Posted on 03/24/2006 12:04:47 PM PST by Supernatural
A worker at a Downtown steam plant who brought a pellet rifle to work to shoot pigeons was mistaken for a sniper Wednesday afternoon, prompting police to shut down part of the city for about two hours.
Richard Wills, of Dawson, Fayette County, a maintenance worker in the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building, brought the weapon to work to chase pigeons away from broken windows on the building's roof, said PACT President Robert Fazio. Someone apparently spotted him - and his rifle - when he stepped out onto the roof for a few seconds, Fazio said.
At least three witnesses called police, claiming they saw a sniper atop a Penn Avenue building, sparking a two-hour shutdown of several city blocks and a brief manhunt by the city Police Bureau's most heavily armed officers. Police arrived on the scene shortly after 1 p.m., stunning lunchtime crowds as they set up a command center in Fifth Avenue Place and blocked off parts of Penn Avenue, Stanwix Street, Liberty Avenue and highway ramps into the Golden Triangle.
A police officer standing guard outside the door of a Penn Avenue restaurant gave bar manager Carie Wakinekona a terse and troubling answer when she asked him about the massive police presence. "Guy with a rifle," he said. The news traveled fast.
For rest of article: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_435980.html
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
All over a guy with an air rifle.
Ping!
Ping!
yoi..............................
For every pigeon you kill, ten more will rise up to take its place.
Wouldn't they be better off by fixing the broken windows?
And aren't windows on roofs called "skylights"?
"...he's up on the roof with his boids. He keeps boids. Dirty... disgusting... filthy... lice-ridden boids. You used to be able to sit out on the stoop like a person. Not anymore! No, sir! Boids!... You get my drift?"
Hey, I saw that line in a movie. "The Producers", I think.
Springtime for Hitler and Germany. Winter for Poland and France.
Hmmmm. There could be a " consulting " gig opening in Pittsburgh. I'll let 'em off cheaply, say $150,000 ?
You should see what they've done to the statues in NYC. Yuk.
One wonders if the police officer who told the bar manager about a "guy with a rifle" would have been better off saying there were "conflicting requests for assistance" or something like that. The first explanation, while somewhat truthful, has the potential to really spook the hoplophobic horses...and the officer should know that.
~ Blue Jays ~
Too cheap. The liberal government of Pittsburgh would pay much more than that for consulting work on pigeons, especially if they get a big kick-back for themselves.
bingo.
Well, isn't it obvious that we now need to ban assault air rifles?
Poor pigeons. Poor endangered pigeons...
Ping!
That guy could've shot his eye out.
Cat AND a rifle.
Double-trouble for pigeons. LOL!
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