Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016 Dallas oficers slain, deadliest day for police since 9/11 Three suspects in custody, fourth killed by robot-sent bomb By TERRY WALLACE Associated Press DALLAS — Five Dal- las police oficers were fatally shot and seven others wounded during a protest over the deaths of black men killed by police this week in Louisiana and Min- nesota — the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Police Chief David Brown blamed “snipers,” but it was unclear how many shooters were involved in Thursday’s attack. Authorities initially said three suspects were in cus- tody and a fourth dead, killed by a robot-delivered bomb in a parking garage where he had exchanged ire with oficers. Hours later, oficials were vague and would not discuss details. Before dying, the police chief said, the suspect told ofi- cers he was upset about recent shootings and wanted to kill whites, “especially white ofi- cers.” The man also stated that he acted alone and was not afil- iated with any groups, Brown said. Law enforcement oficials did not immediately disclose the race of the suspect or the dead oficers. AP Photo/Reid Blackburn FBI agents scour the sand of a beach on the Columbia River in February 1980, searching for additional money or clues in the D.B. Cooper skyjacking case, in Van- couver, Wash. Several thousand dollars of the hijack- ing money was found in the area days earlier. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle People wait to return to their cars early as police investigate the scene of Thursday’s shooting, on Friday, in Dallas. Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dal- las Thursday night, during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle Peaceful protest The bloodshed, which unfolded just a few blocks from where President John F. Kennedy was slain in 1963, also evoked the trauma of the nation’s tumultuous civil rights era. The shooting began about 8:45 p.m. Thursday while hun- dreds of people were gathered to protest the killings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and subur- ban St. Paul, Minnesota. Brown told reporters that snipers ired “ambush-style” on the ofi- cers. Two civilians also were wounded. Authorities said they were not sure they had located all pos- sible suspects, but attention on Friday quickly turned to the man killed in the parking garage. Police resorted to the bomb after hours of negotiations failed, Brown said. The suspect said he was not afiliated with any groups and stated that he acted alone, Brown added. A Texas law enforcement oficial identiied the slain sus- pect as Micah Johnson, 25. The oficial spoke on the condition of anonymity because he said he was not authorized to release the information. There were no immediate details on the suspect’s middle name or hometown. By midday, investigators were seen walking in and out of a home believed to be John- son’s in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite. None of the suspects was identiied, and the police chief said he would not disclose any details about them until authori- ties were sure everyone involved was in custody. Brown said it appeared the shooters “planned to injure and kill as many oficers as they could.” Video from the scene showed protesters marching along a downtown street about half a mile from City Hall when shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover. Ofi- cers crouched beside vehicles, armored SWAT team vehicles arrived and a helicopter hovered overhead. Police block streets in downtown Dallas early as law en- forcement investigate the scene of Thursday’s fatal shoot- ing, Friday. occurred in an area of hotels, restaurants, businesses and some residential apartments only a few blocks from Dealey Plaza, the landmark made famous by the Kennedy assassination. Chaos The scene was chaotic, with oficers with automatic riles on the street corners. “Everyone just started run- ning,” Devante Odom, 21, told The Dallas Morning News. “We lost touch with two of our friends just trying to get out of there.” Carlos Harris, who lives downtown, told the newspaper that the shooters “were strategic. It was tap, tap, pause. Tap, tap, pause,” he said. Brown said the suspects “triangulated” in the down- town area where the protesters were marching and had “some knowledge of the route” they would take. Video posted on social media appeared to show a gun- man at ground level exchang- ing ire with a police oficer who was then felled. Mayor Mike Rawlings said one of wounded oficers had a bullet go through his leg as three members of his squad were fatally shot around him. “He felt that people don’t understand the danger of deal- ing with a protest,” said Raw- lings, who spoke to the surviv- ing oficer. “And that’s what I learned from this. We care so much about people protesting, and I think it’s their rights. But how we handle it can do a lot of things. One of the things it can do is put our police oficers in harm’s way, and we have to be very careful about doing that.” Fallen oficers Early Friday, dozens of ofi- cers illed the corridor of the emergency room at Baylor Medical Center, where other wounded oficers were taken. The mayor and police chief were seen arriving there. Few details about the slain oficers were immediately available. Four of the dead were with the Dallas Police Department, a spokesman said. One was a Dal- las Area Rapid Transit oficer. The agency said in a statement that 43-year-old oficer Brent The Daily Astorian It is one of the most fas- cinating unsolved crimes of modern times, not to mention one of the greatest myster- ies of the Paciic Northwest: Who was “D.B. Cooper”? On Nov. 24, 1971, a man with that pseudonym sky- jacked a commercial air- plane heading from Portland to Seattle using a briefcase bomb, extorted $200,000 and several parachutes after the plane landed and the pas- sengers left, demanded the crew ly him to Mexico, then parachuted out somewhere near the Oregon-Washington border. Dressed like a character from “Reservoir Dogs,” the unidentiied man — wear- ing a suit, tie and sunglasses, and smoking a cigarette — became an instant and endur- ing source of speculation. Hundreds of possible sub- jects have been eliminated over the years. Now comes “D.B. Coo- per: Case Closed?,” a two- part History Channel doc- umentary premiering next week that investigates some of the more promising “Coo- per” suspects. And one of them — a man with North Coast con- nections — may be the real Cooper, according to a pair AP Photo/Eric Risberg Part of the money that was paid to legendary hijack- er D.B. Cooper in 1971 is shown during an F.B.I. news conference, Feb. 12, 1980, where it was an- nounced that several thou- sand dollars was found. of investigative journalists who spent ive years secretly digging into the case. The program takes viewers into the journalists’ 40-mem- ber “cold case” team — the irst D.B. Cooper investigation enlisting former feds, a dozen of whom are FBI. Is Cooper still alive? How could a man who did something so sensational ly beneath the radar (so to speak) for 45 years? “D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?” claims to answer these and other tantalizing questions. Part one airs 9 p.m. Sun- day on the History Channel; Part 2 will air Monday. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 PLEASE ADOPT A PET! Toby Sen io r, m u lti-co lo red Ta bby -- Abu n d a n t w ith the Spirit o f co m fo rt, Su n n y cheerfu ln ess, a n d go o d w ill. See his u n iq u e sto ry o n Petfin d er.co m www.dogsncats.org CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER • 861-PETS 1315 SE 19th St. • Warrenton | Tues-Sat 12-4pm THIS SPACE SPONSORED BY BAY BREEZE BOARDING S UMMER Good News Camp July 11 TH - 13 TH 9:30 AM - N OON Lewis & Clark Bible Church 35082 Seppa Lane, Astoria Across the nation Demonstrations were held in several other U.S. cities Thurs- day night to protest the police killings of two more black men: A Minnesota oficer on Wednes- day fatally shot Philando Cas- tile while he was in a car with a woman and a child, and the shooting’s aftermath was lives- treamed in a widely shared Facebook video. A day earlier, Alton Sterling was shot in Lou- isiana after being pinned to the pavement by two white ofi- cers. That, too, was captured on a cellphone video. The Dallas shootings Thompson, a newlywed whose bride also works for the police force, was the irst oficer killed in the line of duty since the agency formed a police depart- ment in 1989. “Our hearts are broken,” the statement said. Theresa Williams said one of the wounded civilians was her sister, 37-year-old Shetamia Taylor, who was shot in the right calf. She threw herself over her four sons, ages 12 to 17, when the shooting began. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to offer “what- ever assistance the City of Dal- las needs.” “In times like this, we must remember — and emphasize — the importance of uniting as Americans,” Abbott said. Other protests across the U.S. on Thursday were peace- ful, including in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Philadel- phia. In Minnesota, where Cas- tile was shot, hundreds of pro- testers marched in the rain from a vigil to the governor’s oficial residence. President Barack Obama said America is “horriied” by the shootings, which have no possible justiication. He called them “vicious, calculated and despicable.” Speaking from Warsaw, Poland, where he was meeting with leaders of the European Union and attending a NATO summit, the president asked all Americans to pray for the fallen oficers and their families. ‘D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?’ Games Crafts Bible Lessons NOW OPEN & WE NEED YOU! Pelican Brewing Company is NOW HIRING Singing Children ages 4 -12 Lunch Provided For more information: 503-325-7011 Line Cooks, Janitors, Dishwashers, Servers, Hosts & Bussers FREE HOUSING FOR COOKS APPLY IN PERSON ANYTIME AT: 1371 SW Hemlock, Cannon Beach OR SEND YOUR RESUME TO: Employment@Pelicanbrewing.com www.yourlittlebeachtown.com/employment Questions? Call Stephanie 503-965-7779 ext. 307
