Posted on 11/29/2008 11:17:52 AM PST by Leisler
It is the photograph that has dominated the world's front pages, casting an astonishing light on the fresh-faced killers who brought terror to the heart of India's most vibrant city. Now it can be revealed how the astonishing picture came to be taken by a newspaper photographer who hid inside a train carriage as gunfire erupted all around him.
Sebastian D'Souza, a picture editor at the Mumbai Mirror, whose offices are just opposite the city's Chhatrapati Shivaji station, heard the gunfire erupt and ran towards the terminus. "I ran into the first carriage of one of the trains on the platform to try and get a shot but couldn't get a good angle, so I moved to the second carriage and waited for the gunmen to walk by," he said. "They were shooting from waist height and fired at anything that moved. I briefly had time to take a couple of frames using a telephoto lens. I think they saw me taking photographs but theydidn't seem to care."
The gunmen were terrifyingly professional, making sure at least one of them was able to fire their rifle while the other reloaded. By the time he managed to capture the killer on camera, Mr D'Souza had already seen two gunmen calmly stroll across the station concourse shooting both civilians and policemen, many of whom, he said, were armed but did not fire back. "I first saw the gunmen outside the station," Mr D'Souza said. "With their rucksacks and Western clothes they looked like backpackers, not terrorists, but they were very heavily armed and clearly knew how to use their rifles.
"Towards the station entrance, there are a number of bookshops and one of the bookstore owners was trying to close his shop," he recalled. "The gunmen opened fire and the shopkeeper fell down."
But what angered Mr D'Souza almost as much were the masses of armed police hiding in the area who simply refused to shoot back. "There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything," he said. "At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, 'Shoot them, they're sitting ducks!' but they just didn't shoot back."
As the gunmen fired at policemen taking cover across the street, Mr D'Souza realised a train was pulling into the station unaware of the horror within. "I couldn't believe it. We rushed to the platform and told everyone to head towards the back of the station. Those who were older and couldn't run, we told them to stay put."
The militants returned inside the station and headed towards a rear exit towards Chowpatty Beach. Mr D'Souza added: "I told some policemen the gunmen had moved towards the rear of the station but they refused to follow them. What is the point if having policemen with guns if they refuse to use them? I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera."
If you’ve got but one bullet, Make the shot good.
:)
Maybe the police thought, if I shoot them what if they shot back? (World War 2)
I remember that. I was about to ask what would be considered "near". I suppose 85 miles could be considered near VT.
“Weapons don’t make the man. “
No but a guy with a nuke can kill a lot more people than a guy with a firecracker.
“Weapons are inert, inanimate objects with no will or volition.”
My firearms are not inanimate. They reach out and touch things. :)
85 miles as the crow flies, by road I think it is a fer piece.
Listen.
My father was an up from the ranks Major that checked out with the loss of his arm at the Rhine river.
I failed my physical, didn’t get a pass, then went across the country and lied upon entry and went on to be a SF Sergent.
I don’t need any lectures from the likes of you.
I ‘ve worked and trained third world out from the bush kids that dropped their weapon the first time they fired it.
There are martial families and there are artsy families. There are martial cultures and there are cowardly cultures.
At one time, out and out right killers thought blacks couldn’t fight.
You neither have history, science or common military drill to back you up.
You are a very, very sloppy thinker. You have no, zero information as to the training,quality, testing of these men. The fact that they acted so uniformly hints at some sort of orgaintional failure. Becasue,as you imply one of them should of fired. That none did is telling, and I ascribe it to the leadership (such that it is) and training.
More casualties than actually aiming a rifle? Are you sure about that?
Alvin came out of a rural, gun owning culture, and although his family was quite pacifist, the hill culture of Scott-Irish was anything but. Then of course, he did go through military conditioning, and was surrounded by his social group that had self selected themselves to fight. It wasn’t that much of a jump for him.
No, you are wrong again. India has hundreds of ancient cultures. The British identified about 15 Prussian like tribes with strong martial heritages. The rest they dismissed.
I don’t know where the city pulls its police from, nor the moral nor the training of these unfortunates.
You’re not familiar with Alvin York either I see.
You should read about him.
Look into how many times he vasillated between pacifist and citizen soldier.
pre-WW1, WW1, post-war WW1, pre-war WW2, WW2, post-war WW2.
My son never fired until he had a clear target. That’s extremely rare in combat.
I remember a combat veteran who said he aimed at the “tree moss”. It’s that unnatural lump at the base of a tree. That’s an enemy soldier.
Utah has very liberal concealed carry laws...BUT...if a private facility posts “No Guns”, then the gun owner ( by law) must respect that and not bring his gun into the store, mall, church, office building, etc.
Do you wa’na guess what was posted for the Utah Trolley Square Mall? Yep! No guns! So?....Is it any wonder that the Muslim terrorist ( oops! “youth”) chose Trolley Square instead of some other mall?
Jeez, that’s scary. I have an order of magnitude more ammo in one spare mag in the bottom of my glove box. G18 mags are pretty useful for that sort of thing.
I am sorry that you do not understand simple right and wrong. You do not understand courage and you cannot understand how these Indian police were wrong.
I have a hard time believing you were ever associated with firearms, let alone the military.
Like I say, I hope you would play the man in a situation like the one that ocurred outside the Mombasi.
I’ve recounted historical events as well as everyday events and eternal absolutes to make my points.
You cannot ever excuse cowardice and inaction which results in the death of others. You can be forgiven if you didn’t act out of malice. But I doubt any of those men or any of the men of Columbine will ever forgive themselves.
And what in the world does this comment have to do with anything we are discussing: “At one time, out and out right killers thought blacks couldn’t fight”
And I don’t believe the Indian culture is cowardly.
Same with Virgina Tech. I believe they had also disarmed their legal campus police force.
Then there was the Jewish temple in Seattle.
By the way, Vermont has, I think, no state laws. Very peaceful state too.
“An armed society, is a polite society” Robert Heinlein.
“No, you are wrong again. India has hundreds of ancient cultures. The British identified about 15 Prussian like tribes with strong martial heritages. The rest they dismissed.”
Uh, Wrong about what?
As a side note, I’m pretty sure the gun shop owner had a hell of a time getting his firearms back from the L.A. Police. That’s certainly quite the incentive for a civic-minded action by the gun shop owner.
Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, VA, agreed to pay $1 million to settle four lawsuits accusing the school of ignoring repeated warnings that one of its law students, Peter Odighizuwa, was a threat before he opened fire in 2002, killing the dean, a professor, and a student, and wounding three other students...
Wright and wrong are taught concepts.
Jews into the ovens, very good. That was taught.
Ukrainian Kulaks to be staved over two years to the tune of 11 millions. To be rewarded. Taught.
Pol Pot drags the urban elite out into the countryside and kills those with eye glasses. Rewarded.
People thinking that they are a Prince and have royal privileges because their dad is King. Taught and rewarded.
There have been countless ‘civilizations’ that the best and highest ideal is to cross over the hill and kill the other slobs.
Blacks can’t fight.
Jews can’t fight.
All sorts of truisms disproved.
Why do you think the Marine Corps can take anyone from any background and make him a world class assault troop? They have some secret test to pick killers, or is it training and conditioning?
You don’t know much about Indian culture. There is very strong currents of inertness, depressing passivity, paralyzing bureaucracy.
Again, you haven’t ventured, much to answer who is a city cop in India? Some real go getter hustler? Do you associate the Indian Police with startling high quality, industry, and innovation?
And,getting back to your powers of observation, you haven’t ventured as to why, it appears, all the police held their fire?
Sounds like some sort of edict, some sort of training, or some combination.
I’d be glad to handle that loaner scoped, sighted-in, Remington 700.
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