Another shooting spree that’s all your fault
This is horrifying:
A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and “lying in wait” opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday, killing three of them and turning a quiet Pittsburgh street into a battlefield, police said.
Police Chief Nate Harper said the motive for the shooting isn’t clear, but friends said the gunman recently had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.
Richard Poplawski, 23, met officers at the doorway and shot two of them in the head immediately, Harper said. An officer who tried to help the two also was killed.
Poplawski, armed with an assault rifle and two other guns, then held police at bay for four hours as the fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them, according to police and witnesses. More than 100 rounds were fired by the SWAT teams and Poplawski, Harper said.
The three slain officers were Eric Kelly, 41, Stephen Mayhle, 29, and Paul Sciullo III, 37. Kelly had been on the force for 14 years, Mayhle and Sciullo for two years each. Another officer, Timothy McManaway, was shot in the hand and a fifth broke his leg on a fence.
Keep the families in your prayers:
Stephen Mayhle
– Was a two-year veteran officer
– Survived by wife Chandra and daughters Jennifer and Brooklyn
Eric Kelly
– Was a 14-year veteran officer
– Survived by wife Marina and daughters Timyka, Autumn and Janel
Paul Sciullo III
– Was a two-year veteran
– Survived by his parents and three siblings
From the same side of the political aisle that champions police killers Mumia abu Jamal and Tookie Williams comes a new round of indignant finger-pointing:
You killed all the innocent people at the Binghamton immigration center.
You killed these police officers.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Fast and Furious showdown: Holder/Obama defend bloody culture of contempt; Update: Fortress Holder, Stonewall City; vid clips added, Dems advise, “Don’t answer”
February 2, 2012 09:16 AM by Michelle Malkin
158 CommentsAttention: Obama’s coming to Arizona, Ground Zero of his Fast and Furious debacle
January 23, 2012 02:08 PM by Michelle Malkin
58 Comments
The Year in Obama Scandals — and Scandal Deniers
December 28, 2011 12:04 PM by Michelle Malkin
122 Comments
The Brian Terry Memorial Act passes
December 15, 2011 06:08 PM by Michelle Malkin
21 CommentsThe murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry: One year ago today
December 14, 2011 11:11 AM by Michelle Malkin
70 Comments
Holder, Blago, Richardson: Triangle of Sleaze
December 9, 2011 09:05 AM by Michelle Malkin
125 CommentsNewsflash: Shootings reported at Virginia Tech; reports – police officer shot/dead?, at least one other victim
December 8, 2011 01:08 PM by Michelle Malkin
42 Comments
Capitol Hill hearing/vote watch: Holder, Corzine, Cordray; Update Holder: Nobody lied; Corzine: Don’t know where $ went; F&F impeachment?; Issa turns up heat; Holder “possibly” will clean house; vids added
December 8, 2011 09:41 AM by Michelle Malkin
157 Comments
Categories: Guns
Patterico
» Rick Santorum and the two playbooksRiehl World View
» Romney's Blood Is Blue, Not ConservativePundit & Pundette
» King Barack vs. the NonconformistsJustOneMinute
» Cat Blogging In A Harsh New LightGateway Pundit
» Top Leftist Blog: Obama Must Quash Religious Freedom to Save Earth From Global Warming
You’ve got it all wrong. The people killed in yesterday’s shooting got what they deserved because they weren’t armed.
/sarc
you know what this kid was a murderer waiting to happen.
He’s right about the gun ban, but this ain’t going to help our case.
Was he born here? Maybe he had some kind of flash back of the mother land and the Gestapo?
I heard on the news that the shooter, Poplawski, had been dishonorably discharged from the military during bootcamp. I can assume that he was not right in the head. I can also assume that the media will go nuts over a neighbor’s statement that Poplawski was afraid of losing his “right to bear arms,” as the story is already out there. But unverified. But being pushed as THE motive.
Thanks for covering this Michelle. Note that Police Officer Eric Kelly was on his way home when the call came in, he went to the scene to backup those already there. Hero.
This is the narrative the leftist would have us believe. We go from domestic dispute to this.
May God the Father Almighty rest their Souls and comfort their families.
The leftists aren’t controlling this narrative. The comments are directly from his friends and quotes found on his Myspace page.
Why does this story sound stupid …
Just an absolutely horrible tragedy. I went through the fever swamps and the reaction is just disgusting. Everything they can do to pin the blame on the right while not a word of sympathy for these fallen officers or their families.
Just sickening, although not at all surprising.
Equally disgusting are the comments in the NY thread saying the victims deserved to die since they weren’t armed.
The politicization of both stories is shameful, regardless of the agenda.
He may have just been on a rant with the neighbor and the excuse for his-bad behavior-of-the-moment that day was that his guns were going to be taken away. This is a person that clearly should never have had a firearm of any kind in his possession. His family, friends, and neighbors should have notified authorities the man was potentially dangerous to himself and others. Has any news outlet bothered to check the background of the shooter to find out if he has had other incidents with the police department?
May the Father Almighty ease the pain in the hearts of those surviving the peace officers.
If you read the entire article, it sounds suspiciously like this attribution to Obama gun grabbing was elicited through a specific question to his friend and neighbor in order to get this answer. The question itself likely had nothing to do with causation.While it is early, and I could be wrong, the story appears to not quote the men, but summarizes a view that is so similar under these highly emotional circumstances as to be suspicious. It is interesting that in the substance of the article this cause is never mentioned again. I think we have a meme here.
If I use “liberal” logic on the statement above I would have to conclude the shootings are the “One’s” fault.
This sort of thing is starting to become commonplace with each passing day…could it be that President Barak Hussein Obama is bad for your health?
I’d say the guy was on the edge long before his layoff earlier this year. Losing his job may have tipped him completely off balance. Obama and gun control may just be the latest excuse for his anti-social behavior.
Unemployment, of course, is Obama’s “inherited” problem. So they’ll blame Bush.
Reading through some of the accounts of this monstrous attack on law enforcement…and, considering how the press will distort the facts – with the millions of jobs lost, our economy in complete chaos, the attempt to take over and nationalize whole industries with no end in sight – people are going to exibit behavior not seen in decades. The liberal mind will assert society should forfeit those things that can pose a danger to society and authority. Thus, we end up on the threshold of 1938 once again. Americans, of sound mind, are not the Jews/Christians of Europe 1938 and will never stand for confiscation of their rights, property, and lives.
I do think you are going to see more of these incidents as the conditions worsen. But, you cannot allow emotions to cloud clear thinking. Last I checked, we still have a vote. Until that is unequivocably revoked there is no excuse for violence, especially those sworn to serve and protect.
S/b “especially -toward- those sworn to serve and protect.”
zorro – aw, grasshopper, the neighborhood bully emerges. Very interesting. Not to say though those clutching Bibles and clinging to guns in the ‘bambi frame of mind aren’t just as guilty as this guy!
The shooter is responsible. Period.
My heart goes out to the families and friends of the fallen officers.
In a country whose population is approximately 320 million, the acts of three nut jobs doesn’t signify a trend.
Although, I do feel the same sense of suspicion toward Obama’s politices that the 23 year old felt. Unfortunately, he’s a whacked out idiot.
Regardless of the opportunistic attacks on the Second Amendment that these incidents present, I remain resolute in saying:
From my cold, dead hands, liberals!
Mookie – Is it even possible for you to make a plain intelligent or compassionate statement when you read about this tragedy?
Your attitude and comments are disgusting. Why would you twist the focus in the very first post to what a few sick people on another site said?
How about simply expressing compassion for the police officers? How about recognizing that the man who did this was mentally ill?
YOU are politicizing this.
What a heartbreaking and senseless end to the lives of these officers, and prayers for the families. What a tragedy.
Joy, it’s people on THIS site that are saying it.
There were only one or two posters on that thread whose remarks could be interpreted that way out of around 150 posts, and I note you called one of them to task for it there. Quit trying to make it sound like it was a basic theme of the thread. Of those who addressed anything resembling this, the main theme was that if anyone in the building (meaning the employees, since the rest were immigrants who apparently couldn’t legally own a gun) had had weapons available, it is quite possible they could have stopped the rampage and saved some lives. Ergo, a case could be made that the absence of guns, not the presence of them, led directly to the large number of casualties. It wouldn’t have had to be the employees, either – an armed security guard or two would have had the same effect. It’s been said many times, many ways: When they take away our guns, then only the criminals will have guns. And yes, I agree with Twain – that does include the political class. In the final analysis, as many have pointed out, in that incident as well as the cop shooting only the shooter was to blame for his actions – not guns, conservatives, or American society.
*I shall lift them and their families up in my thoughts and prayers; Law enforcement does indeed put their lives on the line daily to serve and protect us; No clearer example than this one; So sad.
No one is saying it’s the basic theme of the thread. Far from. The point I’m trying to make is that even on this site, there are sick SOB’s who want to turn yesterday’s tragedy and today’s awful events into a political meme and I think it’s sad.
It doesn’t matter if yesterday’s shooter was distraught about his job or if the people he killed didn’t speak English. It doesn’t matter that the sick monster that killed those three police officers thought Obama was coming after his guns. What matters is that there are kids going to bed tonight without mothers and fathers because of two psychos. Putting the blame on conservatives or Obama is pointless and blaming the victims is repulsive.
I ask God to be with those fallen officers and their families.
I am sick to death of those who want to make legal gun owners the scape goat for the horrible killings just to see our 2nd is taken away. People he~~ bent on killing will do so with a gun, knife, or whatever they can find. Every day this type of gosh horrible thing happens, our gun rights are under attack by the anti-gun lobby. People kill, Period!
L
If you really thought it was sad, YOU would stop politicizing it as you did in the FIRST post of this thread with your sarcastic comment.
I wonder, do you hang out on any lefty sites daily harranging them with your moral equivilencies?
You sure made it sound that way.
No, I don’t. That’s because I have this apparently crazy notion that our sites should be better than theirs.
And as I’ve said before, Joy, if my posts bother you so much, feel free to skip right over them.
Backing water like a Mizippi riverboat. What you said was:
and
and finally,
which, if I counted right, comprises more posts on it than were posted on the other thread by those you so revile.
And you’re one of them.
And what meme would that be, exactly?
Joy, I believe Mookie is a lefty diguised as a moderate. Or a CINO, as the case may be. I get that from practically everything she posts.
And you never fail to point that out.
Have a good evening, ladies.
SO? AND? A couple of people and a couple of posts out of hundreds/thousands and that’s what YOU focus on and drag into a new thread?
You and me both. It’s a TIRESOME meme.
Now I’m supposed to read your mind???!?
I didn’t say you made sense….but to be fair, it would appear to be the old liberal standby, “moral equivalence”. What was the “meme” you think that those awful posters on the other thread were advancing, given that only the AZ Apeman said anything like what you claimed?
You do realize that’s exactly what Michelle did, don’t you? Picking a couple of comments out of hundreds?
Cherrypicking for me but not for thee.
Again, enjoy your evening.
Donations in memory of the fallen officers can be made at/sent to any PNC bank. God rest their souls.
just heard about 5 children being found dead, their father committed suicide…in Washington state…
all these recent tragedies are in BLUE states..makes you wonder….
Mookie – MM Cherrypicking?!?! Did you see the list of ENTIRE articles that were blaming MM and conservatives?
ENTIRE articles from across the leftist communities, and you compare that to ONE POST by someone obscure poster on MM’s site?
Your moral equivilence gauge is, AS ALWAYS, on permanent FAIL.
Bless the families of the fallen officers, may they find the help and guidance they will need now and in the future in dealing with their terrible losses.
Thank you for proving my point.
?????????????
First of all, my heart and prayers go out to the families of these fallen officers. I had also heard that Officer Kelly was off-duty when he heard the call and responded. May God comfort these families in their time of tragic loss. What a devastating blow to us all.
This is another tragedy…that the LSM will turn this into another story about how “the economy” or “gun ownership” is the problem, instead of the deranged actions of a wacko who should never have been armed. Perhaps he lost his job b/c he has a bad temper or was whacked? Guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens STOP crime, and this is a great example of why those of us who are law-abiding must NEVER allow our guns to be taken from us.
Again, may God bless and comfort the families of the fallen in their grief.
Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you! It is interesting, though, that lefties are so easy to spot, even though they try to hide it. Somehow they just can’t help showing their true nature. And that’s o.k. Really! Just be honest about it! Like Chap. He makes no bones about the fact that he is a liberal. So we don’t have to go through this dog and pony show.
And thank you for proving ours. Good night.
Mookie, the people on this site who are conservative (and probably gun owners) are aware of what is happening and fully understand the way the left spin these shootings has negative personal and political consequences for them if they do not counter what the lefties say..
The lefties pay no price for their propaganda- WE DO on the other hand…so I have ZERO problem calling what the left propaganda what it is…CRAP.
you don’t know nearly as much as you think you know, you arrogant twerp.
I understand you all too well…you will never understand me ‘honey’
so go take a flying leap.
Past my bedtime…goodnight all!
LARRY KING: We do have 300 million people. You can be individuals as much as you like — but somebody’s gotta think for the masses.
Such are the views of the socialist ObamaMedia, and that is why it is so hard to discover the truth today in America.
So this creep goes and gives Obama an excuse to do so. Brilliant.
Libs who bluff and run away, will be back to bluff another day. Buh-bye.
Leftists tend to make things be the fault of the victim. So the leftists should be banning immigrants and police.
What do these things have in common:
crazy, ignorant, smart, pretty, honorable, dishonest
In addition to whatever creative asociation that may have popped into your head, one thing these qualities have in common is that they are not limited to nor absent from any one race.
The shootings over the past two days have demonstrated once again that @#$%^&* crazy is @#$%^&* crazy regardless of where you are from.
” …. and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.”
Let’s see, that statement fits, oh.., about 99.999% of all the gun owners in the country. Yep that must a factor! That and I’ll bet he had hemorrhoids and bad breath too which are also common traits of cop killers.
If only there was an ointment for liberalism?
So if you get accepted into the military, do several tours risking your life for your country, get a little stressed out by it, have the sense to seek help for that stress – that is appearently enough to deny you your right to a hand gun in Nebraska even though you are an active duty Marine and shooting instructor.
But if you get kicked out of the military as unfit for duty? Oh,well, clearly you were treated unfairly! /sarc
There is…tar and feathers.
Isn’t this the first (perhaps only partly) politically motivated murder in the US in decades? The political issue being, will Obama ban guns. Well, OK, McVeigh killed people to protest the abuse of power of the govt. Generally, though, such a political motive for murder is quite rare here, isn’t it?
The abject stupidity of the media is starting to get on my nerves.
Another better question is where did the shooter get a bulletproof vest? The shooter in Binghamton also had a vest. My recollection is that vests could not be sold to the general public.
Maybe regulations changed, as they seem easy to get.
Me too, flenser. A recent crime article in our paper described a weapon that policed confiscated as a “lethal assault rifle”. I guess other kinds of rifles are completely harmless.
Spent yesterday afternoon and last night in Pittsburg (farmers market/river front district) waiting to get unloaded. This morning, we come on out to a truckstop to grab some breakfast and a shower.
While sitting here at the table eating, I was listening to the people sitting next to myself and my student. It’s amazing, all they have to say is how sad it is that there is such a strong gun culture in this country that such a thing could occur.
I know it’s only anecdotal, but I take it along with the same emotional nonsense I see on the other websites today that put the blame everywhere except where it belongs.
Oh well, I suppose it’s time to go back out to the truck and get back to Atlas Shrugged. My student, a resident of Pittsburgh by the way, is no longer tortured by the story, but starting to get into it. And it only took 18 cd’s (till we got to the “money speech”) for him to start asking if I was going to play some more.
Nationwide media attention was given to the people who portrayed the Oakland cop killer/child rapist as a “hero” and “martyr”; it seems equally plausible this asshole in Pittsburgh is a copycat motivated by a desire for media admiration and attention.
Either way, my sympathies are for the families and survivors. No one deserves this.
“Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.”
Whitaker Chambers
I’m sure that the media made up the claim that this nut was afraid Obama was going to take his guns. This is just their way of lumping our legitimate concerns with the nuts and marginalizing our concerns.
My father told me to expect more stories on gun violence after Obama took office and for those stories to take a huge political spin in favor of Obama’s goal of taking our arms. So far, after three months in office, I can see he is right. The media is doing their part once more to help their “Dear Leader.”
So the video of his best friend saying as such and the fact that the guy was a frequent contributor to Stormfront and an Alex Jones devotee is just a coincidence?
Suspect In Shootings Was Into Conspiracy Theories
Interesting. I once knew of an LE guy (game mgmt) who wrote himself a ticket b/c he accidentally killed too many birds on a hunting trip w/his son.
Ironic, isn’t it?
It’s Hussein’s fault.
Had he not begun talking stupidity about gun control, this would not have happened.
It does make you wonder what would happen if a president took the
oppositecorrect position and told everyone to understand and cherish their 2nd Amendment right as much as every other of our Constitutional rights?That would be fantastic! A president who stands up for our Constitution! Unfortunately the one we have now appears to be standing on it..
Hey you dithering, disgusting twit. Mook can defend herself, but I will add that she’s never pretended to be anything other than the socially moderate, yet fiscally right leaning, national defense oriented conservative she’s alwyays been on this site.
She wanted Rudy. She’s a freaken moderate, you ahole. I know you ultra-rightwingers rarely understand things like open-mindness and nuance, but it does exist.
—- —
Mookie, I stand corrected. Thank you for the link.
You’re all totally wrong – It’s really Glenn Beck’s fault this guy went off….
Mookie, Does this describe you??? Me too, although in general perhaps a shade more to the right.
Even if fear of having his guns “taken away by Obama” was what triggered this slaughter, that simply reinforces the case of his being a wacko. It is an illogical reaction.
It is also irrelevant what the neighbors say about him. The neighbors ALWAYS report that the guy was “the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. The last guy you’d ever expect to do something like this.” I don’t believe any of it. You can’t hide crazy.
Based on the news reports, this guy’s life was one episode of anti-social behavior after another. Expelled from high school, dishonorable discharge from the military, and so on.
People like these have always been around. We had a child molester in our neighborhood when I was very young. It was never reported in the papers. His dead body was eventually found mutilated and nailed to a tree in the local forest, an event also not reported in the papers. I was too young to know what was going on. I just remember it as “that strange summer” where we had to stay close to home. My father told me about it many years later.
My my, aren’t you a nice, polite, respectful, well-spoken, little nut job. Can’t you make a point without nasty insults and disgusting language? Never mind. You are what you are.
It’s pretty accurate. Very conservative on fiscal/military issues. Not so much on the social ones.
Ok here’s the thing.. This kid was not thinking straight, that is clear.
If he responded this way because he thought the Government was after his guns, then he responded like a fool, because now they have them, & his actions are now indefensible. It is however sad that the propaganda coming from Eric Holder, Clinton & the rest of the Constitution haters in our Government is scaring people to the point that the unstable people in society are caving under the pressure mentally, & reacting violently.
Obviously he knew his mother called the police, & that they were there because she called, not to confiscate guns. He let his anger & fear get the best of him, & decided to go Billy the Kid on the police. The only one to blame for the actually murders in the end is the gunman, as his finger was on the trigger.
Can we blame Obama’s administration for inciting fear generally in the minds of people everywhere? Yes, absolutely.. Rahm Emanuel has been quoted as saying “Never waste a good crisis”. In other words this far left administration doesn’t care what the consequences of their words are, they will induce fear into society for political gain, without conscience, & still get a pass because they have no actual blood on their hands.. The more they do, the more people will snap under the pressure, whether justified or not. Talking down the economy to win an election like they did while threatening people’s rights to protect themselves, (like Eric Holder did) isn’t going to do much for public confidence.
Moral politics? You decide.. But in the meantime, brace yourself, & buy your own gun.. This is only the beginning.. The Democrats attempted a “controlled recession” to win the election, & it’s spiraling out of control now.. It was a “Pandoras Box”, & they don’t know how to close it now.. They’ve unleashed a financial hell on earth, & the “Chosen One” is turning out to be a “not so good” Dragon Slayer..
.
Hey pot, this is the kettle, we have history here. Don’t pretend to forget bout the times you insulted me. Be polite and respectful to y? Never. No not to the ole’ bag who wishes my house gets bombed first. Not Mike Vick’s house, or some unregistered sex offenders house, or whoever is unapprehended but is physically hurting the weakest amongst us, but me, an anonymous liberal blogger.
I loathe you and you loathe me. Now go “accidently” take too many of your ole lady pills and see what happens you disgusting garden tool.
I believe the “narrative” they are referring to, is the fact that the liberal leftist anti-gunners are trying to compare the mentality of a cop killer to every law abiding gun owner, & infer that just because he said these things & then killed cops, that most or many gun legal owners are likely to do so also..
Of course the truth is in the stats.. Most people who obtain guns legally never harm anyone with them..
No so true with automobiles though.. Just ask Ted Kennedy.. His car has still killed two more people than any of my guns ever have. My Guns: 0 Ted’s car: 2
97 % of guns purchased legally ARE NEVER USED IN A CRIME
This idiot was dishonorably discharged and was subject to a restraining order at one point and may also have been at the time of the shooting.
He was legally prohibited from purchasing due to the dishonorable and prohibited from posssessing due to the restraining order.
All of which means gun control laws only control law abiding people who are not the problem.
He also used body armor in the commission of a felony which is …..also against the law.
Have you ever noticed that whenever someone is killed, it is always the above? Just once I’d like to see something along the lines that the person was a “big pain in the butt” in the news. Sometimes I wonder if I should stop being “nice” to people and be “mean” just so I don’t get shot by someone.
Lately, whenever I go to the other-side of the web to find out what’s being shrieked over by the Left, all too often they’re alternately wringing/fluttering their hands about how Right-Wing-Nuts are fomenting ‘revolution’ over ‘some fantasy that Obama’s going to Take Their Guns’.
I don’t know about the ‘revolution’ part, but the O-ministration has already tipped their hand about That Gun Taking Part.
– MuscleDaddy
Eric Kelly was the next door neighbor and good friend to a friend of mine. Sadly, knowing my fair city as I do, it will not be very long before the guns are accused of the crime rather than the killer himself and those who let his behavior foster unhindered.
At 23, it is very possible he had some budding, yet undiagnosed schizophrenia.
Sad for all involved.