Posted on 06/30/2003 10:33:38 AM PDT by Travis McGee
Three dead, three wounded in sword attack at Irvine grocery store
By Gail Schiller ASSOCIATED PRESS 3:17 a.m., June 30, 2003
Associated Press A woman, identified as a relative of one of the victims, weeps outside the police command center set up in the parking lot of an Albertsons supermarket in Irvine where two people were killed by a man wielding a samurai-style sword.
IRVINE – A sword-wielding man slashed and killed two co-workers and wounded three other people at the Albertsons supermarket where he used to bag groceries before police shot and mortally wounded him.
About 40 to 50 shoppers ran from the store shortly after 9:30 a.m. Sunday as police went in to subdue Joseph Hunter Parker, who was armed with a samurai-style sword and wearing a beret and trenchcoat, said police Cmdr. Jeff Noble. The 30-year-old confronted an officer on aisle 11 before fellow officers shot him, said Lt. Jeff Love.
The wounded were taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. One of the wounded was an Albertsons employee and two others were customers, police said. Parker also was taken to the hospital but did not survive.
His mother said Parker, of Santa Ana, collected swords and was a fan of the "Highlander" film and television series in which the hero is a swordsman. Parker's former co-workers said he quit his job bagging groceries about two weeks ago after working at Albertsons for about two years.
Some described him as disturbed but non-threatening.
"I never felt threatened, but he was just a really odd man," said Mark Ming, 26. "He would have full conversations with himself. He obviously had problems, but he was respectful toward customers."
Michael Huggard, 17, remembered Parker as jovial.
"He seemed like a really nice guy," Huggard said. "He was just joking around a lot and smiling at everybody."
But 24-year-old Carl Wieduwilt had a grim premonition.
"I joke around on days I come in here and say he's going to shoot people up," he said. "I had this weird feeling inside that this was going to happen and look. It's amazing." He added that Parker sometimes was homeless.
The grocery chain said it would assist victims' families and provide counseling to employees.
"The entire Albertsons family shares in the sorrow generated from this unfortunate incident," the company said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those victims who lost their lives and also with the surviving victims and their families."
Stunned workers from other Albertsons gathered in the parking lot after hearing about the attack.
Lt. Love called the attacks an aberration in the quiet city 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles, which he said averages less than one murder a year. About 143,000 people live here.
Parker was raised in rural Ford, Va., and had been diagnosed as schizophrenic, his mother, Susan Davis, said in an interview Sunday. He also was a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.
"He was not in a good state at all," Davis said, adding she had not spoken to Parker in about a year.
"He said voices were telling him to do bad things."
Davis said her son moved to California about five years ago in hopes of making a new life.
"He wasn't happy about his job," she said. "He wasn't happy with his friends."
Davis said Parker only took one sword with him to California and left the remainder with her.
"I'm just sorry about what happened," Davis said, adding her heart ached for the victims.
Parker's sister, Heather Parker, 28, of Anaheim, said she hasn't spoken to her brother in several months.
"I'm sorry," she said in a telephone interview. "He was alone and he was very mistreated his whole life. He was being treated for schizophrenia. He's never been in trouble. He didn't drink, didn't use drugs. He was kind."
Then please explain how the para miltary crowd brought us the U.S. Gun Control Act of 1968 -- a rather sweeping gun control law.
A JPFO publication shows that this 1968 Gun control Act closely resembles the 1938 Nazi Weapons Law.
The JPFO also show that Senator Thomas Dodd had the Library of Congress translate the 1938 Nazi Weapons Law before the 1968 law was passed.
You're dead wrong, pal. Already in Austrailia, the anti-gun (read anti FREEDOM) crowd is calling for knife and club control. In England, they are calling for stun device control. Why stun guns? Not lethal, you say? They are if you make your own and up the amps just a bit. The antis use the term weapons and guns interchangeably. Is it the "Assault GUNS Ban?" Nope...it's the "Assault WEAPONS BAN."
Liberals and moderates (I use those terms to mean the same thing) fail to understand that the deadliest weapon is the one between your ears. That's why, wirestripper, in a battle of wits, on this subject, on this forum, you are unarmed.
Surprisingly, in Texas, "illegal knife" includes "(D) bowie knife; ---(E) sword; or..." [Texas penal Code, CH. 46.WEAPONS ---SECTION 46.01. DEFINITIONS...."]
At the time the law was passed the term "buck Knife" was I think a generic term for a large single bladed lock back knife.
There is a market for all the retrofit kits and the mods.
It sure is not me or the general public that is buying up all this stuff and causing lot's of worry. That is why I said what I said.
There is a guy I know that has so much stuff! If his house ever catches fire, you would not want to be within 1000 yards of it.(I know, I was trained in demo in the Army)
Being thoughtful and reasonable when dealing with this matter should be the norm rather than a rarity, however there are lines which cannot be crossed. They cross them to go around the arguments quite often.
I think the NRA backing of HR1(increasing penalties for gun crime) is a good start.
Every time there is a horrific crime and guns are involved the battle always gets off track and becomes "us against them". It is not working.
It did not work for abortion and will not work with guns either. Since the anti abortion violence and seething debate has died down, the anti-abortion crowd has grown larger. It was losing ground before.
Just a thought.
"the deaths of many innocent people that is ignored by the gun lobby"
The gun lobby doesn't ignore such tragedy, it seeks to reduce them by leaving open the access to the tools of self defense. If I choose to defend my home against the predations of gangs and thugs with an AR-15 instead of a lever action .30-30 or a .38sp snubnose revolver, who are YOU or anybody to call that decision into question? On the OTHER hand, the antis revel in every drop of innocent blood spilled, because they feel it advances their cause incrementally. And that is what moderates have brought us: incrementalism. The people who seek to deny freedoms never give anything in a so called "compromise" they just take less and then come back for more later and still more, after that. That's not compromise, that's moderate incrementalism.
Are you talking about ammo ---according to reloading books, there is no documented case of a fireman being injured by exploding ammo in a fire.--
Hodgen Powder No.27 Data Manual says "...the missles do not have sufficient velocity to penetrate the garments and protective gear worn by fire fighters...."
I brought it up because it was on my mind the other day when I heard a big explosion.
It turned out to be a silo that filled with propane from a dryer. LOL.
True, but after dealing with false info to the public from Sarah Brady, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Violence Policy Center, etc., -- gun owners are learning that the past policies of being thoughtful and reasonable are about as effective as the Maginot Line.
The NRA magazine several years ago had an article about the Violence Policy Center bragging about misleading the public about assault weapons.
In the end, it is about power...whether we shall have the power to defend, protect and make our own path as free individuals, or whether the state shall have that power, and along with it, necesarrily, the power to enslave us.
In the end, that's what this is all about. Our founders understood, and God grant that enough never forget it. As it stands now, with 80+ million gun owners I believe, despite lost ground, that we are still in the drivers seat...and those who crave the power know it.
Call it a social experiment or just curiosity but many posters were quite angry with me.(not that I give a crap)
I suppose I have learned enough about ya'all, and frankly I am not too impressed. (with a few exeptions)
:-(
I think 50 pounds of black powder is the legal limit --- and he is supposed to notify the local fire department if he is storing dynamite.---and there are regulations for storing.
You could order "Federal Explosives Law and Regulations. ATF P 5400.7 (09/00) " from BATF (online and get it in a few days) and give him a copy.
Concealed carry usually works. If he believed there was a 50-50 chance he'd get shot before he could slice someone do you think he'd have gone through with it? Same as with other psychopaths. They're not afraid of getting caught or even killed. They're afraid of failing.
Like many other psycho attacks this appears to have been vengeance killing. Take away the swords and knives and they'll be killing people with BBQ forks. Otoh if their intended victims are allowed to arm themselves they'll keep their private hells to themselves. Concealed carry is great for this. With a Kahr PM9 or Kel-Tec would-be assailants never know if a person is carrying or not even if they circle around them and check them out. From their point of view, they just have to get it wrong once to lose. They'll stay away. Otoh if someone uses a weapon that's visible they'll know when they're not carrying.
Nope........LOL......(not me, no sir:)
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