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Man opens fire with machine gun at university; two injured
The Associated Press ^ | 5/9/03 5:10 PM | By M.R. KROPKO

Posted on 05/09/2003 2:59:11 PM PDT by demlosers

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To: RedBloodedAmerican
See also, from www.dunnconnect.com:

Graduate Nabbed in Case Western ShootingBy TOM WITHERS

CLEVELAND - The 62-year-old man accused of a shooting spree at a prestigious Cleveland university had military training with the Indian army and a grudge against an employee, authorities said Saturday.

Biswanath Halder, armed with two handguns, allegedly killed one person, wounded two others and held police at bay for seven hours Friday in a shiny, swirling building filled with twisting corridors that complicated his capture.

Halder wore a bulletproof vest and a wig glued on "a kind of World War II Army helmet" as he walked the halls of Case Western Reserve University's Peter B. Lewis Building and fired hundreds of rounds, police Chief Edward Lohn said.

"There's a trail of blood throughout," Lohn said. "It was a cat-and-mouse game."

Authorities said 93 people were trapped inside the building for hours, hiding in offices, classrooms and closets.

Norman Wallace, a 30-year-old graduate student who had a summer internship at a consulting firm, was killed. Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell described him as a "young man with hope and promise."

The two injured people _ a 32-year-old man shot in the buttocks and a 46-year-old woman shot in her collar bone _ were released from the hospital Saturday, authorities said.

Halder, who suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder, was released into police custody Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney, and Campbell said prosecutors were determining what charges to file.

Halder lived in the heart of Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood about a half mile from campus. Some neighbors described him as an unfriendly man who would walk down the middle of the road apparently to avoid talking with them.

"He never walked on the sidewalks, always down the middle of the street. To me, it seemed like he was afraid of people," said Jay DiRenzo.

DiRenzo said Halder has rented the third floor of the three-unit house two doors down from her for about 6 or 7 years. There was no answer Saturday night at the house where letters and magazines were overflowing from his mailbox.

Halder, who graduated from Case Western in 1999 with a master's degree in business administration, had sued a university computer lab employee who was in the building but escaped during the standoff, university president Edward Hundert said.

Hundert said the lawsuit, which accused the employee of having "added and deleted things from a personal Web site" belonging to Halder, was dismissed and Halder had lost an appeal about a month ago.

Hundert said Halder did not have a grudge against the school.

Students and faculty members scrambled to get out of the new, Frank Gehry-designed business school building when gunshots first rang out about 4 p.m. Friday.

The distinctive design of the five-story building, which has no right angles and hallways that dip and swerve, complicated the job for police.

"As the SWAT team entered the building, they were constantly under fire," Lohn said. "They couldn't return fire because of the design of the building. They didn't have a clear shot."

Lohn said a SWAT team engaged in firefights with Halder throughout the building before finally cornering him in a room. Police weren't sure when Halder was shot, but said he was apprehended without incident.

He had a Cobray pistol, a Ruger pistol and 11 ammunition clips.

The resume Halder posts on his Web site includes service in the Indian army, as well as experience in computer programming, designing electrical measuring equipment in Germany, real estate and financial planning.

"Machine gun?"
121 posted on 05/10/2003 9:05:53 PM PDT by RonDog
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
And check his guestbook! FreeRepublic is in there!
Free Republic is only mentioned in his guestbook AFTER the shooting, in a rant by some DU-type bozo.

The REAL story about Mr. Halder can be found from the MANY "anti-war" links posted on his "Poll" page, http://junior.apk.net/~halder/poll.html:

-- snip --

"They know we own their country.   We own their airspace...   We dictate the way they live and talk.   And that's what's great about America right now.   It's a good thing, especially when there is a lot of oil out there we need."   William Looney

Orange Ball Stop War Now
Orange Ball Win Without War
Orange Ball A Citizens' Declaration
Orange Ball Iraq Peace Pledge Petition
Orange Ball Remember the People of Iraq
Orange Ball No War on Iraq (at MoveOn.org)
Orange Ball Convene the General Assembly
Orange Ball Say "NO" to New Iraq Resolution
Orange Ball Tell George that He is Un-Patriotic
Orange Ball Security Council: Stay the Course
Orange Ball Security Council: Hold Out for Peace
Orange Ball Lift Sanctions in Iraq - Say NO to War
Orange Ball No War Against Iraq (at VoteNoWar.org)
Orange Ball War on Iraq - Act Now - Email Tony Blair
Orange Ball Emergency Appeal to the United Nations
Orange Ball Petition to President Bush -- Oppose War
Orange Ball We Can Do Better Than This! No Iraq War!
Orange Ball Restore US Trade with Iraq (Bill # H.R.742)
Orange Ball Stop Bush's 'Wag the Dog' Invasion of Iraq
Orange Ball Security Council: The People Say NO to War
Orange Ball Oppose War with Iraq: Massive Fax Campaign
Orange Ball Should Australia Take Part in a War against Iraq?
Orange Ball NO TO WAR -- Register Your Opposition to War in Iraq
Orange Ball Write the UN Security Council to Stop the Rush to War
Orange Ball An E-mail Blast to 100 Members to the British Parliament
Orange Ball Last Chance to Give Peace a Chance -- Stop World War III
Orange Ball End the Iraqi Sanctions (to the UN/US/UK Administrations)
Orange Ball UN Uniting for Peace -- Emergency Fax Kit to Stop the War
Orange Ball Support Emergency UN General Assembly Action for Peace
Orange Ball Send an E-mail to President Bush Opposing War against Iraq
Orange Ball Stop the US Government's Holocaust Against the Iraqi People
Orange Ball Last Blast Against the Blitz: An Emergency Kit to Stop the War
Orange Ball Worldwide Call to Conscience: End Economic Sanctions Against Iraq
Orange Ball A Campaign to End the Economic Sanctions Against the People of Iraq
Orange Ball Call on the UN General Assembly: Vote a "Uniting for Peace" Resolution
Orange Ball Letter to UN Security Council Telling Them NOT to Authorize War on Iraq
Orange Ball Appeal to the UN Security Council to Halt Naked Aggression Against Iraq
Orange Ball Should the US invade Iraq to halt Saddam's weapons programs? (at PBS)
Orange Ball Urge Russia, France and China to Veto and Block UN Authorization for War
Orange Ball A Statement of Conscience against War and Repression (at Not In Our Name)
Orange Ball An Appeal from Helen Caldicott to the Pope to be a Human Shield in Baghdad
Orange Ball An Open Letter from the Academic Community Opposing a US Invasion of Iraq
Orange Ball Petition to the UN Security Council Addressing the Humanitarian Situation in Iraq
Orange Ball Letter to Leaders of Congress Asking Them to Oppose Unilateral US Invasion of Iraq

    "Whenever human rights are abused, all of us become victims."   Benazir Bhutto

-- snip --

There are MANY, MANY more.
I just cut and pasted THESE here - for when the RATs take down this website...

122 posted on 05/10/2003 9:13:59 PM PDT by RonDog
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To: demlosers
Here we go.. fresh meat for the War on the 2nd.
123 posted on 05/10/2003 10:07:28 PM PDT by Qwerty
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To: demlosers
All this right on the heels of the President allowing the perception that he'd support the AW ban.
124 posted on 05/10/2003 10:08:08 PM PDT by Qwerty
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To: dramaboy
why do we not like Gehry. The very first time I saw it I thought it was the most miraculous thing I had ever seen. Your distaste for the building confounds me. My father said the same thing as you. What about it does not amaze you.

That's easy, as an architect I have been trained in the use of form, materials and structure. I have been educated in the how to design space, circulation and sequence of movement in a rational coherent form. Architecture is not merely about spectacle and surface which is what Frank Gehry's 'architecture' has become. To me, his work is more inhabitable sculpture or skin than true architecture. Gehry's work and signature swooping titanium skins are interesting when used in a unique manner once. To see them replicated over and over regardless of context or use is akin to plopping down the same typical McDonald's over and over at rest stops across America. Granted they may be visually mjore interesting thana McDonalds, but the McDonalds typical reststop is truer to function at least.

I am all for the bold use of form and pushing the use of materials in new and ionnovative ways. But to me, it must be done for a reason, not just becasue you can do it. Gehry's buildings have become passe. They are built not to be unique solutions to programatic requirments but are built to be trophys or collector items.

I have vistited Gehry's earlt buildings in LA and found them to range from interesting and unique to be ugly and outrageous. My sister works at the EMP in Seattle, possibly one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. From the outside it is the most bizarre alien colored weird thing you have sver seen. on the inside, you have no idea you are in this thing at all. You might as well be in a warehouse.

Last week I was a visiting critic for a 2nd year architecture studio for a 5 year B Arch. program, and fundamentaly the worst projects were those that fall slave to one rigid idea. Gehry's buildings though technically amazing fail once you get past the exuberant skins which he literally spreads like peanut butter over boring interior boxes, you end up with boring boxes. What you see on the outside is never EVER expressed on ther inside. To me that is sacrilige and poor design.

Gehry has been doing the deconstructivist things for 10 years and it's over. Two of the few decent projects that appeared to fit into the context that I do admire is the Bilbao Guggenheim (the ultimate of these titanium swoops)and the American enter in Paris. His recent creations are these tinanium sails that relate to nothing and after a while they all look the same. At least in Paris the Limestone Clad American center related to the classic French low rise limestone construction. Ironicly, Gehry's overblown budget bankrupted the American center and they had to sell it. And in Bilbao there is a urban scale to the building and manipulation of from that relates to its river front siting.

125 posted on 05/11/2003 8:26:49 AM PDT by finnman69 (!)
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To: neefer
RE: "NUTCASE" - DITTO!

I wonder where Mr. "Progressive's" ponytail is? Let us examine some of the more profound quotes:

The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University today officially dedicated the official dedication of its new home, The Peter B. Lewis Building. Named in honor of lead donor Peter B. Lewis, chairman of the Progressive Corporation, and designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry... Lewis, who has donated 36.9 million toward the $61.7 million project, is chairman of the Progressive Corporation, the nation's fourth largest auto insurer.

Nice to know what high insurace premiums are really used to pay for. And did you catch the great opening line? "...officially dedicated the official dedication..." Now that is what I call intelligent journalism.

Oh, and the writer thinks he is a poet also: "...flowing ribbons of shining stainless steel cascade over and down the surface, while inside, fluid, curved walls defy convention." I believe that the architect--and the primary donor--were both, and all at once, droppoing hits of acid, watching successive reruns of the Beatles' movie 'Yellow Submarine,' and listening to 'Helter Skelter.'

Quoting Mr. Lewis: "The future of business belongs to those who constantly embrace change, risk and explore new ideas, the building is a place where people cannot help but think differently. It challenges the students, the University and the City of Cleveland to break boundaries. The status quo is not acceptable here." Yes, we can see that conservative values--such as those found in the sound priciples of design that balance art with practical innovation, and hold a respect for good architectural tradition--are probably not too highly a stressed part of the school's curriculum. However, change for change's sake is neither healthy, nor wise, and the man who demands or requires a constant 'reinventing of the wheel' in order to be mentally stimulated is usually a psychotic tyrant.

Again, quoting Mr. Lewis: "I have always thought that Progressive can be the greatest company in the history of the world. With this building, there is no reason Weatherhead cannot aspire to be the greatest business school." As I suspected, the man is a psychotic, far removed from the bounds of reality.

Quoting Case Western Reserve University President Edward M. Hundert: "The Peter B. Lewis Building is a[n]... icon for the Weatherhead School that will have widespread influence. We are confident that the building will live up to the reputation of Mr. Lewis... He has the University's... very serious commitment to realize his vision for the School, Cleveland and the future of business." May God Almighty help us, if the twisted form of this architectural monstrosity is any indication of the "vision" that Mr. psycho-delic has for the future of business.

At the recommendation of Mr. Lewis, Case Western retained Frank Gehry... Gehry saw the incredible potential of the project and worked closely with Weatherhead faculty throughout the creative process. "This building provided the unique challenge of rethinking contemporary education. I asked the faculty some tough questions: What is a classroom? How does the space you teach in encourage the generation of new ideas? Their answers drove the design and have brought a much-needed democracy to the academic environment." Goog Lord, we are in trouble. This design concept represents the "creative process" of the faculty; and their "rethinking contemporary education" is revealed by this contorted structure, as if their ideas based in "contemporary education" were not already warped enough!

However this next sentence is the absolute gem of the article: "Gehry's design effectively eliminates the traditional, top-down relationship between teacher and student... making teachers and students equal partners in the learning process." So now the student is an "equal" to the teacher... typical liberal deconstruction of the western patriarchal society, in favor of its communal architype--question all authority--pure marxist ideology, there are no class divisions.

And again: "no two classrooms are exactly alike, so students are constantly faced with changing perspectives." Imagine working for a company where no two filing or accounting systems were alike, no standards, ie: chaos.

"The building's thoughtful design (That's it... I have to stop for a moment, ROTFLMAO!) extends far beyond the surface..."

And next we have the Magical Mystery Tour--step right up ladies and gentlemen. Quoting Mohsen Anvari, Dean of the Weatherhead School of Management: "The connectivity that permeates this building that enables unprecedented spontaneity in learning-something that can be shared with an entire classroom, and beyond. "It enables students and faculty to transcend the physical space, and even the virtual space, to explore new ground within themselves and each other. The Peter B. Lewis Building truly complements and enhances Weatherhead's advanced curriculum to create a unique and powerful learning experience for 21st century managers."

Oh, boy! Are we in for a ride!

126 posted on 05/11/2003 6:44:40 PM PDT by jt8d (War is better than terrorism)
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Comment #127 Removed by Moderator

To: demlosers
“Bonnie Copes, an administrative assistant, said she heard several gunshots beginning around 4 p.m.
Copes, 50, was locked in a department office inside the building and unable to leave. She continued to hear gunshots.”

Doesn’t sound like a “machinegun” to me.

128 posted on 05/12/2003 3:05:16 AM PDT by R. Scott
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To: jt8d
"The building's thoughtful design"

Safety wasn't part of that thoughtful design. On local radio this morning, I heard a Weatherhead student say, "If there was a fire, I wouldn't want to be in that building. It’s hard to differentiate between the stairwells and the walls.”

That building is such a garish distraction from the turn of the century architecture of University Circle. Lewis and Weatherhead are an embarrassment to the other schools at Case Western Reserve. According to an article I read in the NYTimes, the business school’s ranking has dropped significantly over that past five years.
129 posted on 05/12/2003 6:28:27 AM PDT by neefer
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To: JMack
I wonder how much the Dems offered to pay this guys family if he went on a rampage with a "machine gun".
130 posted on 05/12/2003 6:33:46 AM PDT by RockyMtnMan
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To: wardaddy
Love your tagline.
131 posted on 05/12/2003 7:50:25 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: coloradan
YOu are absolutely correct that there is no duty to protect, unless there is a special relationship. This is more for the fact that the Police could be sued for traffic crashes, crimes, etc that occurred and the police failed to prevent them. It is simply a matter of common sense to protect the tax payers.

This also morphs into the reality that the citizen's are on their own, until police arrive. We simply cannot arrive in time to stop crime. What happens in the first few minutes will determine what the police will have to investigate.

I support right to carry and the use of force for immediate defense of life (IDOL), this means anyone's life, not just your own.This is the standard I train officers to, and it applies to civilians.

I appreciate focus on officer response and tactics like this. We have a huge disparity between officers hung up on officer safety, and the desire to do their jobs. The training I provide removes the excuse, and gives them the tools. As a supervisor, I need this in order to properly discipline my officers, if needed.
132 posted on 05/12/2003 8:04:51 AM PDT by midcop402
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