Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Lynn man's "Star Wars" stormtrooper costume triggers school lockdown
Salem (Mass.) News ^ | June 4, 2015 | JULIE MANGANIS

Posted on 06/08/2015 6:19:10 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement

The man, identified by police as George Cross, 40, of Lynn, was dressed in a white plastic "Star Wars" stormtrooper costume, and the gun was not real. But Lynn Police spokesman Lt. Rick Donnelly said that "the way things are today, you can't have that."

The call came from the principal of the Brickett Elementary School on Lewis Street (Route 1A) at around 1:30 p.m., as classes were about to wind up for the day, said Donnelly.

(Excerpt) Read more at salemnews.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; lockdown; school; starwars; stormtrooper
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-56 next last
To: MrEdd

From a distance it might not be so easy.


21 posted on 06/08/2015 6:46:27 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: ETL
"Some maniac school shooter could bring a real gun in dressed up like that. By the time people realized it wasn't a joke, it would be too late"

Yep. The "Joker" killer in the movie theater showed that. It's not so much the nature of the weapon but the nutcase vibe you need to look out for.

22 posted on 06/08/2015 6:47:17 AM PDT by circlecity (')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: atc23

Not in Massachusetts.


23 posted on 06/08/2015 6:48:26 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not A Matter of Opinion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeStatement
"the way things are today, you can't have that."

He means, the overly-paranoid and and gun-grabbers story line prevails rather than reality so we have to overreact... even to stupidity . THAT is the way things are today.

24 posted on 06/08/2015 6:48:27 AM PDT by FunkyZero (... I've got a Grand Piano to prop up my mortal remains)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeStatement

the way things are today, you can’t have that.


And WHY are things the way they are today, liberals?
Whose ideology has become more prevalent as we lose more freedoms?
And whose culture are you suppressing as we get to where we are today?


25 posted on 06/08/2015 6:48:44 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

I knew a guy back in the 80’s that went out for halloween dressed as a cowboy, but with a real revolver.
Some bullies tried to hassle him and he fired a round into the grass, “dispersing” the situation.


26 posted on 06/08/2015 6:50:06 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: circlecity
Speaking of nutcase vibe, what kind of 40-year-old man decides to dress up in a Star Wars costume and hang around an elementary school?

I'm thinking this man has never been married and likely spends his time playing video games in his mom's basement.

I know, I'm profiling and stereotyping here. But I bet I end up being right.

27 posted on 06/08/2015 6:50:16 AM PDT by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeStatement

At least he didn’t show up dressed as a Jedi and bring a prop lightsaber.
People might be scared because it would look like a REAL lightsaber.

Yeah...Let that sink in for a minute.


28 posted on 06/08/2015 6:50:47 AM PDT by RandallFlagg ("When you have to shoot, SHOOT! Don't talk." --Tuco)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: circlecity
Batman cinema shooting: killer said he was 'The Joker'

Like everyone else inside screen 9 of the Century 16 cinema, Jessica Ghawi could hardly contain her excitement as she waited for a midnight premiere of the latest Batman epic, The Dark Knight Rises.

After waiting for months to see what was tipped to become the most successful film of all time, the 24-year-old sports journalist passed the time by teasing a friend via her Twitter account, saying: “You aren’t seeing it tonight?! ...Loser!”

She was so desperate for the film to begin that she even tweeted her frustration, writing in capitals: “Movie doesn’t start for 20 minutes.” In a staff car park at the back of the cinema, James Eagan Holmes, a medical school drop-out, 24, was also counting down the minutes to an evening for which he, too, had spent weeks getting ready.

While many children inside the cinema had come dressed as Batman, Holmes had painted his hair red and, when arrested, told police he was the comic book hero’s nemesis, The Joker.

He had armed himself with four guns and tear gas canisters as he prepared to storm the multiplex in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, determined to kill as many people as he could. Half an hour after the film began, Miss Ghawi and 11 others were dead or dying after Holmes carried out America’s latest mass shooting, silently and indiscriminately targeting men, women, children and even a four-month-old baby. “Every few seconds it was just boom, boom, boom,” said Jennifer Seeger, who was in the theatre. “He would reload and shoot and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9416606/Batman-cinema-shooting-killer-said-he-was-The-Joker.html

29 posted on 06/08/2015 6:53:07 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: FunkyZero
THAT is the way things are today.

Paranoia is a prison. Now we're at a point where one person's freak out dictates what's acceptable for society at large.

As our freedoms vanish one by one, so does our whimsy and humor.

Storm trooper costume? No, can't have that. No surprise that it's a school administrator that's too stupid to deal with it properly.

30 posted on 06/08/2015 6:54:41 AM PDT by Tigerized (Your Personal Safety is Yours, and Yours Alone. Aim Small, Miss Small.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: ETL

From a distance, the person who might be assessing whether a person in a costume is a threat or not has time to observe closely before deciding how to proceed.


31 posted on 06/08/2015 6:56:29 AM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: ETL
James Eagan Holmes (REUTERS/RJ Sangosti)

Morpheus on… James Eagan Holmes: Insane Or Not? You Decide…

32 posted on 06/08/2015 6:57:30 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: MrEdd
From a distance, the person who might be assessing whether a person in a costume is a threat or not, has time to observe closely before deciding how to proceed.

Not so much if the person in the costume is near or within shooting range of other people.

33 posted on 06/08/2015 7:00:54 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: ETL

You are being ridiculous and hyperbolic. You have lost all sense of what is an acceptable response to someone in a costume.

“But, but, but... someone in a costume could shoot up a school!”

So? Students with backpacks have shot up schools. Do we call the cops because you don’t know if a student with a backpack has a gun?

The proper response if you see someone who shouldn’t be there is to talk to the person and tell them to “move along”. That is what civilized society has agreed upon.

To be so gripped by irrational fear that law enforcement must be called as the FIRST action shows there is a lack of judgment and leadership.


34 posted on 06/08/2015 7:06:45 AM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius (www.wilsonharpbooks.com - Sign up for my new release e-mail and get my first novel for free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeStatement

35 posted on 06/08/2015 7:08:34 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Snickering Hound
 photo Green Thing sea worm 03_zpsagtr0rxh.jpg

Mysterious green sea creature captured on video in Taiwan
UPI ^ | June 5, 2015 | Ben Hooper

36 posted on 06/08/2015 7:13:16 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

In the case where someone already has a gun out as part of a costume, there would be less time to act, than if they had one inside a backpack.


37 posted on 06/08/2015 7:16:48 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: ETL

And monkeys could fly out of your butt. Anything is possible.


38 posted on 06/08/2015 7:27:17 AM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: ETL

I’d like to shoot that look right off his stupid face.


39 posted on 06/08/2015 7:28:56 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76
"Speaking of nutcase vibe, what kind of 40-year-old man decides to dress up in a Star Wars costume and hang around an elementary school?"

Exactly my point. That would send alarm bells ringing for me much more than someone who just happened to be walking down the street with a holstered or concealed sidearm. (assuming the jurisdiction allows open and/or concealed carry)

40 posted on 06/08/2015 7:36:22 AM PDT by circlecity (')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-56 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson