998, resulting in 284 deaths, 1,184 injuries and $668.8 million in direct property damage.

AND

quote:

Electrical distribution equipment (i.e., wiring, switches, outlets, cords and plugs, fuse and circuit breaker boxes, lighting fixtures and lamps) was the third leading cause of home fires and the second leading cause of fire deaths in the United States between 1994 and 1998.

<sarcasm> Wow! Look at all the death and destruction caused by electricity! Electricity is DANGEROUS! You should never have electricity in your home! We should outlaw electricity! </sarcasm>

Why are those statements so obviously ludirous? Because virtually everybody in the civilized world has grown up being taught how dangerous electricity is and they are taught how to use it with reasonable safety. Everybody knows the risks and they have weighed the benefits.

When it comes to things like wiring a house, most people leave it to a professional electrician but virtually everybody in the civilized world handles an electrical appliance every day of their life. Kids don't normally go around putting their fingers in light sockets because we teach them not to. Those who are stupid enough to try it will:

A) Learn not to do it again.
B) Get punished by their adults.
C) Die.

In any case, all of us would agree that the kid who sticks his finger in a socket or the adult who doesn't teach their kids not to stick their fingers in sockets get what they deserve. No?

Electricity is a dangerous thing which, if handled carefully, can be a great tool. What's the difference between electricity and guns? For some reason, people don't seem to be getting taught how to use guns safely anymore.

Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 03-20-2004, 10:33 PM:

Bobby Henderson wrote:

quote:
No, I'm thinking about that guy at all. Michael Moore made a very interesting point that Canadians have just as many guns as Americans, but not anywhere near the homicide rate. We have our media and culture to blame for that.

This is a question meant serious because I know both the United States and Canada only by media (TV, books, films, whatever):
Do you mean to say there are differences in what films or TV programs Canadians watch and what kind of newspapers and books they read, or do you think their society has a special way to deal with violence itself?

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-21-2004, 12:40 PM:

Yes.

"Bowling For Columbine" really focuses on the problems of American mass media and its penchant for "if it bleeds it leads" news coverage. Canadian news tends to cover more important and unfortunately more boring things like government issues and stuff like that. They don't have the sky-cam live coverage of car chases and shit like that we have down here.

And Canada does have BETTER ways how to deal with violence and social problems. Michael Moore visited a housing project in Canada and the place was clean, free of graffiti and relatively safe. He also pointed out how everyone up there has health care coverage and other things like that.

In Canada, they do more to keep fellow citizens from falling through the cracks. Here in America, we piss in the faces of people who have lost their jobs or become disenfranchised. Our culture is just a lot more angry and polarized.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 03-21-2004, 03:12 PM:

Quote "And Canada does have BETTER ways how to deal with violence and social problems. Michael Moore visited a housing project in Canada and the place was clean, free of graffiti and relatively safe. He also pointed out how everyone up there has health care coverage and other things like that.
In Canada, they do more to keep fellow citizens from falling through the cracks. Here in America, we piss in the faces of people who have lost their jobs or become disenfranchised. Our culture is just a lot more angry and polarized. "

Not completly accruate
I live not far and commute through two "housing projects" to work and they are dirty falling apart and graffiti ridden
Yes there is health care but it to is not perfect there is no Utopia just different problems everywhere
As for guns there is a much debate national gun registry that is floundering uin burocracy and red tape
A simpler method would have been use any weapon in commision of a crime and you pay dearly and if you cost a life commiting a crime then death no appeals
But then that is a bit extreme [Smile]

Posted by Ron Lacheur (Member # 1126) on 03-21-2004, 04:26 PM:

Having just seen Bowling for Columbine for the first time last week, I was surprised with the " facts " about Canada.

The film makes Canada to look like some magical place without crime and poverty.

The town they must have been to must have been in the sticks somewhere, because I lock my door everytime leaving the house, lock my car and put the club on when park in a parking lot, even parked in front of my house I use the Club.

While the film was very well done, I think he could have spent a little time more researching Canada more throughly.