NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A California woman who was wounded by a shotgun blast last week at Louis Armstrong International Airport died Monday.
The woman, who was shot last Wednesday, has been identified only as a U.S. Defense Department employee in her 40s. Other details were withheld at the request of her family according to officials for the airport and Kenner Regional Medical Center, where she died Monday morning.
Let's see if the FBI is as vigorous in protecting the privacy of the victim and her family as they are with the media weasel. Once her identity becomes public, watch how the presstitutes have no problem invading their privacy, all, of course, in the name of the pubics right to know. Watch the contrast.
So now is it going to be a 'Murder Charge' for this member of the Islam sect of peace?
Why not protect everybody's privacy and just do away with the press altogether?
Try and execute him within 30 days by shotgun blast. Seems fair to me. Few will miss this crazy while many will miss the woman he killed. Kill and be killed is how I see it.
that's how them muslim nuts execute folks anyway, with the same method the killer used. since the killer was muslim, there should be NO problem at all for sending this cretin to see Muhamed.
Gott is a nut who became a Muslim instead of a Muslim who became a nut. Not much diff to me.
I asked the same question on an earlier thread. Some of them do; for instance, the Iranian mucky-mucks or whatever title they go by wear them.
HEROES AMONG US By subduing a killer, they may have saved many lives at the airport. But these heroes take little comfort in praise.
06/01/02
By Stephanie Doster
East Jefferson bureau/The Times-Picayune
Ricardo Parris had just issued a ticket to Southwest Airlines passenger Amy Michelson and was checking in another passenger at Louis Armstrong International Airport on May 22 when he saw a man wearing a turban pull a shotgun out from under his shirt.
Before Parris could yell a warning, the gunman pulled the trigger, hitting Michelson in the stomach as she was making her way to the gate.
The gunman turned and walked toward Parris at the Southwest ticket counter.
He pointed the gun at Southwest passenger Timothy Freeman, who was standing in front of Parris. The gun jammed, and in that second, Southwest employees Lenny Tully and Parris and passenger Freeman tackled the gunman, pinning him until police arrived.
Michelson, 45, of San Diego, died Monday at Kenner Regional Medical Center, but the efforts of Parris, Tully, Freeman and two other men to tackle the shooter and save her life were honored Friday at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office in Harvey.
Calling their actions "heroic," Sheriff Harry Lee presented plaques to Ricardo, Tully and Freeman; Kenneth Padgett, manager of safety and hazardous materials for the airport; and a federal sky marshal who works undercover and received his recognition anonymously.
Had the men not intervened, Lee said, "there would have been a gun battle in the lobby" between the alleged gunman, Patrick Gott, and law enforcement officers.
"It feels good," Parris, of Metairie, said about receiving the recognition. "I just wish no one had died."
May 22 had been a slow day at the Southwest ticket counter, Tully said. About three or four passengers were waiting to check in for their flights about 3:30 p.m., when, police said, Gott walked into the airport and fired his 12-gauge shotgun once, hitting Michelson in the stomach and a Southwest employee in the hand.
Gott, 43, of Pensacola, Fla., who faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, told deputies he had been upset because someone made fun of his turban. He has told police he is Muslim and reads the Quran daily.
"Before I could say, "Gun!," he pulled the trigger. I saw her hit the floor. He turned and started walking toward the Southwest counter," Parris said.
Around him, people were running. Airline employees and passengers alike scrambled onto luggage belts behind the ticket counters to ride to safety.
Freeman, who was standing at the counter, had relinquished his place in line to Michelson to call his travel agent about his reservation, Parris said. Now, Michelson was lying on the ground in front of the U.S. Airways ticket counter.
The gunman then "pointed the gun at Freeman. It jammed, and I saw Lenny," Parris said. Gott "had a look in his eyes like, ‘I'm just here to do harm.' "
When the gun jammed, Tully made the first tackle, knocking Gott to the ground "like a linebacker," Tully said. "It was all adrenaline. It really was."
Parris said he skirted around the counter and held Gott around the waist, while Freeman, a software engineer and former Army Ranger from the San Diego area, lunged and wrestled with Gott's legs. Another passenger kicked the gun out of Gott's reach, said Parris, who also served in the Army.
"We didn't give each other any signal," Parris said. "When Lenny hit him, we charged him."
They said Gott did not put up much of a struggle.
He had said only one word -- "Allah" -- before firing the first shot, Parris said.
Meanwhile, a sky marshal, who was standing at the Southwest ticket counter, heard the shot, jumped behind the counter and saw that Michelson had been hit.
He drew his gun and began taking aim at Gott when the three other men subdued Gott, police said. The sky marshal handcuffed Gott and remained with the other men at the scene until police arrived.
Parris said he thought the sky marshal was a second gunman until the officer flashed his badge.
"I didn't know if we could get up in time from this guy to grab the other guy," Parris said.
Padgett, who had raced downstairs when he heard the shot from his third-floor office, said he held Gott's head down with his knee until he heard someone shout, "A woman's down!" and went to help Michelson, radioing for help.
As Padgett, a trained emergency medical technician, began to treat her injury with a first-aid kit, Michelson told him someone needed to intercept her baggage so that she would have something to wear when she left the hospital.
Her words, "I'm hanging in there," are still fresh in his mind.
Despite their success in possibly preventing more deaths or injuries, Michelson's death stung the men.
"I felt like it was my fault in a way because I didn't go quick enough," Tully said.
"It seems like I put a lot into it, and when she died, I felt like a part of me died," Padgett said.
Gott's sister, Cynthia Gott, of Pensacola, expressed her sympathies to Michelson's family.
"The whole Gott family wants to pass along our condolences," she said. "We're all grieving for them, too."
Padgett, who was the first to tend to Michelson as she lay on her side, said Michelson was composed and calm, helping him to control his nerves.
"(She) was the hero," Padgett said Friday. "She was the calm in the storm."
. . . . . . .
Stephanie Doster may be reached at sdoster@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7054.
© The Times-Picayune. Used with permission.
Why are they de-emphasizing that this woman was a Dept. of Defense employee? Maybe the religion of peace guy was on a mission to shoot her but to blame it on his turban. Why not just kill us one at a time because they can't get on a jet as easily now? They killed thousands of Americans already but are a little short on cash now. They still want us dead and a DOD employee, perfect for them.
