Posted on 02/13/2007 4:34:26 PM PST by wagglebee
The 18-year-old gunman who killed five people in a crowded Utah shopping mall was a Bosnian Muslim refugee who was prepared to kill many more, say investigators.
An off-duty police officer having an early Valentine's Day dinner with his wife was credited today with cornering Sulejmen Talovic, exchanging fire with him until other officers arrived to shoot and kill the gunman.
The trench-coated teenager wanted to "to kill a large number of people" and probably would have killed many more if not for the off-duty officer, Police Chief Chris Burbank said.
A friend said Talovic was from the war-torn country of Bosnia and that the trauma he experienced while growing may have led to him snapping for some reason.
Ken Hammond, an off-duty officer from Ogden, north of Salt Lake City, jumped up from his seat at a restaurant after hearing gunfire and cornered the gunman, exchanging fire with him until other officers arrived, Burbank said.
"There is no question that his quick actions saved the lives of numerous other people," the police chief said.
Police said it was not immediately clear who fired the shot that killed Talovic.
Talovic had a backpack full of ammunition, a shotgun and a .38-caliber pistol, police said. Investigators knew little about Talovic, except than he lived in Salt Lake City with his mother, the chief said. He was enrolled in numerous city schools before withdrawing in 2004, the school district said. Initially, police refused to release his name or any information about his background.
Talovic drove to the Trolley Square shopping center – a century-old former trolley barn with winding hallways, brick floors and wrought-iron balconies, and immediately killed two people, followed by a third victim as he came through a door, Burbank said. Five other people were then shot in a gift shop, he said.
Four people who were wounded remained hospitalized today, two in critical condition, two in serious.
Outside the mall, candles and flowers were left as memorials to the victims.
Hammond's boss, Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, said the state Senate wants to honor him.
"Thank goodness he was there," said Greiner, who is also a state senator. "You don't want to ever say it's good we were there and killed somebody, but it's probably good someone was there."
Accountant Jeff Barlow was on a date at a restaurant when he looked outside and saw the gunman firing from the hip.
"I thought it was some kind of joke – some kind of movie or stunt," Barlow said. "I didn't believe it was happening. And then I saw a man go down in a courtyard. I realized this was serious. These are real bullets flying around."
David Dean, who owns a greeting-card store at the mall, said three or four people died inside his store, which was packed with Valentine's Day shoppers.
Call CAIR. Ibrahim Hooper can get an islamic "doctor" to give it an official medical designation. It'll save him the trouble of having to condemn jihadi terror attacks, which seems to be too burdensome for him anyway. Now he can answer "it's just a case of SJS."
bump
bump
bump
Ummm...Yes you do, it was GREAT that he was killed, even if was a choirboy who momentarily snapped, there's no time to sort out his "feelings" during a killing rampage. Jeezz, does EVERYTHING have to be cloaked in PC language?
I agree completely. The act was insane, but he was sane while carrying out the massacre. No one knows for certain his motives, because we can't read minds, but when I first saw the name, I thought of the guy out in Tampa that flew the Cherokee Piper into a building. In that case, I knew it was a terrorist attack, yet the police and the media were trying to spin the story. They trotted out the fact that the boy didn't have an arabic name. Later on we found out that he indeed, was an arab of muslim descent, and had also penned a suicide letter praising binladen and world jihad. I believe we'll learn much the same about this guy.
Having read portions of the worthless koran I know that this friend is full of horse bleep.This filthy slimebag was doing *exactly* what the worthless koran demands.
It seems to me this gunman story is quickly disappearing from the MSM radar. Has anyone else noticed how quickly it has become "old news"?
They'll sweep it away the same as they did with the Seattle killings at the JCC.
"as from the war-torn country of Bosnia and that the trauma he experienced while growing... "
Spin-Meisters at work
Then allow me. It's good you were there and killed somebody.
What is up with Drudge? Is he some kind of homo? Why doesn't he post this story? Oh, yeah, he is homo.... but a Republican homo, so that okay.... I like gay people, especially when their Republican.
What is up with Drudge? Is he some kind of homo? Why doesn't he post this story? Oh, yeah, he is homo.... but a Republican homo, so that okay.... I like gay people, especially when they are Republican.
His last name was Bishop—which had been changed from a ME name.
Well, how can we make it not old news? How do we do it, because I'm done with liberal lies. I want the frickin' truth out there and I want it loud. Before it gets worse.
Bump
"I guess I'm not surprised that there is no mention of him being a Muslim
in the mainstream news."
Just I wasn't suprised when the MSM didn't mention the 50,000 (or
so) Bosnians in the St. Louis area.
Or the likelihood that some voted (illegally) for Claire McCaskill on
Nov. 7, 2006.
(of course, even though I voted for him, Talent helped did his own
grave with his milquetoast approach to campaigning)
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