Man with umbrella causes rifle scare at mall

[demmiblue]

BURLINGTON, Mass. - A report of a man with a rifle inside a Nordstrom department store triggered a massive police response and the evacuation of a mall near Boston on Tuesday, but the man turned out to be carrying only an umbrella.

The Burlington Mall was evacuated and closed for more than two hours as a police SWAT team wearing body armor and carrying shields searched for an armed man.

Police had received five calls about a short white man with a gray shirt and a backpack who walked in a bathroom carrying what appeared to be a rifle, Burlington Police Chief Michael Kent said at a news conference. Around 40 local, state and federal officers went to the mall after police received the first call just after 10 a.m., he said.

It turned out the man was an employee of the Lahey Clinic, a nearby hospital, who had stopped at the mall before work and was carrying an umbrella. State police and the clinic said the man called police as soon as he realized he fit the description of the person being sought.


http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2011/04/19/20110419massachusetts-umbrella-mistaken-for-rifle.html

[HopeHoops]

1. Yeah, I always get those things confused too.

Now if he looked the The Penguin, then I might worry.

[HughBeaumont]

2. PANIC IN THE STREETS!! FEAR!! FEAR!! BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAAAAID!!!

:rofl: :rofl:

The Running Scared UHmericans are well conditioned.

[Renew Deal]

3. This is the same state that though Light Bright terrorists were on the loose.

[Javaman]

4. We live in a world of halfwits. nt

[Abq_Sarah]

5. Morons

And idiots.

[Deep13]

6. In the photo, the umbrella handle looks like that of a Japanese sword...

...but nothing like a rifle.

I was a janitor at a mall back East about 25 years ago. I remember once one of my dim-witted co-workers (not his fault, but a fact nevertheless) called security to say that a man in the mall was walking around with a long gun (as opposed to a handgun) concealed in a bag. He said he saw the stock sticking out.

After much panic, police found that the "gun" was a wooden baseball bat the man had just purchased at one of the stores.

[Ian David]

7. Here's a photo...

[demmiblue]

8. Edit: now I see it. Lol!

:rofl:

[Demit]

9. Some of those people at the mall should've stopped at the Lenscrafters.

[gkhouston]

10. I'm wondering if they did. n/t

[Common Sense Party]

11. This should be posted in the Umbrella Forum.

Where was Paul Blart when he was really needed?

[unblock]

12. i don't think it's accurate to say he "caused" a rifle scare

i understand this was the original headline -- but the "cause" of the rifle scare was someone else's terra-phobic bush-addled brain that incapable of seeing something ordinary and harmless for what it was.

[WatsonT]

13. Not surprising. The NUA has been pushing ever more frightening pro-umbrella laws on us for years

some with modifications like a lanyard around the handle. Others so small they can be easily concealed in a purse/backpack or ever jacket pocket. Others are oversized and could fit two, maybe three people under them. There are automatic ones that completely activate with the push of a button (no limiting mechanism currently exists to keep them from being accidentally triggered)

Many are even being imported as surplus from former soviet bloc countries.

And honestly do we really need such a massive quantity of umbrellas? I suppose in rural areas, with a license I could maybe see it. But in the city? Just use the eave most buildings have. Or if in real trouble hail a cab and ride out the storm.