Crowd Mistakes Umbrella for Rifle - Panic Ensues

Sad....and worse that whoever made this false report will get off scott free, after all that kind of behavior is pretty much welcomed. More wasted tax dollars and resources.

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.

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Not one, but FIVE mistaken idiots. The founding fathers are probably vomiting over what this nation has become.

Also, I wonder if it had an "assault" pistol grip? "Assault clip"?

When will we as a society admit that it is time for some common sense Umbrella control laws.

It was even a rainy day.

Sooo typical, an example of how timid the sheeple can get, like fainting goats...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg

If it were'nt for movies, they wouldn't even know what one "looks like"

I used to live in Boston, and would go to a range to shoot, and coworkers would be scared, shocked and amazed that my female friend and I shot guns... oh my.

I can guarantee you that reaction would not have happened in MS. Even if it was believed to be a rifle somebody would just walk up and politely inform the man he forgot to put his rifle up.

I'm surprised that they mobilized at such a large scale on an unconfirmed threat.

People need to just calm the heck down.

Its funny that they are afraid of one man with a rifle but fell better when an entire team of men show up with an arsenal of "assault rifles".


:banghead:

And... apparently this was the exact same mall that Paul Blart: Mall Cop was filmed in.

I'm not making that up to be funny, I just read that on the Fox Boston news report about the incident.

I thought this was an ancient bit of news, but unfortunately, it's the second event in a month. .

Man carrying "assault rifle" turns out to have had umbrella in Roanoke mall

A Descent into the Mall Storm (with apologies to Edgar A. Poe)

At first when I heard this on the radio, I thought they were rerunning the old story of a man carrying an umbrella in a mall. Different man, different store, same old story. Eeeek it looks like a gun in the mall! I am old enough to remember when Sears and J.C. Pneenys sold guns at the mall FCOL.

It turns out the umbrella was not a gun, but the handle did resemble a samurai sword.

the comments are sad:

i see a kid with the handle of a samuri sticking out of is bag, i'm taking his jaw off with my fist

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news...man-at-burlington-mall-20110419#ixzz1K5qKZwop

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Well, duh. What did the kid do with the umbrella? He carried it. My self defense class said you can use force justifiably only if life or limb were in jeopardy. I am used to seeing people carrying stuff far more dangerous than an umbrella with a samurai-looking handle without filling the need to deck them.

Have we come to a point as a society where we need to start putting red tips on every elongated black object?

"umbrella in a sling-like case" <--------- what the???????? :banghead:

fainting goats is a perfect analogy. Good grief. See what lack of exposure/education does to people ?

No one else is going to say it?

Really?

Ok fine I'll jump on the grenade this time.

Why is he carrying an unlicensed assault umbrella so close to other people. He doesn't have a canopy release lock and it's probably larger than 24" in diameter when deployed. Your neighbor could have one of these in their house right now and you wouldn't even know it until it was too late.

Don't be a victim. Enforce the background check. Ban assault umbrellas.


(I feel like I need to take a shower now)

unfortunately i heard about this........just one more reason i cant wait to leave this state.......go somewhere fun like NH or VT.


i almost didnt wear my flashlight ( 2C maglite which i wear on my belt)....for fear that someone would call the police claiming i have and "assault baton" or some crap like that.

i just imagined what if it was me that had been the one carrying the umbrella. when i heard the warning of a man with a gun, i would have walked out the mall with the rest of them thinking, "man i wish i had my rifle with me to defend against that looney!"

hrmmm.....now if only he had one of these...

That's just inviting trouble right there M-Cameron. On a college campus in an anti location imagine the fallout.

M-Cameron, that is so sweet! I totally want one. But I'll take mine with the collapsable stock please.

Having seen the picture of what he was carrying, it didn't look like a gun barrel but it DID imitate a samurai sword handle very accurately.

This tends to go back to the thread about OC - there will be a lot of panic based on perceptions, not reality.

In this case, once he found out about the panic he caused, he called the cops from his work to straighten it out and apologized for the scare he seemed to cause

From being in the area - that area is KNOWN for affluent, naive, close-minded types that are clawing at the gates to land another lawsuit or police call on someone, about something, at any time.

Example - I was performing a funeral removal late at night out there once, we went by a house slowly looking for the numbers, and eventually found the home we were looking for down the street. As we stopped in front of the house, a local security patrol came up IN FRONT of our MARKED van (transport vehicle, hearse plates), flipped on the lights, and shouted "DON'T MOVE! POLICE! FREEZE" at us. Mind you, we were in full "House-call" garb, long-coat, black tie, black suit, white shirt, and a manila case folder professionally tucked under one arm. Also, the family we were meeting was at their front door, now wondering why the cop was about to yank out cuffs or gun.

Apparently the [fill in the blank] at the end of the road got spooked when a black van went rolling by. Rather than looking at the plate, or just waiting it out, she flips and calls the cops.

Story? Doesn't surprise me it happened. At all.

Never thought I'd actually have to appreciate and give thanks for "Live Free or die". ;P

Umbrella

Maybe it was the guy from Dallas. Sent the signal to the grassy knoll.