April Tragedies and Shooting Sprees: The Trend Continues
The previous day's storm clouds gave way to brilliant sunshine on a brisk spring morning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 4, 2009, but the bright weather belied the dark tragedy unfolding in the city's Stanton Heights neighborhood. My friend emerged from her Morningside home to walk her dog and was met with a seemingly endless stream of police and EMS sirens a few blocks away heading toward the adjoining neighborhood, as helicopters moved overhead. Then she heard rapid gunfire blasting through the air repeatedly.An alleged gunman, identified as Richard Poplawski, age 23, shot and killed three Pittsburgh police officers and wounded two others while barricaded in the Stanton Heights home he shared with family members. Early reports said that a domestic disturbance call from the suspect's mother brought the officers. The shooter immediately began firing as the officers approached, and when backup police arrived, neighbors recounted hearing "hundreds of shots".
Poplawski may have been motivated by political beliefs and was described as a gun activist. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that he may have used an AK-47 and other high powered guns.
This tragedy compounds a long list of April disasters and shooting sprees. Just the day before, the major news story was about a gunman in Binghamton, NY, who killed 13 people at an immigration center.
One of the most infamous crimes in recent Pittsburgh history occurred on April 28, 2000 when Richard Baumhammers, an unemployed attorney with a difficult psychiatric history, rocked several upscale South Hills neighborhoods with a violent racist shooting spree, targeting Jewish, Asian and Indian victims, leaving 5 dead and one wounded. The World Socialist website contains an account of the story. Baumhammers punctuated his rampage by defacing a local synagogue with bullets and anti-Semitic graffiti. He has been convicted and sentenced to death.
Other major national tragedies hit in past Aprils:
Columbine High School - April 20, 1999
Virginia Tech - April 16, 2007
Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building bombing - April 19, 1995
Comments
thanks for the information, great read!
I am so sorry this happened near you. I cried an cried when I saw the news story. It could have been prevented if that one 911 operator had warned them the perp was armed... OH its so sad. Well written.
Simply heartbreaking.
This is devastating. You reported it well.
This is so sad. It is even worse because of the reason for the argument. You did an excellent job on covering this.
Jay V
(Guest)
(Guest)
04/06/2009
Sometimes I think it has to do, somehow, with the seaons. Not to say that the change in season is the cause, but I sometimes get depressed between March and April, just as spring heads in. Partially because the weather gets nice and maybe life doesn't. Someone even more unstable than me could snap even worse, and then cause the mayhem listed on previous Aprils.
It is a very sad tale, as police officers are tasked with keeping the city safe, and in this instance, it caused them their lives.
My prayers go out to the families of the fallen.
This is so sad. You did a great job reporting it.
Excellent reporting of a very sad subject.
Gives me the shivers...My daughter's birthday is April 14, and it's so sad that her special day will always be associated with these tragedies.
This is such sad news. I feel so badly for the families. Thanks for your well written report.
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