Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Red Lake and Bigfoot

With all the interest in the new Ely Sasquatch Video, it seems like a good moment to mention the time-space links to Red Lake, Minnesota. Both locations are in northern Minnesota, just south of the Canadian border. Ely is 200 miles due east of Red Lake.

Yesterday, as the Ely Sasquatch Video was exploding onto the internet via such sites as Cryptomundo, Boing Boing, The Anomalist, and Coast to Coast AM, the day also marked the first anniversary of an infamous school shooting with strange ties to Bigfoot.

On March 21, 2005, Red Lake, Minnesota high school student Jeffrey James Weise (August 8, 1988 – March 21, 2005) killed a total of ten people. First he killed his grandfather and grandfather's wife, 32-year old Michelle Sigana, who was his grandfather's police force partner. Later he shot and killed seven people at Red Lake High School, including a teacher and a security guard. As many as 15 others were wounded in the school shooting. After briefly exchanging fire with police officers following the murders, Weise died by his own hand.

The incident began at home in the afternoon when Weise apparently shot his grandfather and Sigana. Weise then drove his grandfather's patrol vehicle to the high school, propelling it into the building at around 3:00 p.m. CST. Wearing a reservation-police-issued bulletproof vest, likely taken from the stolen reservation police patrol vehicle, Weise killed the third victim (the security guard) immediately upon arriving at the school.

When the police first arrived, Weise briefly opened fire on them before going into the school. Once in there, he was said to be "waving and smiling" as he shot students at random. An attempt to break into an English classroom was thwarted by a quick-thinking teacher who had taken the precaution to lock the door.

Media coverage of Jeff Weise after the shooting was intense. Weise left electronic footprints all across the internet, on websites such as nazi.org, offering, as Wikipedia noted, "an unusual level of public insight into his thoughts and the hardships in his life that led to his depression and fascination with dark imagery in the months and years prior to the shootings."

Besides being a neo-Nazi, liking Hitler, seeing white owls, having dreams about shooting, Weise also was interested in Bigfoot.

Needless to say, people interested in Bigfoot are not all killers, and all serial, mass, and rampage killers are not Bigfoot fans. But the overlap between the two in this case are worthy of our sociological attention. Such twilight language and coded messages exist all the more overtly in this World Wide Web age, and there's no reason to ignore them and not examine what we might discover. (In this vein, I investigate past school shootings and the twilight language in my 2004 book, The Copycat Effect.)

The simple fact is the Red Lake school shooter liked to talk about Bigfoot, and we have the records to explore how Bigfoot worked into his cosmos.
Minnesota Bigfoot

Red Lake's Jeff Weise

Jeff Weise would post as "Weise" at the Above Top Secret forum.

Here is "Weise" talking about Sasquatch among the Ojibwa, on 6-11-2004 (November 6th?):
Almost everyone I know has a sasqautch story, almost everyone one has a person in their familly who's probably seem him. At least thats how it is where I live, (on a Reservation in Minnesota).

I've asked a few elders about bigfoot, and in my language (Ojibwe) we have a name for him. I forgot it, and barely could pronounce it, but he exists in our neck of the woods, at least I believe he does. I heard a story from my cousin (he works in Tribal Government), he told me that a guy he worked with was out in the forest alone on a fast. He was near a swampy area, and midway through his fast he saw Bigfoot walking through the swamp, reaching down into the water along the way and pulling up a certain type of weed and slinging it over his shoulder.

The weed from the swamp he was pulling out was supposedly some kind of herbal medicine used by Native medicine men.

And to feed some of you peoples interest in the possibility of a sasquatch and alien connection? The lake I live by (Red Lake) is one heck of a big lake, and if you sit out at the beach on a clear summer night you'll see lights over the lake. Everyone says they're UFO's, I believe that too. There was a UFO sighting in broad daylight a few years back, it was over the lake, people said it looked like a metal disc. Anyway, alot of people were reporting power outages and cars stalling on them around the exact same time.

I love living in this lively place...

Later on 11-11-2004 (November 11, 2004), responding to this quote (filled with incorrect info) from Brainiac: "Hi! The Bigfoot idea was recently found out to be made up, by the same guy that supposedly capture the creature on film in 1974. He said on his death bed that he made the whole thing up. The footage was real, but it was footage of a man in a gorilla costume... "

Weise rather appropriately writes:
Lol, sorry, but that just wont fly in my part of the woods.

We've actually seen him, in the "flesh," not just a video. The stories of bigfoot, as previously stated, have been around for hundreds of years, not just since the Patterson film.

Perhaps not coincidentally, on February 10, 2005, there were reports of tracks of Sasquatch being found on the Red Lake Reservation. Here are examples of two photographs (below) circulated on the web at the time. While initially they might look like bear prints, upon closer examination, more clearly defined Bigfoot-type toe prints are visible.

On March 21, 2005, the focus was on Red Lake, Minnesota and Jeff Weise's carnage, and the Red Lake Bigfoot track investigations faded into the background. On March 21, 2006, our attention is drawn back to Minnesota, and the new video of the Ely Sasquatch. What does it all mean? It remains to be seen.


Minnesota Bigfoot
Minnesota Bigfoot

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Red Lake + One Year

Today is the first anniversary of the Red Lake, Minnesota, school shootings.

For a Minnesota-based article about the aftermath, see today's Duluth Superior.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Deadly Car Chase Ends Near Pismo Beach Denny's

http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2006/03/19/news/news04.txt
Lompoc Record, CA
March 19, 2006
Arroyo Grande officer likely ended deadly Highway 101 chase
By Mark Baylis/Staff Writer

An Arroyo Grande police officer has been placed on paid administrative
leave, unofficially credited with fatally shooting an armed suspect and
ending Friday's wild police chase that included two carjackings, three
hostages and several shootouts with police.

Officer Albert L. Beattie, 32, a nine-year veteran of the department, was
placed on paid administrative leave until the shooting investigation of
Friday's fracas on Highway 101 is complete. The investigation and
administrative leave are standard procedure in deadly force incidents, said
Chief Tony Aeilts.

Authorities are awaiting the results of a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's
Department autopsy to determine if Beattie shot the suspect or whether he
died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The dead man's name hasn't been
released.

Beattie was the only officer who fired at the suspect, according to Aeilts.

“He was the only one that was in a position to fire at that time,” Aeilts
said.

The 110-mile, high-speed chase Friday started between Templeton and
Atascadero and led to one suspect being arrested in Pismo Beach and the
second suspect shot dead near El Capitan State Beach.

In between the suspects shot at officers and two vehicles were hijacked at
gunpoint, officials said. One vehicle contained three hostages carjacked in
Pismo Beach and taken south of the Gaviota tunnel before the Jeep ran out of
gas and the kidnapper abandoned them to carjack a furniture van.

The suspect was then killed during a gun battle with Beattie and four other
undercover officers along Highway 101.

Beattie belongs to a interagency drug task force that works under the
Department of Justice. He encountered the suspect while returning from Santa
Barbara to serve unrelated search warrants for the task force, police said
Saturday.

While details from the final shootout remain murky, the Santa Barbara
Sheriff's Department believe the suspect may have tried to carjack the
narcotics officers, unaware that they were plainclothes cops, said Sheriff's
Sgt. Erik Raney.

Chief Aeilts said the suspect drove his vehicle towards Beattie and the four
other narcotics officers and fired his weapon at them while they were
coincidentally assisting an unrelated motorist on the side of Highway 101.

An autopsy on the killed suspect is scheduled for Monday.

Arroyo Grande Police didn't immediately know the date of the last
officer-involved shooting, but a veteran officer said there hadn't been one
during his 20-year tenure.

It's unknown how long Beattie will be on leave until the investigation is
complete, but Aeilts said the officer was dealing well with the stress of
the shooting.

“He's in good spirits and doing as well as anybody could, given the
circumstances,” Aeilts said.

Officials have not released the killed suspect's name, age or hometown. It
is believed he had a criminal history, after he told a hostage negotiator
over a cell phone that “he didn't want to go back to prison” during the
southbound chase, according to a sheriff's dispatch.

A Paso Robles officer suffered minor injuries during the final shootout near
El Capitan State Beach, Paso Robles Police confirmed Saturday.

Officer Roger Degnan was one of the undercover narcotics officers that the
suspect fired at. The officer was struck in the neck by either a projectile
or a windshield glass fragment shattered by a bullet.

He was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization. No other
officers or civilians were reported injured.

Officers arrested the other suspect in Pismo Beach Friday after the duo's
minivan hit a spike strip and blew its tires. Police nabbed Bay Area
resident Nicandro Sanchez, 30, in a restaurant parking lot on Five Cities
Drive - coincidentally a block away from the Denny's restaurant where last
week's triple-homicide took place.

Sanchez is being held on $500,000 bail at San Luis Obispo County Jail on
suspicion of criminal conspiracy, attempted murder, being under the
influence of a controlled substance, being a felon in possession of a
weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, receiving known stolen property and a
parole hold.

The fracas closed Highway 101 between Highway 1 and western Goleta all
afternoon, until all lanes were reopened by 6:30 p.m.

Hundreds of drivers were stranded directly in front of the crime scene
throughout the whole ordeal, unable to take a detour. A mile's worth of
drivers, seeking to head south, waited five hours before they could move.
Together they sat in the roadway, talked on cell phones and stared at the
helicopters flying over the crime scene.

Highway 154 was the only detour between the North County and South Coast. It
remained bumper to bumper Friday evening as commuters tried to return home
or get out of town for the weekend.

CHRONOLOGY

A police chase that extended for more than 100 miles at speeds in excess of
100 mph began as a routine attempted traffic stop south of Paso Robles in
San Luis Obispo County.

* About noon - A CHP officer tries to pull over a southbound white Toyota
minivan on Highway 101 for speeding and following too close. When the
vehicle doesn't stop, officers pursue it into southern San Luis Obispo
County.

* 12:30 p.m. - Pismo Beach Police disable suspects' van with spike strip on
Five Cities Drive. Shots are exchanged between the CHP and the two suspects.
One flees on foot and is arrested in a restaurant parking lot. The second,
with a handgun, carjacks a Jeep Cherokee and flees south with the car's
three occupants inside.

* 12:43 p.m. - The Jeep reaches Santa Maria. Santa Barbara County Sheriff's
Department cars and a helicopter join the chase.

* 1:12 p.m. - Jeep runs out of gas on Highway 101 near Tajiguas. The suspect
abandons it and the three hostages and carjacks a moving van. Its occupants
flee uninjured.

* 1:18 p.m. - The big truck crosses the median to try a U-turn, almost
hitting a school bus. The truck instead leaves the northbound side of the
freeway onto El Capitan Ranch Road, where the suspect and an off-duty
narcotics officer engage in a shootout and the suspect becomes motionless.

* About 2 p.m. - A Sheriff's Department robot confirms the suspect appears
to be dead in the front seat of the truck.

* 6 p.m. - Highway 101 southbound is reopened.

* 6:25 p.m. - Highway 101 northbound is reopened.

Mark Baylis can be reached at 739-2218 or mbaylis@lompoc record.com.

March 19, 2006

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Reno Shooting: Columbine Copycat

http://www.krnv.com/global/story.asp?s=4643014

RENO
Court documents reveal chilling details about Reno middle school shooting
March 18, 2006

Shocking new details are emerging about why a 14-year-old boy allegedly opened fire, injuring two students at a Reno middle school Tuesday morning [March 14, 2006].

Court documents, filed Thursday, shed new light on what was already a profoundly disturbing case.

Police quote James Scott Newman as saying he planned his attack on his fellow students for a week before taking a gun to school.

Court documents filed by the Reno Police Department offer chilling details of Newman's interview with detectives after he was arrested at Pine Middle School on Tuesday morning. They quote Newman as saying he, "Was tired of others making fun of him..." and planned the shooting for a week by "Research[ing] the Columbine High School shooting on the Internet, and this further inspired him to do the shooting."

Taking a gun from his parents' bedroom, and using three bullets that were part of a bullet collection his father gave him the day before, police say he armed himself in a school bathroom, and emerged carrying the loaded gun.

When he spotted one of his friends, who told him to put the gun away, "Newman told his friend to run."

According to the report, he chose a male student at random, "Aimed the firearm at [his] back and pulled the trigger twice. The gun did not fire as the hammer fell on two empty chambers."

Police say Newman started walking along with the student, still aiming the gun at his back and pulling the trigger before successfully firing the weapon three times, hitting the student once.

Newman was then stopped by gym teacher Jencie Fagan who held him until police arrived.

During questioning later, the report says Newman told officers, "He was unsure if he would be able to kill more than one person, as he only had three rounds."

On Thursday, Reno police, in accordance with a search warrant, seized Newman's computer and are analyzing it for further evidence.

Police say it's unlikely that Newman's parents will be charged with any crime in connection with the gun because they say there were gun locks and other reasonable security methods used at their home.

Newman will be arraigned in Reno Justice Court by video camera from the Washoe County Jail, where he remains held on 150-thousand dollars bail.

1,600 Denny's

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/18/national/18dennys.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 18, 2006

Another Killing at a Denny's, Fourth in 3 Days
By CINDY CHANG

LOS ANGELES, March 17 — An 18-year-old man was shot dead early Friday and another man was wounded after a fight broke out at a Denny's restaurant in Anaheim, the third fatal shooting episode at a California Denny's in three days.

Four people have died and three have been injured in the shootings. A shooting Thursday in Ontario, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, also stemmed from a fight. But a Wednesday shooting in the coastal town of Pismo Beach appeared to be a deranged act by a homeless man who shot at a noon lunch crowd, killing two before committing suicide.

The Denny's Corporation, which operates or licenses over 1,600 diner-style restaurants nationwide, issued a statement Friday calling the shootings "three separate and random acts of violence."

The Anaheim Denny's, which is next to Angel Stadium, attracts a crowd still looking for action after a nearby nightclub closes at 2 a.m., said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department.

The altercation began at the nightclub and resumed inside the Denny's, spilling into the parking lot, where the 18-year-old man was shot, Sergeant Martinez said, adding that the fight was probably gang-related. The victim's name was not released.

A videotape of the Pismo Beach shooting showed a diner, Harold L. Hatley, lunging at the gunman, giving others precious seconds to flee before Mr. Hatley was shot dead at close range, the police said.

When Mr. Hatley, a 73-year-old retired oil worker from nearby Grover Beach, sprang from his seat, the police said, the gunman, Lawrence E. Woods, had already wounded a middle-aged couple and fatally shot Frank Valesquez, 73, with a revolver and a semiautomatic.

"Without question, it saved other people's lives," Cmdr. Jeff Norton of the Pismo Beach Police Department said of Mr. Hatley's action. "This whole thing from the moment the suspect entered the restaurant to the time he shot himself lasted 45 seconds."

Mr. Hatley's son, Robert Hatley, said his father ate lunch at the Denny's every morning at 11 but had been delayed almost an hour Wednesday because he was helping another son with housework.

"He was a creature of habit," Robert Hatley said. "He went to Denny's every day on his motorcycle. He was a heroic, courageous, fabulous, very funny guy."

Mr. Woods, 60, had until recently owned a company that repaired mobile homes, but the business failed and he was evicted, the police said. Writings described by the police as "rantings and ravings" were found in the van where he slept.

Mr. Woods had been convicted of several felony and drug-related offenses, the police said.

On Thursday, a 37-year-old man was shot and killed in Ontario after an early morning fight in a Denny's parking lot.

The police are still searching for suspects in both that shooting and the one in Anaheim.

Marketing Analyst: Avoid Calling Denny's Copycats

Marketing analyst says: "If the media uses terms like copycat or copycat killers, then people might be less likely to eat there."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Originally published Saturday, March 18, 2006
          
Experts doubt California attacks will harm restaurant chain

By Muhammed El-Hasan
DAILY BREEZE

Unfazed by the news of three fatal shootings at Denny's restaurants in California this week, Lidia Azouz had a meal Friday at the Lawndale Denny's and said she'd be back.

"We're not going to stop coming to Denny's, because we take chances wherever (we) go," said the 17-year-old Hawthorne resident as she stood outside the restaurant with four friends. "You could be driving a car and get shot."


With broad media coverage of the shootings, it's unclear how they would affect business at Denny's restaurants.

As long as customers like Azouz view the violence as isolated and random, then the restaurant chain's business would likely not take a hit, according to some analysts contacted Friday.

"Financially, I really don't see a big impact," said Mark Smith, an equity analyst with Sidoti & Co. in New York. "I think that most people realize that this is just random. ... If Denny's had somehow been responsible, if it was a manager of a restaurant, if they had some exposure to litigation from this, then I think it would have an impact. But I doubt that will happen."

Business likely would slow at the three affected Denny's restaurants, but there shouldn't be problems elsewhere, said Ron Paul, a food industry analyst with Technomic Inc. in Chicago.

"Denny's has a lot of stores, so three stores are not going to put the place under," Paul said. "I don't think it's going to affect other stores."

But some customers may shy away from eating at any Denny's restaurant, said analyst Bob Sandelman, of Sandelman & Associates in San Clemente.

"People probably realize that it's not Denny's fault," Sandelman said. "But people would rather be safe than sorry. And I can see how people might say, 'Hey, let's go somewhere else for now and see what happens.' "

Sandelman added that the amount and approach of media coverage could hurt Denny's.

"If the media uses terms like copycat or copycat killers, then people might be less likely to eat there," Sandelman said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

www.dailybreeze.com/news/regstate/articles/2486856.html

Friday, March 17, 2006

Three SoCal Denny's Fatalities in Three Days

There is little doubt that the copycat effect is behind this.

Loren
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743482239/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.klfy.com/global/story.asp?s=4645935

March 17, 2006

Man killed in third fatal shooting at a SoCal Denny's restaurant

ANAHEIM, Calif. Another fatal shooting at a Denny's restaurant in Southern California.

Police say a gunman opened fire early this morning at a restaurant in Anaheim, killing one man and seriously wounding another.

A fight broke out inside the restaurant, and police say one victim re-entered the restaurant after being shot and died inside.

Earlier this week, two men were killed at a restaurant in Pismo Beach and another man was fatally shot in the parking lot of a restaurant in Ontario.

A gun has been found near the scene of today's shooting, but officers aren't sure if it was the weapon used.

The gunman is still being sought by authorities.

Denny's, shootings #2 and #3

(2nd shooting on March 16, 2006)

A Man Is Fatally Shot Outside a Denny's

ONTARIO - Another Southern California Denny's has become the scene of a deadly shooting, this one in Ontario.

Officer Bill Russell of the Ontario police says a 37-year-old Pomona man was fatally shot in the restaurant's parking lot on the 1400 block of East Fourth Street.

Russell says a group of ten to 15 people was gathered at the scene before the victim arrived. When he did, he got into an altercation with some of its members. One pulled out a gun and shot him.

The victim died from his wounds after being taken to an area hospital.

Police are looking for a suspect, whose identity remains unknown.

Russell says officials also don't know if the gunman and the victim knew one another.

Two people were killed yesterday at a Pismo Beach Denny's when a gunman opened fire inside that restaurant.

++++
March 17, 2006

Third Denny's shooting occurs in California

Latest fatal shooting occurred at Denny's across from Anaheim Stadium.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Three dead, two wounded in Denny's shooting

Police say three dead, two wounded in restaurant shooting




2:20 p.m. March 15, 2006

PISMO BEACH – A gunman opened fire inside a crowded Denny's restaurant during lunch hour Wednesday, killing two people and wounding two before taking his own life, police said.

“There could have been 30 or 40 people inside. As the shootings occurred, people were fleeing the restaurant, hiding in bathrooms,” Cmdr. Jeff Norton said.

Police said they did not know the motive for the shootings.

Police Chief Joe Cortez said authorities have not found any connection between the gunman and the victims and it doesn't appear he had a grudge against Denny's or its employees.

He said the man began shooting within a few steps of the restaurant's front door.

“The witnesses described him as coming in with a dazed look on his face, then they said he started shooting,” Cortez said.

The names of the gunman and the victims were not immediately released. Nor was the condition of the wounded.

Cindy Tabelin of Stockton said her 68-year-old cousin was one of the victims. She told the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune that said she and her mother were on their way into the restaurant when the shooting started.

Her cousin was inside with his wife and young granddaughter, Tabelin said.

She sat on a curb in the restaurant parking lot after the shooting. “I'm waiting for them to let us have our cousin,” she said.

Her cousin's granddaughter was not shot, but “she just watched her grandfather get killed,” Tabelin said.

Pismo Beach is in San Luis Obispo County, about a 190-mile drive northwest of Los Angeles.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Nine Dead in Two Japanese Group Suicides

CNN News is noting the following.

Their article, "Nine dead in Japan 'group suicide'," for Friday, March 10, 2006, reads in part:

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japanese police are investigating two separate cases of suspected group suicide after nine people were found dead in parked cars, the latest in a series of such cases.

Five men and one woman were found dead in a station wagon in Saitama prefecture, just north of Tokyo, a police spokesman said.

He noted that charcoal stoves were found in the car but declined to give further details, citing ongoing investigations. The charcoal generates carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas.

Separately, a man and two women were found dead in a sealed car parked in the foothills of a mountain in Aomori prefecture, some 570 km (280 miles) north of Tokyo, a police spokesman said.

In this case too, charcoal stoves were found in the car with the three, who were undergoing treatment for mental illness and may have met at hospital, an Aomori police spokesman said.
++++++

We have noted that copycats like this, in Japan, come in waves, and this may be an indication of some future activity here.

Thanks to Ben Radford for alerting us to this news item.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Iranian in US Campus "Car Attack"

According to the BBC News article, "Iranian in US campus 'car attack'" published on Sunday, 5 March 2006, we learn, in part:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

An Iranian student has been charged with attempting to murder nine people with a car in the US to "avenge the deaths of Muslims", he told police.

Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, drove a rented Jeep into a crowd at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Friday, police said.

Mr Taheri-azar, a graduate of the university, then called police to surrender, officers said.

No-one was seriously hurt in the incident, which the FBI is probing.

Cartoons

Mr Taheri-azar has been charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to cause bodily injury.

Police said he drove the Jeep Cherokee into a pedestrian plaza close to two libraries and the student union block at the centre of the campus.

Derek Poarch, chief of the university's police department, told the Associated Press news agency Mr Taheri-azar had said he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world".

Mr Taheri-azar is being held in a prison in nearby Raleigh and will appear in court on Monday.

Mr Poarch said Mr Taheri-azar said he had told police they would find out more about his motives if they searched his home.
++++++
Other than noting that tensions at the university have been high since a campus newspaper printed one of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, no other information was given about what was found in a search of Taheri-azar's apartment in the BBC News article.