Posted on 01/21/2010 10:34:27 AM PST by pillut48
All OK, he was simply performing maintenance on the rackles (lack birds that crap on everything)....glad we got this cleared up:
Man in custody after firing shots at Texas Capitol
January 21st, 2010 @ 12:59pm
By JAY ROOT
Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A man fired several shots into the air Thursday while standing on the Texas Capitol’s south steps before throwing down his handgun as state troopers closed in and tackled him, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Nobody was wounded in the shooting, department spokesman Tom Vinger said. The 24-year-old suspect from the Houston area was taken to the Travis County Jail and faces felony charges of deadly conduct, Vinger said. His name wasn’t immediately released.
The shots rang out just after noon, and officers with rifles quickly swarmed the scene. More than a half dozen Department of Public Safety cars quickly appeared, and troopers quickly surrounded the building. The Capitol was on lockdown as officials searched as a precaution.
“I thought he was shooting at the birds. I ran,” said Veronica Briseno, a tourist from Mexico who said she saw the shooter fire his weapon into the air.
Jill Magid, an artist from New York City, said she was just inside the front doors of the Capitol when the shots were fired. She ran out the doors in time to see troopers holding a man down on the ground.
“They were all over him,” Magid said. “I could hear him saying ‘my hands are up.’”
Gov. Rick Perry was not in the building at the time, his office said, and many lawmakers were away from Austin because the legislature was not in session.
Some lawmakers were inside the Capitol, though. House Speaker Joe Straus’ office said he was stuck in the building while it was on lockdown. Sen. Leticia Van De Putte wrote on her Twitter page that she was also inside.
Republican Sen. Dan Patrick said on his Twitter page that he wasn’t in the office but his staff called security.
“An individual came into my Austin Senate office today acting strangely, staff called security, moments later shots fired on Capitol steps,” he wrote.
Lorne Kozak, of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada, was visiting the Capitol grounds with his 10-year-old son Spencer when they heard gunfire. He said they were about 30 yards from the steps when the shots rang out.
“What I heard was four rifle shots,” Kozak said. “There appeared to be a cluster of officers attending to someone on the steps and more officers kept pouring out of the building and of course the sirens.”
They snapped a few quick pictures before walking away when police told them to leave.
DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said the Capitol was expected to be reopened to the public later Thursday afternoon.
_
Associated Press Writers April Castro and Jim Vertuno contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Those weren’t shots. That was Hutchison’s campaign backfiring.
before throwing down his handgun
Did they find out who’s firing the unshots yet?? How DO you unshoot anyway?
Posting for posterity.
Ya’ know, if Conan would have just got his material from FR, he wouldn’t be UNemployed tomorrow.
Thanks L. I heard about this on the KLBJ morning show yesterday. Check your FR mail for more details.
I don’t think it took off enough to end up in the lexicon, but it will be worth watching how often “unshots” are mentioned on FR from now on...
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