Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Just Missed Shooting at Cleveland Hopkins Airport

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Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 04-27-2006, 09:35 PM:

This past week I was flying all over and I arrived back home this morning. I landed at Cleveland Hopkins around 9:45 and was leaving the airport by 10:15 or so. I got back to the office and my wife called me to tell me there was a shooting at the airport. I just missed it by minutes. I passed right through the ticketing area on my way to the baggage claim and that is where the incident took place. I am still a little freaked out. Below is the article.

A man who argued with workers at an airport ticket counter grabbed a police officer's gun and shot a patrolman before he was killed by another officer Thursday, authorities said.

The patrolman was shot twice in the chest but was in stable condition, authorities said. Another officer was treated for a bite to his neck by the suspect, McGrath said.

The man was identified by the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office as Kenneth Callaway, 38, of Willowick in suburban Cleveland.

The shootings at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport followed a disturbance earlier Thursday morning involving the same man in an airport parking garage, city Safety Director Martin Flask said.

Callaway then tried unsuccessfully to buy a ticket at the Delta Air Lines counter. After arguing with a Delta employee, he went to the adjacent United Airlines ticket counter and bought a ticket to Chicago, Flask said.

The United workers called police about the man, who then got into a confrontation with two officers, authorities said.

Authorities would not give any details on the argument at the ticket counter or the incident in the parking garage.

Flask said the man had a criminal record that included prison stays for burglary and drugs.

The shooting, shortly after 10 a.m., was in an area before security check points. The airport remained open and no flights were delayed. Airport officials led passengers arriving for flights around the crime scene to ticket counters.

The patrolman, Steve Walker, 52, was alert and talking to his wife Thursday afternoon, said Dr. Charles Yowler, a trauma physician at MetroHealth Medical Center. A Cleveland police officer for 18 years, including 10 at the airport, Walker had cracked ribs, a damaged lung and a bullet lodged in his back, the doctor said.

Bernice Walker said her husband of 21 years is a devoted father of two daughters.

Walker was not wearing a bulletproof vest. Police Chief Michael McGrath would not say whether that violated police rules.

Forty Cleveland police officers are assigned to the city-owned airport.

News Video

[ 04-28-2006, 09:33 PM: Message edited by: Joshua Waaland ]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-27-2006, 10:22 PM:

That's crazy that you missed all of that. The guy got what he deserved, for sure. You really should have hung around so you could see it.

Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 04-27-2006, 11:11 PM:

I dont know if I would have [uhoh]

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 04-28-2006, 09:14 PM:

I must be bad luck. Today I was sitting at my desk at about 4:15pm and everyone else had gone home. I was waiting for a truck to show up and pick up some freight for a demo I have to do next week. Suddenly I heard something shake the building and then it got worse. Much like an earthquake. There were two definite loud booms and the whole building shook. I had felt this once before two years ago when a company around the corner had caught on fire and a pile of magnesium powder of some kind was exploding into huge fireballs in the sky.

At first I thought that the semi backed into the building or something. I looked out of my front office window and the company across the street had all their windows blown out and smoke was billowing out of them. Glass had sprayed all over the cars in the parking lot and molten metal had set the grass on the edge of the road on fire. That was at least 50 feet away!
I called 911 and within minutes there were news helicopters, fire trucks, police cars and ambulances. I counted 4 ambulances leaving the scene.

I was told that the company melts down metals and seperates them and then turns them into small beads used by other companies to make things with. Seems they had some kind of an explosion but I am not sure yet exactly what happened. Below is this story.

Explosion in Oakwood Village

Created: 4/28/2006 5:05:35 PM
Updated:4/28/2006 6:01:56 PM

OAKWOOD VILLAGE -- Authorities are investigating an apparent explosion in Oakwood Village Friday afternoon.

It happened shortly after 4 p.m. at the I. Schuman Company on Alexander Road off of I-271.

The explosion was in a furnace. By the time the fire department arrived, it was over and out.

There were four minor injuries. One of them was respiratory related, which was the most serious. The four people were transported to Bedford Hospital.

The explosion blew out windows into the parking lot. Everyone was evacuated and the plant is closed until further notice while the fire dept and plant manager do a walk through.

Crews from five different cities responded to the fire.

Everyone has been accounted for.

© 2006

WKYC-TV

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-28-2006, 09:38 PM:

Dude I am going to start hanging around you and I'll bring my camera. Did you have your camera by chance?

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 04-28-2006, 09:54 PM:

Thanks for reminding me. I did have my camera but took the photos after the smoke had cleared. Most of the emergency vehicles had already left.

You can barely see the broken windows in this one.

This is just to the left of the first one. I guess the windows were blown out all over the building.

My camera zoom sucks! I wish I would have gotten better pics.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-28-2006, 10:34 PM:

Joe, I disagree with you and agree with Josh Jones. Just because it may be Joshua Waaland's
time to go, it may NOT be mine. I say let him fend for himself! Especially as some collateral damage may not be in the cards for me!

Good luck, Mr. Waaland... (I'd change jobs if I were you...)

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-28-2006, 10:55 PM:

It may be his time to go but it is not my time to go. I can just hang around and get cool pictures and maybe video while Waaland meets his maker. Of course I'll stop hanging around him when that happens because nothing cool would happen any more once he's dead. Plus the stench would annoy me. So would the smell of the rotting corpse.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-29-2006, 12:00 AM:

Don't accidents happen in 3's? Better get up to his area quickly or you'll miss out.

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 04-30-2006, 01:58 PM:

quote: Mike Heenan
Don't accidents happen in 3's?

I keep thinking the same thing. I have 5 flights to catch this week and I hope they all go well. That would be the worst way to die. You can't do anything to prevent it and have to sit there while it happens. At least in a car you can swerve or something.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 04-30-2006, 02:46 PM:

You can swerve in an airplane too. In three dimenions. Well, maybe not you per se, but the guys/gals up front have just as strong a will to live as you do, so they'll do what they think they need to do. Unless they're flying an Airbus... [evil]

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 05-01-2006, 02:55 AM:

Joshua, you are probably something like the Mothman. When people see you, something bad happens soon afterwards.

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 05-01-2006, 05:06 AM:

I'm starting to feel like "Debby Downer" from Saturday Night Live. [Big Grin]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-01-2006, 05:09 AM:

Quote from the article posted by Joshua:

quote: Joshua Waaland
Bernice Walker said her husband of 21 years is a devoted father of two daughters.

Sounds like it was a slow news day in Cleveland, and there were column inches needing to be filled. After all, she was hardly going to tell the local paper: 'It's a pity that guy didn't finish the bastard off, as this would have saved me the trouble of filing divorce papers' !

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 05-05-2006, 08:51 AM:

Well, Mike was right. Number three happened this week. Good news is, I wasn't there so I know it's not me.

There is a Kodak developing facility that we share a wall with in this building. I was in New Orleans thursday morning and my wife called me as she was passing by my workplace on her way to work. She said there were several fire engines in front of our building. Good thing is, it was before office hours so nobody was there yet. I did get worried though because I have some of my projection equipment stored in my office. It seems Kodak had a small fire but it was extiguished quickly. Nobody was hurt. That would have sucked trying to get reimbursed from my employers insurance for my stuff. [Frown]

[ 05-05-2006, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: Joshua Waaland ]