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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
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A man opened fire with a machine gun Friday at the business school at Case Western Reserve University. At least two people were reported injured.
Witnesses said the gunman was firing indiscriminantly.
School spokeswoman Marcie Hersh said the lone gunman was still in the Peter B. Lewis Building, which had been locked down. One person had been shot outside and was taken to a hospital. The other wounded person remained inside the building, she said.
LeKisha Spencer, 28, who works in a first-floor cafeteria said, she heard a bang and a saw a man walking inside the building toward the front.
"He had a machine gun, book bag, camouflage shirt, military green hat, white pants and a bookbag," she said. "I didn't see his face.
"He was just walking, aiming his guns and firing.
"I just went to the phone and dialed 911. I heard another bang."
She ran from the building.
"When I ran out the door, I still heard shots."
Squad cars surrounded the block, and officers had guns trained on the building, said William Day, a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music who was passing by.
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.
"Rounds and rounds and rounds," she said.
The $62 million Peter B. Lewis Building opened in the fall and was designed by Frank Gehry, the internationally renowned architect who also created the titanium-covered Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Case Western is at University Circle, a park-like setting of cultural, medical and educational institutions on the eastern edge of downtown. The school has 9,500 students.
The Lewis building is about five stories high. Instead of walls on the south side, it has a curving roof, made of 20,000 stainless-steel shingles, that seemingly tumbles to the ground.
Lewis, an art collector and the billionaire chairman of Progressive Insurance, gave Case $37 million toward construction of the building, which opened in the fall.
TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: banglist
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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
To: RedBloodedAmerican
122
posted on
05/10/2003 9:13:59 PM PDT
by
RonDog
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
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
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.
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)
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.
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
To: JMack
I wonder how much the Dems offered to pay this guys family if he went on a rampage with a "machine gun".
To: wardaddy
Love your tagline.
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.
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