Posted on 08/31/2007 5:24:41 AM PDT by angcat
Residents south of Gouldsboro are used to the sound of gunfire from the public shooting range on State Game Lands 127. So when residents there say there was a big explosion and automatic gunfire, there's a good chance they're not crying wolf.
The shooting range was used earlier this year by six men now dubbed the Fort Dix Six for a half-baked terrorism plot they are accused of concocting, involving an attack on that New Jersey military base.
The incident occurred Wednesday, Aug. 15. The remains of a small crater, apparently from the explosion, are still visible but aren't much to look at.
There's an active investigation, too, but that's also not very visible.
The explosion occurred at 5:47 a.m. and was loud enough to awaken residents who live near the shooting range. Numerous residents called 911. Because State Game Lands is near the Lackawanna County border, some of the 911 calls went to the State Police in Dunmore.
One of the 911 callers described what she heard. "There was a series of single shots that were very loud — louder than a normal gun. I've lived in that area for 22 years and it was nothing like any gunfire I have ever heard before.
"Then there was a huge explosion followed by more shots that sounded like automatic machine gun fire. I called my brother-in-law and asked him if we should do anything and he said to call the cops. So I did.
"I dialed 911 and went through many transfers to Dunmore and then Swiftwater. Then Pocono Mountain Regional Police called me back at 6:10 a.m. and said they would come up, but I knew by the time they drove all the way up here, the people would be gone."
The caller estimated there was shooting for about 20 to 25 minutes.
She said she spoke with neighbors about the incident. "People as far away as Clifton Beach Road were awakened by the explosion," she said.
When asked if she thought someone had detonated an M-80, the caller responded that her son also heard the explosion. "He said it didn't sound like a quarter stick of dynamite. He thought it sounded like a whole stick of dynamite or something else entirely. I thought it was more serious than someone setting off an M-80."
The Pocono Record learned of the incident on Sunday from a Monroe County resident who frequents the shooting range. On Monday, Pocono Mountain Regional Police provided a police report of the incident. A police officer indicated the investigation had been turned over to the FBI.
State Game Lands are under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. WCO Mark Rutkowski said that "some of the residents in the area called the Game Commission before 6 a.m. but our dispatchers answer the phone only from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m." Subsequently, those individuals called 911.
"I went to the range to collect evidence and observed a hole in the ground that was approximately 2 feet in diameter and a few inches deep," Rutkowski said.
He indicated that state police in Hazleton were handling the investigation of the scene to determine what kind of explosive caused the hole in the ground.
On Thursday, the Intelligence Unit at Hazleton confirmed the investigation and said the state police lab in Hersey is analyzing the explosive residue.
"The shooting range was used earlier this year by six men now dubbed the Fort Dix Six for a half-baked terrorism plot they are accused of concocting, involving an attack on that New Jersey military base."
Scary, next time tell them to keep an eye out for the exploding Abdul.
Great police response time with a report of an explosion and shots fired. It must really give local residents a real warm and fuzzy safe feeling.
Apparently his first exposure to police response tactics, Columbine-style...
The ROP scum are getting bolder.
Now they don’t seem to even care if they live fire exercises are heard. Anyone reporting suspicious activity will be sued by CAIR.
It does give one something to think about.
Thanks for the ping.
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