Man with bomb also had odd weapon (cane like - pictures to be released)

New York Times ^ | 9/4/03

[rintense]

My point exactly. Anything is possible, and when neighbors and friends say, 'oh he's so nice, etc.', that should be a tip off right away.

[menotyu]

YEP, that's a huge red flag.

[r9etb]

Authorities described the weapon as "unusual" and "unique," saying it appeared to have been homemade or custom-made in a machine shop. One official said it was shaped like a walking cane.

Sounds like it could have been something like a "bang stick" of the sort divers use to protect themselves from sharks.

[ElkGroveDan]

Not too unusual for pizza delivery people. I delivered for a number of years, and weapons of some type – even unusual firearms – were common with the people I worked with. Our company was the only one in the area that didn’t red-line.

I delivered pizzas in a rural college town. Only time I feared for my safety was when the ugly girls had me step in to pay and then wouldn't let me out (honest).

[UCANSEE2]

It will turn out that the pizza guy was robbing the bank for his 'friend' (coworker) who wanted a sex change operation but couldn't afford it.

[UCANSEE2]

The neck bomb was set off inadvertently by a police radio, and when his coworker found out, he committed suicide. Story over.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

Bumping to read later...what a spooky case.

[Pro-Bush]

Source please..

[Jalapeno]

I find it fascinating that after some 48+ hours of this incident, there is no clear sign as to how these events came to be.

It could of been as the poor man said...or it could of been by his own hand.

I am still inclined to believe at this point he was behind it. I thinkhe saw it as the perfect crime, with a get out of jail free card if caught.

The bomb was turned on for the police to prove his story about kidnappers. The bomb had to be real, for "no one in their right mind would strap a time bomb around themselves".

I don't think he wanted to die, but I suspect he made a mistake somewhere...maybe in not understanding that the bomb squad would take a while to arrive at the scene, and they would isolate him like that.

Still, all other theories are just as good as that one at the moment. We really do need to see the physical evidence.

[Yup!!]

when neighbors and friends say, 'oh he's so nice, etc.', that should be a tip off right away.

you'll never hear my friends and neighbors say that about me...:)

[R. Scott]

I doubt many cops around Erie Pennsylvania would be familiar with a bang stick. The mechanism would easily convert a cane into a .410 shotgun cane. Or, by it's self look like a "walking stick".

[R. Scott]

That is a fear every pizza delivery type has – even in Newport News.
People would be surprised at the number of women who order a sub or pizza for lunch – and answer the door naked. Some were even good looking, but I always had the fear of a setup.

[185JHP]

The cane-like weapon may have been like a "bangstick" - shark weapon, for defense or attack.