As George Bush said, Keep Your Powder Dry.......Cincinnati, Ohio had a wake up call but now you see why UN is after the guns of all Americans??? I feel like getting a Panzer tank. Saba
Source: http://www.app.com/news/backstories.pl?id=420995&paper=0 Police were unable to control crowds once violence began Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/18/01 By PETER EICHENBAUM and JAMES W. PRADO ROBERTS LAW ENFORCEMENT WRITER Virtually every member of the Asbury Park police force reported for duty, but those 71 officers were powerless to stop the shootings, robberies and widespread lawlessness that tore across the heart of the city Sunday night. "The brazenness of the thieves was overwhelming," Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said yesterday. "When gunshots were fired, they didn't move away. They moved on to the next robbery." Michael W. Dowling, the city's police director, said his officers "couldn't have anticipated the violence and the speed with which it escalated." Three people were seriously injured, including one man who was clinging to life yesterday after being shot three times late Sunday by an off-duty county narcotics detective. A suspect in several armed robberies also was shot, as was another man who authorities believe may have been one of his victims. The violence erupted in the aftermath of the annual Greekfest, a traditional gathering of black fraternity and sorority members that has become decidedly non-Greek in recent years. "This event has nothing to do with fraternities or sororities, and it has nothing to do with people gathering to celebrate college life," Dowling said. "It has devolved into a celebration of vulgarity and crudeness. It's a glorification of violence." Residents opposed Some city residents agree. Stanley Davis Jr., 37, of Drummond Avenue said he could remember when the festival was a safe event to attend. "Once upon a time I was for the Greekfest," said Davis. "Now I don't even want to go to it anymore." James Jackson, 38, of Third Avenue said the combination of drugs, alcohol and a large gathering of youths proved to be a dangerous mix. "It was crazy," Jackson said. "They don't need to have that in Asbury." Although many details remain sketchy, a report on Monday that "hundreds" of bullets had been fired was inaccurate, said Robert Honecker, first assistant prosecutor. It was more like dozens, he said. A clearer picture of how the situation deteriorated began to emerge yesterday. About 100 police officers, including 15 from Manalapan, were assigned to man the area around the festival in the boardwalk. As dusk approached and the air turned cooler, those who remained in the crowd of about 5,000 began drifting toward downtown. At 8 p.m., Dowling dismissed the Manalapan officers, who had been hired strictly to work along the beach. "Manalapan was let off early. But at that time at the beachfront, we had no idea that it was going to be Mardi Gras on Main Street," said Asbury Park police Detective Eugene Dello. The migration from the boardwalk continued for about two hours until some 3,000 people clogged Main Street between 1st and 4th avenues. The worst violence occurred between 10 and 11 p.m. There were reports of police being pelted with rocks and bottles, and dispatchers at headquarters could hear the sounds of gunfire as people called in for help. "The situation escalated into hell," Kaye said. Kaye and Dowling gave this account: At 10:15 p.m., three men from Irvington were robbed at gunpoint outside a Getty station on the corner of Fourth and Main. Anthony Shaw, 23, of Piscataway was shot 19 minutes later one block south as he struggled with a man who tried to rob him. About 12 minutes later, the off-duty narcotics detective, Barry Graves, emerged from a Third Avenue motorcycle club and drew his 9 mm Glock pistol after hearing gunfire. He ran after two men who were firing into the crowded street and fired three shots when Christian R. Deloach, 24, turned and pointed a gun in the officer's direction. Deloach was struck in the face, neck and lower body and collapsed outside the SuperXtra supermarket at Third and Memorial. Deloach, of Asbury Park, remained in critical condition yesterday at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, and Kaye said he was given a 50-50 chance to survive. Deloach was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and aggravated assault of a police officer. Across the street lay Monroe Street resident Saleem J. Wheeler, 19, who was struck with a bullet that entered at his hip and lodged in his abdomen. Wheeler later was charged with carjacking and three counts of armed robbery, and authorities yesterday speculated that he may have been shot with his own gun during an earlier struggle with Shaw. In the minutes before Graves shot Deloach, the supermarket parking lot teemed with activity. Brothers Robert and Lamar Kelsey of Willingboro, Burlington County, were robbed and carjacked. The assailants, who were unable to drive off because pedestrians clogged the parking lot, sped around in circles instead, creating panic. A gunbattle erupted with one person opening fire with a fully automatic weapon from inside a sport-utility vehicle that had its windows blasted out. By night's end, police had arrested 19 people, issued 85 motor vehicle summonses and fielded 138 calls for assistance between noon and midnight. Although there were several reports of women being groped or molested, or voluntarily exposing themselves, no one filed a report of having been sexually assaulted. Council meets Late yesterday afternoon, all five members of the City Council met with Dowling and City Manager Terrance D. Weldon in a private emergency session to discuss Sunday's events. Weldon said the public was not allowed to attend the meeting because it involved personnel discussions regarding the actions of certain city employees. Weldon said that there was no investigation of police misconduct, however, and that the council would not take any action regarding the post-Greekfest mayhem at tonight's meeting. "We are going to discuss how we might be able to do things that will prevent things like that again," Weldon said. "There are going to be some very definitive discussions" in public. Following yesterday's meeting, in Weldon's office on the second floor of city hall, Mayor Kevin Sanders told the Asbury Park Press that he was in the parking lot of the supermarket until "maybe five minutes" before Deloach was shot. "I left before it happened," Sanders said. "I did not see anybody who was shot or shooting. I was observing the people leaving the summer fest." Sanders said that when he left the parking lot, there was only one other person in the lot, and that he left because he had to get up in the morning to go to work. Sanders said he felt the city's police officers did a very good job, but he said, "I don't feel that we had enough support from the county or the state." The mayor would not specify what he meant by "support" or say whether he meant the Prosecutor's Office, the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department, the State Police or any other agency. "I'm not going to be specific," he said. Staff writer Rodney Point-Du-Jour contributed to this story. Peter Eichenbaum: (732) 643-4212, or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Published on July 18, 2001<<inline: asbury park riot 7-18-01.jpg>>
