View Full Version : Criminals are now carrying AK47......Umbrellas?
Geology Rocks
04-19-2011, 13:50
This took place in my hometown in Massachusetts. I grew up next to Jim Tigges the officer mentioned in the article. Great guy, great cop, and awesome family.
Kind of funny if you ask me. An Umbrella? People in Massachusetts are officially crazy.
BURLINGTON -- Police responded in force today to a report of a man with a rifle at a mall, evacuating shoppers and calling in a SWAT team as worried workers locked themselves into stores. But it turned out that the man was only carrying an umbrella.
Police said the umbrella, which had a samurai sword-style handle, did look like a rifle, and they didn't fault those at the Burlington Mall who had reported the man.
“It was interpreted to be a gun by five different people,” said Burlington Police Chief Michael Kent. “We are always telling people to be vigilant. This is what we want.”
“I’d do it all over again if this happened tomorrow,” said Kent, who said about 40 officers responded to the scene from his department, surrounding departments, the State Police and federal agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Burlington Police Officer Jim Tigges said that at about 9:55 a.m. Burlington police received a call from mall security reporting that two employees had seen a man with a backpack and a short rifle walk into the building and go into the bathroom.
Police raced to the mall, blocking off the parking lot as four helicopters hovered in the sky. The North East Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT team, composed of officers from area communities, was summoned.
Tigges said that once police were inside the building, they were alerted that there was surveillance video of the suspect leaving the Sears store at the mall. Police showed the video to two people who had spotted the man at the Nordstrom store. They confirmed it was the same person, and police were able to determine the object the man was carrying was an umbrella and not a rifle.
State Police also said in a statement that a man had called them to report that he was the person seen in the mall. Troopers and officers went to the area of the nearby Lahey Clinic hospital, where the man worked, and interviewed him, determining he was not a threat.
"The situation is cleared. There was no threat," State Police said in a statement. "The male does not have a weapon. ... Witnesses and surveillance footage confirm that this is the person who was seen in the mall," State Police said.
State Police spokesman David Procopio also said the umbrella did look like a rifle when it was protruding from the man's backpack.
He praised the 911 callers for "being perceptive and vigilant and we are grateful for their call."
Procopio called it a "case of mistaken impression ... one that was easy to make because the umbrella really looked like a weapon."
Chief Kent praised the man, whom he would not identify, saying he had helped to bring the crisis to quicker end by contacting police. "We appreciate that he put an end to it a lot sooner," he said. The man still has his umbrella.
The Lahey Clinic issued a statement saying that the man learned of the commotion at the mall when he arrived at work. He immediately called police. The man was pleased he had taken "the appropriate action" but "feels terrible about the situation," the hospital said in a statement.
Sharon Sliney and Jody Joyce, two workers at Sears, said they were taking their break at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop, when they saw that the wing for the Nordstrom store had been closed off. Ten minutes later, they said, they saw a phalanx of SWAT team members bearing shields and wearing body armor, marching through the mall towards Nordstrom.
“You don’t see something like that every day in the mall,” said Joyce, who was sitting in her car in the parking lot, where some waited as police checked out the building.
“We saw stores closing and people running so we didn’t know what was going on,” Jannicke Welde, an employee of Mac, a cosmetics store, said. “We went and sat in the back of the store until the security guard told us we could leave."
Rachel Montagna, an employee at Wet Seal, said she and coworkers stayed in the back of the store throughout the crisis. "We were really scared until I spoke to my boss on the phone, and she was watching the news and she said that the rifle was actually an umbrella,'' Montagna said. "I was really glad when it was over. It was certainly a major relief."
scratchy
04-19-2011, 13:58
This took place in my hometown in Massachusetts. I grew up next to Jim Tigges the officer mentioned in the article. Great guy, great cop, and awesome family.
Kind of funny if you ask me. An Umbrella? People in Massachusetts are officially crazy.
Hard to believe that the American Revolution started in that colony of wussies.
CrufflerSteve
04-19-2011, 14:05
Imagine if he'd been carrying a bottle of Kalishnakov vodka. http://www.kalashnikovvodka.com/usa/ or
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bigmarketing.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/kalash.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bigmarketingsmallbusiness.com/2006/09/25/product-packaging-that-packs-a-punch/&h=600&w=800&sz=190&tbnid=k0MAgao_qJKQbM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkalashnikov%2Bvodka%26tbm%3Disch%26tb o%3Du&zoom=1&q=kalashnikov+vodka&usg=__F0BhN9aQ5fLFRvheLzo5OHGuzCk=&sa=X&ei=lOqtTdDGCo66sAPmx7SSAw&ved=0CDcQ9QEwBg
Steve
KevDen2005
04-19-2011, 19:36
I would love to see a picture of the Rifle/Umbrella....or maybe I will make one...shooting in the rain will be so much nicer
Wow people must be extremely paranoid to have 5 of them claim an umbrella was a gun.
Hard to believe that the American Revolution started in that colony of wussies.
[Beer][ROFL1]
clublights
04-19-2011, 19:42
I would love to see a picture of the Rifle/Umbrella....or maybe I will make one...shooting in the rain will be so much nicer
Rail mount polymer umbrella's............ New From Magpul [ROFL1]
Geology Rocks
04-19-2011, 19:49
This is a photo of the suspect. he called the police and said he was back at work and that he thinks they are looking for him. They went and checked him out and snapped this picture....
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/assets_c/2011/04/umbrella-thumb-351x400-39262.jpg
I am not kidding...
joe
clublights
04-19-2011, 19:53
This is a photo of the suspect. he called the police and said he was back at work and that he thinks they are looking for him. They went and checked him out and snapped this picture....
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/assets_c/2011/04/umbrella-thumb-351x400-39262.jpg
I am not kidding...
joe
Ok Sure I could see saying " dude.. that guys got a sword on his back .. WTF?"
but RIFLE??
WHAT THER HELL???????
[Bang] [Bang] [Bang] [Bang] [Bang] [Bang] [Bang]
Presto, rifle umbrella. No shit. http://gadgetsin.com/rifle-styled-umbrella.htm
That's a cool umbrella. The people at the mall....not quite as cool.
and that, my friends, is why I don't open carry.
40 officers, SWAT, 4 helicopters?
stupid, stupid goshdarn fiddely cops
IIRC it is illegal to carry a sword in Massachusetts let alone a rifle. This is one of those stupid "I dare you" items. Like carrying a rubber gun.. or joking about a bomb in your bag.
Folks are on edge .. heck I'm on edge ..
Considering the mall and school shootings recently and the constant "threat" of terrorism against soft targets I might very well have 911'd on this guy myself.
It is a comment on our society that in people's minds they see gun when anything even remotely like a weapon is seen. The Brady bunch has done it's job well.[Rant1]
I've edited my post.
It is a comment on our society that in people's minds they see gun when anything even remotely like a weapon is seen. The Brady bunch has done it's job well.[Rant1]
Sounds like they've gotten to you as well.
clublights
04-19-2011, 21:42
IIRC it is illegal to carry a sword in Massachusetts let alone a rifle. This is one of those stupid "I dare you" items. Like carrying a rubber gun.. or joking about a bomb in your bag.
Folks are on edge .. heck I'm on edge ..
Considering the mall and school shootings recently and the constant "threat" of terrorism against soft targets I might very well have 911'd on this guy myself.
It is a comment on our society that in people's minds they see gun when anything even remotely like a weapon is seen. The Brady bunch has done it's job well.[Rant1]
So would you drop a dime( or is it 50cents if you can even find a pay phone?) on everyone you see have a beer/cocktail at a bar/restaurant ?
It's the same thing. Guy has done NOTHING wrong, even if it is a sword..( well ok I'm sure there is some law about just carrying a sword around but does that really need a whole SWAT team ?) How do you know he didn't just buy it at the mall ninja store? or maybe is returning it ?
Just cuz I have a beer with dinner doesn't make me a DUI driver.
And hell by the numbers I'm more likely to get killed by the DUI driver then the guy with a sword. ( you EVER heard of someone getting murdered with a sword? well ok I actually know of two ( kid killed his parents back in the late 80's- early 90's) but I've heard of hundreds if not 1000's being killed by DUI drivers.)
13,636 total murders in 2009
10,839 DUI deaths in 2009 ( 33,808 total traffic deaths)
So Ok you ARE more likely to get murdered period then you are to get killed in a DUI... but I bet the number of those 13,636 people killed with a sword in 2009 was less then 20.
If I'm in the mall and I see a guy with a slung rifle I wouldn't call the police, because I'm not scared of guns.
If he shouldered the rifle and started shooting, I'd shoot him. Then call the police.
theGinsue
04-19-2011, 22:55
I've spent plenty of time in the mall in that story. People are so afraid of guns in that area that it's almost humorous. I had the cops called on me in Boston - at the "Boston Common while another guy and I were posing for pictures with the cop guarding the State House building . The other guy with me and I were in our Star Wars Stormtrooper costumes. We had our prop/MOCK E-11 blasters (the traditional "blaster carbine rifle carried by the Stormtroopers) in hand but were especially careful to NOT wave them around or point them towards anyone.
We were there for the local Fox TV affiliate to help advertise the release of SW - Episode 3. The folks in the news office called us back in and told us the police were on their way for us because they had received MANY calls about 2 guys in white uniforms waving guns around.
When the police arrive my fellow Stormtrooper reached inside his white armor and pulled out HIS Boston PD badge. We showed our prop guns and were ALLOWED to continue what we were doing but asked to keep the prop guns in our holsters. Geesh!
I always found it so ironic that the place where we started earning our independence and fighting for our freedoms at the point of a gun has some of the most ridiculous and most restrictive gun laws in the nation.
So Boostedxt, where are you from out there? Burlington, Woburn, Lexington, Bedford?
"Hello? There is a man with a RIFLE at the mall!"
"Okay, stay calm, what is he doing right now?"
"Well....It appears that he is looking for deals on an As Seen On Television Slap Chop."
"Get out of there as fast as you can, we'll be right there!"
KevDen2005
04-19-2011, 23:39
Rail mount polymer umbrella's............ New From Magpul [ROFL1]
I would buy it...I have a little space left on the rail
I've spent plenty of time in the mall in that story. People are so afraid of guns in that area that it's almost humorous.
This was part of my point.
I lived in this Godforsaken state for many years (Lexington and Concord ironically). This is the state that removed an antique flintlock from the wall in the State House because it was considered "dangerous" and sending the "wrong message" about the State government.
I'm not making this up.
We had to get permits to carry ceremonial swords in parades. No bayonets on fake/demilled drill team rifles etc. etc....
The entire state was taken over by anti American leftists in the 60s. Non violence is king in the state that fired the first shots in the revolution. It just wasn't the right kind of revolution anymore. There has been some push back recently by gun owners but it is feeble. They have taught the children well. There is no place for violence or the tools of violence in Massachusetts. They really really want to be England again.
As to my calling the cops .. knowing that carrying a sword is illegal and this was clearly a katana handle (stupid "joke" item it turns out) only two possibilities come to mind, one: he wants to intentionally cause fear in those around him and get a "reaction" or he's a nut job intent on actually harming someone. Third possibility I guess .. he's just plain stupid/insane. There is nothing innocent about this kind of behavior. And I'd drop him like a stone if necessary. (but I don't live there and never will again so they're on there own)
As to "dropping a dime" on someone in a bar???????
Huh? Since when is it either illegal or inappropriate to have a beer in a bar? If I see someone stagger out and then get in the driver seat I might very well "drop a dime".
And don't get me started on DUI .. I have zero patience for anyone that drinks/drugs and drives. Zero.
Let's play nice okay? I wasn't looking for confrontation just wanted to express my experience in that state and what those poor folks have been indoctrinated to think.
clublights
04-20-2011, 17:19
As to my calling the cops .. knowing that carrying a sword is illegal and this was clearly a katana handle (stupid "joke" item it turns out) only two possibilities come to mind, one: he wants to intentionally cause fear in those around him and get a "reaction" or he's a nut job intent on actually harming someone. Third possibility I guess .. he's just plain stupid/insane. There is nothing innocent about this kind of behavior. And I'd drop him like a stone if necessary. (but I don't live there and never will again so they're on there own)
As to "dropping a dime" on someone in a bar???????
Huh? Since when is it either illegal or inappropriate to have a beer in a bar? If I see someone stagger out and then get in the driver seat I might very well "drop a dime".
And don't get me started on DUI .. I have zero patience for anyone that drinks/drugs and drives. Zero.
Let's play nice okay? I wasn't looking for confrontation just wanted to express my experience in that state and what those poor folks have been indoctrinated to think.
You COMPLETELY missed my point.
so just cuz he has a sword he is up to no good .....
Maybe he's coming from a karate weapons class... maybe like I said before he just bought it or maybe is returning it.
No better then an anti gunner that assumes cuz I own an AR I must be out to kill everyone.
rockhound
04-20-2011, 17:41
it does look like a sword of some kind. you would have to be an idiot to think that is a rifle
ChunkyMonkey
04-20-2011, 18:33
Presto, rifle umbrella. No shit. http://gadgetsin.com/rifle-styled-umbrella.htm
Must have!! In case of rainy day...
Why anyone would consider carrying an umbrella that has a handle like a katana sword or a rifle butt is beyond my comprehension. Sure, it's a free country, we have rights, etc., etc., but carrying something like that....you have to know and expect that it's going to alarm some people and bring grief on you.
I have the same feelings about open carry of a handgun. Sure, I can legally do so in most of the state, but why? I don't want the attention of 40 officers, the SWAT team, four helos, and news teams from every network. When you're explaining your right to open carry to all the cops and cameras, that little tidbit will NOT make it into the paper or the evening news on any channel. I gar-on-tee.
JMHO.
Just because a dumb law was passed making carrying a sword illegal, doesn't mean that you have to be up to no good to do it. When you see someone texting while they're driving, do you assume that they are doing it with the purpose of either 1) Cause fear in those around them, or 2) Draw attention to themselves? Would you follow them into a parking lot and drop them like a stone too?
What's with the people who react violently to people that open carry weapons? Madness.
Geology Rocks
04-20-2011, 19:06
I've spent plenty of time in the mall in that story. People are so afraid of guns in that area that it's almost humorous. I had the cops called on me in Boston - at the "Boston Common while another guy and I were posing for pictures with the cop guarding the State House building . The other guy with me and I were in our Star Wars Stormtrooper costumes. We had our prop/MOCK E-11 blasters (the traditional "blaster carbine rifle carried by the Stormtroopers) in hand but were especially careful to NOT wave them around or point them towards anyone.
We were there for the local Fox TV affiliate to help advertise the release of SW - Episode 3. The folks in the news office called us back in and told us the police were on their way for us because they had received MANY calls about 2 guys in white uniforms waving guns around.
When the police arrive my fellow Stormtrooper reached inside his white armor and pulled out HIS Boston PD badge. We showed our prop guns and were ALLOWED to continue what we were doing but asked to keep the prop guns in our holsters. Geesh!
I always found it so ironic that the place where we started earning our independence and fighting for our freedoms at the point of a gun has some of the most ridiculous and most restrictive gun laws in the nation.
So Boostedxt, where are you from out there? Burlington, Woburn, Lexington, Bedford?
I grew up in Burlington about 10 minutes from the mall in the story. Many a nights were spent there. i got out of there as soon as I could and moved to a state more accepting of my love of firearms.
joe
Just because a dumb law was passed making carrying a sword illegal, doesn't mean that you have to be up to no good to do it. When you see someone texting while they're driving, do you assume that they are doing it with the purpose of either 1) Cause fear in those around them, or 2) Draw attention to themselves? Would you follow them into a parking lot and drop them like a stone too?
No, I'd assume they are an idiot scofflaw and careless of the safety of others and themselves. I'd give them a wide distance.
I'd drop them like a stone if their actions were about to cause imminent harm to myself or others... as in: he drew an actual sword from his back and threatened to attack me or others.
Why is this so hard to understand?
"What's with the people who react violently to people that open carry weapons? Madness"
People have been indoctrinated for decades that all weapons are bad, except in movies. It's simple .. indoctrination/brainwashing/public-relations/propaganda works. The media and our education institutions have been co-opted by the liberal left. I assumed you knew this but maybe it isn't so obvious in Colorado.
This kind of event is the result.
People have been indoctrinated for decades that all weapons are bad, except in movies.
Yes, exactly. People like yourself.
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