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Survivors of '98 Riverside shooting agree on this
By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER
Survivors of a 1998 City Council shooting in Riverside said they don't think it would have made much difference if one of them had been armed.
But that's largely because the carnage occurred in a small boardroom near the larger meeting chamber, just before a council meeting was to begin, they said.
"We're probably the poster child for government violence," said Ron Loveridge, who needed 18 stitches to close a bullet wound in his neck. He is still mayor of Riverside, population 255,000.
When former city employee Joe Neale was finished shooting that October morning, four other elected officials and three police officers lay injured. None died.
Just outside the chamber was then-city attorney Stan Yamamoto, who was Modesto's city attorney until 1992.
"It's frightening when you hear rounds go off," said Yamamoto, now city attorney in Redwood City. "I don't think any of us ever thought something that horrendous could occur."
Neale was upset after having been fired four years earlier from his $27-a-week part-time job coaching chess. After emptying his gun, he pistol-whipped Councilwoman Laura Pearson and started duct-taping a door in an attempt to keep police out.
"He was creating a tomb," said Loveridge, who played dead under a desk.
Pearson was wounded in the thigh by a policeman's stray bullet during the rescue. He continues to serve on the council.
Councilman Chuck Beaty, shot in the face, shoulder and back, was injured the worst. He, too, continues to serve on the council.
Neale, who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was convicted of 12 counts of attempted murder -- six council members, the city manager and five police officers. He was sentenced to 374 years to life in prison.
Security was tightened
After the shooting, the council installed metal detectors and X-ray machines at City Hall. Ongoing security measures cost $400,000 a year. A debate about whether the council overreacted continues, with Loveridge tending to agree and the other two adamant that security remain tight.
None, however, thinks the outcome might have been altered if any of them could have returned fire.
"It was a very small room," said Pearson, all too aware of friendly fire. "Crossfire would have been deadly. If someone thought they could protect themselves, they probably would have shot others.
"But if a council member is packing heat legally, that's fine with me, as long as they've gone through training," Pearson added.
Loveridge, who didn't see the gunman before he was shot, said, "I don't think we could have reacted if we had had a gun. He just walked in and started firing."
Beaty said he's a big believer in the city's airport-style metal detector.
"When you look out from the dais, you know there isn't an angry person out there with the ability to shoot you," he said. "There is only one place you can kill off all the leaders in city government at one time, and that's at City Hall."
The Riverside council, like Modesto, relies on armed police officers for security. Beaty said he understands the theory that a gunman could fire first at police to quickly eliminate the only known potential for return fire.
"But I can't say I support" arming council members, Beaty said. "I do know that I want to work in a gun-free atmosphere."
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/6075890p-7030079c.html
By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER
Survivors of a 1998 City Council shooting in Riverside said they don't think it would have made much difference if one of them had been armed.
But that's largely because the carnage occurred in a small boardroom near the larger meeting chamber, just before a council meeting was to begin, they said.
"We're probably the poster child for government violence," said Ron Loveridge, who needed 18 stitches to close a bullet wound in his neck. He is still mayor of Riverside, population 255,000.
When former city employee Joe Neale was finished shooting that October morning, four other elected officials and three police officers lay injured. None died.
Just outside the chamber was then-city attorney Stan Yamamoto, who was Modesto's city attorney until 1992.
"It's frightening when you hear rounds go off," said Yamamoto, now city attorney in Redwood City. "I don't think any of us ever thought something that horrendous could occur."
Neale was upset after having been fired four years earlier from his $27-a-week part-time job coaching chess. After emptying his gun, he pistol-whipped Councilwoman Laura Pearson and started duct-taping a door in an attempt to keep police out.
"He was creating a tomb," said Loveridge, who played dead under a desk.
Pearson was wounded in the thigh by a policeman's stray bullet during the rescue. He continues to serve on the council.
Councilman Chuck Beaty, shot in the face, shoulder and back, was injured the worst. He, too, continues to serve on the council.
Neale, who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was convicted of 12 counts of attempted murder -- six council members, the city manager and five police officers. He was sentenced to 374 years to life in prison.
Security was tightened
After the shooting, the council installed metal detectors and X-ray machines at City Hall. Ongoing security measures cost $400,000 a year. A debate about whether the council overreacted continues, with Loveridge tending to agree and the other two adamant that security remain tight.
None, however, thinks the outcome might have been altered if any of them could have returned fire.
"It was a very small room," said Pearson, all too aware of friendly fire. "Crossfire would have been deadly. If someone thought they could protect themselves, they probably would have shot others.
"But if a council member is packing heat legally, that's fine with me, as long as they've gone through training," Pearson added.
Loveridge, who didn't see the gunman before he was shot, said, "I don't think we could have reacted if we had had a gun. He just walked in and started firing."
Beaty said he's a big believer in the city's airport-style metal detector.
"When you look out from the dais, you know there isn't an angry person out there with the ability to shoot you," he said. "There is only one place you can kill off all the leaders in city government at one time, and that's at City Hall."
The Riverside council, like Modesto, relies on armed police officers for security. Beaty said he understands the theory that a gunman could fire first at police to quickly eliminate the only known potential for return fire.
"But I can't say I support" arming council members, Beaty said. "I do know that I want to work in a gun-free atmosphere."
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/6075890p-7030079c.html