Posted on 04/07/2009 9:50:56 AM PDT by malkee
PITTSBURGH – The mother of a man charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers told a 911 dispatcher he had weapons, but the dispatcher didn't relay that information to officers, the official in charge of county dispatchers says. The dispatcher should have asked more questions about the weapons, but didn't, and certainly should have told officers so they could take necessary precautions, Allegheny County Chief of Emergency Services Robert Full told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "There is no excuse. It could have been handled better, without a doubt," Full said in Tuesday's editions. Richard Poplawski's mother, Margaret, had dialed 911 Saturday morning to summon police after threatening to evict him. When officers arrived at the house, she opened the door for them. She later told police that she didn't know that her 23-year-old son was standing behind her with a rifle. He shot officer Paul Sciullo II, 37, in the home and officer Stephen Mayhle, 29, on the front stoop within seconds of their arrival, and then shot officer Eric Kelly, 41, in the street as he arrived to back them up, prompting a four-hour siege and gun battle with police, authorities said. Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest and was armed with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle, authorities said. He is also accused of firing into two neighboring homes, injuring nobody, and at nine other police officers, including one who was wounded as he tended to Kelly.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
As if this wasn’t heartbreaking enough, that it was quite likely preventable is just too much for these families to bear.
A government employee made an error? How can that be? Everybody knows that government employees are all-knowing and supremely competent. They, and they alone, are capable of tending to all of our needs under the benign aegis of Barack Obama, our lord and protector.
Interesting.
Though I have to be honest, the 3 officer count is kinda low. {Disclaimer: I’m in the Army, I should know how to attack an opponent, and also some of not only current terrorist tactics, but possible tactics. IE What would I do if...} I mean if you’re going to become a terrorist you would want to have higher numbers of deaths, right? (Alternatively, highly publicized single-instances are good too.)
Bombings of single sites are not enough, you want a concerted mass destruction of infrastructure. For example, multiple bombs, simultaneously set to detonate at the following locations:
— Police Stations, probably 30% of the city’s total.
— Fire stations, probably 50% of the total.
— Electrical sub-stations, key city power grid locations.
— Esp traffic lights.
Also you would want to synchronize:
— Phone line destruction, possibly at random locations.
— Poisoning the City’s water-supply, or even a subsection of it.
Of course, this sort of thing would take more than one person to pull off. But we know from our past, “homegrown” experiences with the Weatherman that a small number of people can do a lot of damage.
A government employee made an error? How can that be? Everybody knows that government employees are all-knowing and supremely competent. They, and they alone, are capable of tending to all of our needs under the benign aegis of Barack Obama, our lord and protector.
lol - It's funny because that's how some in government act.
I’m a Deputy and I deal with this daily,only problem I see is that the Dispatchers we,and most all departments, have are as over-extended as we are. Seems the county commissioners won’t hire enough officers or dispatchers to properly do the job. So who do we blame? guess it would be those that vote for the commissioners who all run on the “NO New Taxes” platform and we don’t get the equipment, wages or number of employees we need to provide you with proper coverage and service. Amazing who you find in the root cause mirror when you do go all the way to the root of the problem isn’t it?
Remind me not to piss you off. :-)
And all the gun control advocates will be exploiting the bodies and memories of these officers to further their agenda.
“Never let a crisis go to waste.”
You mean the criminal committing the crime?
I hear what you’re saying, but those same county officials will not bat an eye at buying 100 acres (with taxpaer money) of some “sensitive” land to save the hickory pine nut, cotton-tailed beaver.
As a deputy, how do you feel about being an eviction squad for a person who abdicated their role as a parent? Please read the transcript below and tell me personally if it is a function of law enforcement to evict a family member when there was no violence and mommy was tired of junior living in the basement and the dog peeing on the furniture? Do you personally believe it is a reasonable use of law enforcement’s time when there are more important things to do like arrest law breakers????
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_re_us/pittsburgh_shooting
“Are you moving or what? Or the police gotta come?” she asks.
“Does he have any weapons or anything?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” the mother said. After a long pause, she added, “They’re all legal.”
“OK, but he’s not threatening you with anything?” the dispatcher said.
Without answering, Margaret Poplawski mother said, “Look, I’m just waking up from a sleep. I want him gone.”
“OK, we’ll send ‘em over, OK?” the dispatcher said.
“Sounds good,” the mother said, as the call ends.
Please note the comment “Look, I’m just waking up from a sleep. I want him gone.” What does that tell you about the person calling the police?
IMO, this entire episode points out the failure of the so called DV laws enacted during the Clinton Admin. called the VAWA. Does anyone else see the VAWA as a failed government policy not worth the lives of 3 policemen and a young man going to jail for the rest of his life? What’s worse Judges have long admitted this policy has instigated more violence. How many more people have to die for a failed government PC policy?????
When officers arrived at the house, she opened the door for them. She later told police that she didn't know that her 23-year-old son was standing behind her with a rifle.
The son definitely wasn't the only disturbed person in that house. She couldn't be bothered answering the dispatcher's questions because she "just woke up," and she didn't notice her son standing behind her with a rifle.
>Remind me not to piss you off. :-)
I will take that as a complement. Thank you.
>Amazing who you find in the root cause mirror when you do go all the way to the root of the problem isn’t it?
It is. But let me ask, would you obey an order to disarm the [law abiding] people as happened in New Orleans?
Be sure to lets us know how your visit with the FBI goes. You have to know you just made their watch list.
Stop. Just stop.
It's always the taxpayers who keep you from getting all the latest, greatest toys, isn't it?
If you don't like the wage you are being paid or the way people run things, get another job or confiscate some property.
I'm sick of government whiners.
there was certainly something not right with the mother. But that in no way excuses the actions of junior shooting people. If junior had a “mental” problem then he should have been receiving counseling and certainly had his guns confiscated.
Somehow I think this situation could have been peacefully diffused without everyone marching around with guns. Personally, after the immediate finger of blame on junior going off the deep end, the next one in line is the mother for not setting some ground rules to live under her roof or him moving out on his own. What’s so hard about saying 1. dog gets trained, you pay for it, 2. dog goes or 3 you and dog moves out to your own place??? The fact that he had a number of guns legally means to me at least that he had a job and saved some money. Guns aren’t cheap you know. I don’t know the whole story but on the surface calling the police to evict a family member because the dog pees on the furniture rather lame and irresponsible.
Of course it doesn't, and nothing I said implied that.
If junior had a “mental” problem then he should have been receiving counseling and certainly had his guns confiscated.
I think you'll have to ask his mother, family members or friends about why he wasn't receiving counseling, unless you think it's the government's job to ferret out people who are mentally deranged. This guy had a troubled history. He was expelled from high school and dishonorably discharged from Marine boot camp. If he needed help, it seems to me the people most responsible for getting him help -- his family and friends who knew him -- failed.
Somehow I think this situation could have been peacefully diffused without everyone marching around with guns.
Huh? Two policemen were shot, fatally, the moment the mother opened the door. How did you peacefully diffuse a situation where someone is shooting out the window with an AK-47? Exactly who was not supposed to be not "marching around with guns?"
I second this,especially considering the cops didn’t kill the shooter.
>Be sure to lets us know how your visit with the FBI goes. You have to know you just made their watch list.
My reply: “And how am I supposed to stop terrorists unless I can anticipate what they might do? It’s just like preparing a defense, you look at the avenues of approach, natural cover, and ask ‘how would I assault this place?’ and like planning an offense looking at the objective, gathering intel, and asking ‘how can I defeat their defense?’ Basic tactics... and Game theory!” :)
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