Gunman takes hostages in Phoenix high-rise (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(Another School shooting, and hostages taken at a National Labor Relations Board meeting? What the h*ll is going on?)

Gunman takes hostages in Phoenix high-rise

Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:28 PM ET

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A gunman was holding multiple hostages on Thursday at a National Labor Relations Board office in a central Phoenix high-rise building, police said, but a female hostage was later able to escape.

The man apparently pulled out a weapon and took as many as nine people hostage on Thursday afternoon on the 18th floor of the building, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman. Police said on Thursday night a woman being held was able to flee after the hostage-taker let her leave to go the bathroom.

Negotiators made contact with the man and were trying to resolve the situation in the heart of the city's main business thoroughfare, Hill said. "We are in negotiations with the suspect," he told reporters. "We are hoping that those will bring a peaceful resolution."

Hill told CNN later that nobody had been hurt and no shots had been fired in the incident that apparently began when the suspect entered an NLRB hearing.

(more at link below)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=11324746&src=rss/domesticNews>

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. Ended peacefully a little while ago

9 hostages released. Too early for explanation but it sort of looks like a domestic issue.

[Up2Late]

4. Yes, sorry I didn't post an update till now, see below. n/t

[pinniped]

2. Is it tax season?

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060223/NEWS01/602230349/1002/NEWS

Man killed in Vegas was Reno city worker
Friends remember Philip McElreath as 'a great person'
JACLYN O'MALLEY
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 2/23/2006

A 43-year-old city of Reno maintenance worker was killed Tuesday night in a Las Vegas hotel after his suspected gunman shot at police during a six-hour siege.

more....

[Up2Late]

3. UPDATE: Gunman surrenders, Phoenix hostage standoff ends (Reuters)

Gunman surrenders, Phoenix hostage standoff ends

Fri Feb 24, 2006 01:23 AM ET

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A gunman who had taken nine hostages surrendered after a seven-hour standoff on Thursday at a National Labor Relations Board office in a central Phoenix high-rise building, police said.

No shots were fired in the standoff that began when the man, identified by police as George Curran, 42, apparently pulled out a weapon and took the nine hostage on Thursday afternoon on the 18th floor of the building.

"No one's hurt. It's a good thing," said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman.

"Apparently he did decide to surrender, so he gave himself up and in that way allowed himself to be taken into custody," Hill said.

(more at link below)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=11325668&src=rss/domesticNews>

[MrBenchley]

5. Worth noting that Arizona is one of serveral states

in which the gun lobby and the Republican party have begun handing out concealed weapons permits like candy. Isn't that nice?

In most states, the names of permit holders are being kept from the public, precisely to hide the effect of such misguided actions in cases such as these.

[slackmaster]

6. Non-sequitur, article doesn't say anything about suspect having a permit

And the smart money is on him not being legally qualified to have a gun at all.

[MrBenchley]

7. So we're not supposed to notice that the GOP encourages loonies to trot

around with popguns in their pants?

Fuck that noise, as we say in Brooklyn.

"the smart money is on him not being legally qualified to have a gun at all"
Good thing he could walk into any gun show in Arizona and stroll out with undergoing a background check. Of course, that's assuming he didn't find a crooked gun dealer...which isn't that hard to do.

"In telephone interviews, undercover researchers asked gun dealers for advice on purchasing a handgun under one of three scenarios. Two of the scenarios suggested legal transactions. In the third scenario, the researcher asked about purchasing a handgun for someone else who "needs me to buy her/him a handgun" - a clear suggestion that the transaction was likely an illegal straw purchase. Key findings of the study included:
* 52.5% of the 120 gun dealers surveyed were willing to help a potential handgun buyer purchase the handgun for someone else, even though such transactions are illegal.
* 20% of gun dealers in a smaller follow-up survey were willing to sell a handgun to a researcher who said "My girl/boyfriend needs me to buy her/him a handgun because she/he isn't allowed to." One gun dealer responded "s long as you have no record, you can come down here and pick one up and put it in your name." - indicating a clear willingness to facilitate a blatantly illegal sale.
* Gun dealers in the Northeast (Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia) were least likely to facilitate illegal sales; dealers in the West (Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego) were more likely; dealers in the South (Memphis, Nashville, Jacksonville, Oklahoma City, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, Fort Worth) and Midwest (Cleveland, Indianapolis) were the most likely to facilitate illegal sales."

http://www.csgv.org/news/news_releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=17


http://www.bradycampaign.org/press/related_docs/041003/summary.php

[slackmaster]

8. Another non-sequitur, but you are partly right about one thing

Good thing he could walk into any gun show in Arizona and stroll out with undergoing a background check. Of course, that's assuming he didn't find a crooked gun dealer...which isn't that hard to do.

Or he could simply have picked up the classified ads in a local paper and bought a used gun from a private individual, who would have no way to check his background thanks to a major flaw in the permanent provisions of the Brady Law.

[MrBenchley]

9. You got weird ideas about what follows something else, slack....

"a major flaw in the permanent provisions of the Brady Law."
So I guess you're on record as wanting to strengthen the Brady law and plug those loopholes....

[slackmaster]

10. NICS should be made available to unlicensed people and C&R licensees

:toast: