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High Tech Weaponry Used in PA Standoff
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
High Tech Weaponry Used in PA Standoff(Steven Ames now in custody)By Kate Kline for Sierra Times.com 09.30.01
STEELTON, PA - Steven Ames, 34, was arrested around 9:30 p.m. on Friday 09.29.01, after sending internet messages that said "We are surrounded by the Police." Authorities said Ames surrendered peacefully, but witnesses tell a different story. The police were there to serve papers for a probation violation. But Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said Ames was on probation for charges relating to making terrorist threats. The alleged threat: He said he was going to blow up the place if police entered his home. Ames has reported he had a 5 gallon gas tank filled, and wired to blow. Marsico confirmed there was gasoline in the apartment.Thus, the neighborhood was evacuated.This started at about 2:30 local time, which followed by SWAT teams, local police (The Dauphin County Crises Response Team) and Federal Marshals for assistance. According to witnesses, the police knew emails were being sent from the home. The line became busy when police began negotiations with Steven and Nicole inside the apartment.During the negotiations, police did locate Nicole's father, who talked her into surrendering.Jodie Slominski, 43, who lives in the apartment across from Ames, spoke with Sierra Times and stated that she and her mother were evacuated around 3 p.m. -- taken out of a second-story window by a bucket truck. She also confirmed that two snipers came to her apartment and positioned themselves at her second-story window before she left her apartment.When presented with information Ames had placed on the internet in the past, she said , "His drug usage far outweighed his bible teachings. He was definitely on something". Both Steve and Nicole were on parole.Sierra Times estimates that at about 6:00 p.m. Local Time, all utilities were shut off in preparation for the next phase of the standoff. At 9:30 p.m., night turned into day. A loud bang and bright light went off in the area.Marsico said the device, called a flash bang, was set off outside Ames' apartment. Ames then came out peacefully and was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation, he said.However when talking to witness of the standoff, they described the police using some kind of 'stun' weapon, in which once directed at the apartment, any one standing inside goes down. According to witnesses. Ames came out peacefully only because he was 'carried' out by police after a healthy does of tear gas, followed by a "stun weapon".Whatever the device is, a fire truck had to be used to lift the 'stun weapon ' to the roof of the building across the parking lot from the Ames' apartment, and fired from there, Slominski said. Once fired, it lit up the entire neighborhood. Flash-bang grenades can be attached to a SWAT team member's tactical belt or vest. They do not have to be fired from rooftops, do not need fire trucks to lift them onto a roof, and would also be unsafe knowing there is gasoline inside ready to be set off. But witnesses did say, "It sounded like a bomb went off".Police did say they recovered one rifle, but huge fans were brought in Saturday to remove the smell of tear gas from the area."It's a credit to SWAT team members and negotiators," Marsico said. "They held their ground." http://www.sierratimes.com/archive/files/sep/30/arkk093001.htm
STEELTON, PA - Steven Ames, 34, was arrested around 9:30 p.m. on Friday 09.29.01, after sending internet messages that said "We are surrounded by the Police." Authorities said Ames surrendered peacefully, but witnesses tell a different story. The police were there to serve papers for a probation violation. But Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said Ames was on probation for charges relating to making terrorist threats. The alleged threat: He said he was going to blow up the place if police entered his home. Ames has reported he had a 5 gallon gas tank filled, and wired to blow. Marsico confirmed there was gasoline in the apartment.Thus, the neighborhood was evacuated.This started at about 2:30 local time, which followed by SWAT teams, local police (The Dauphin County Crises Response Team) and Federal Marshals for assistance. According to witnesses, the police knew emails were being sent from the home. The line became busy when police began negotiations with Steven and Nicole inside the apartment.During the negotiations, police did locate Nicole's father, who talked her into surrendering.Jodie Slominski, 43, who lives in the apartment across from Ames, spoke with Sierra Times and stated that she and her mother were evacuated around 3 p.m. -- taken out of a second-story window by a bucket truck. She also confirmed that two snipers came to her apartment and positioned themselves at her second-story window before she left her apartment.When presented with information Ames had placed on the internet in the past, she said , "His drug usage far outweighed his bible teachings. He was definitely on something". Both Steve and Nicole were on parole.Sierra Times estimates that at about 6:00 p.m. Local Time, all utilities were shut off in preparation for the next phase of the standoff. At 9:30 p.m., night turned into day. A loud bang and bright light went off in the area.Marsico said the device, called a flash bang, was set off outside Ames' apartment. Ames then came out peacefully and was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation, he said.However when talking to witness of the standoff, they described the police using some kind of 'stun' weapon, in which once directed at the apartment, any one standing inside goes down. According to witnesses. Ames came out peacefully only because he was 'carried' out by police after a healthy does of tear gas, followed by a "stun weapon".Whatever the device is, a fire truck had to be used to lift the 'stun weapon ' to the roof of the building across the parking lot from the Ames' apartment, and fired from there, Slominski said. Once fired, it lit up the entire neighborhood. Flash-bang grenades can be attached to a SWAT team member's tactical belt or vest. They do not have to be fired from rooftops, do not need fire trucks to lift them onto a roof, and would also be unsafe knowing there is gasoline inside ready to be set off. But witnesses did say, "It sounded like a bomb went off".Police did say they recovered one rifle, but huge fans were brought in Saturday to remove the smell of tear gas from the area."It's a credit to SWAT team members and negotiators," Marsico said. "They held their ground." http://www.sierratimes.com/archive/files/sep/30/arkk093001.htm