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Five Duquesne basketball players shot, two critical


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Five Duquesne basketball players shot, two critical
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Windswept
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2006-09-17, 13:08

This just makes me sick. I think we should bring back the rack for the guy who did this.

Quote:
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Five Duquesne basketball players, all but one of them new players who enrolled only this month, were shot early Sunday morning during an apparent act of random violence on campus. Two players were in critical condition at a hospital.

Pittsburgh police were searching for a man believed to have done the shootings, and were investigating whether anyone else was involved. The shootings occurred about 2:15 a.m. as several players were returning from an on-campus party at the student union and others were sitting on benches outside Vickroy Hall, the dormitory where the shootings took place.

The players most badly injured were 6-foot-7 forward Sam Ashaolu, a transfer from Lake Region State College and a cousin of former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon, and Stuard Baldonado, a 6-7 transfer from Miami Dade College who was considered the Dukes’ best recruit.

Ashaolu is from Toronto, and his parents were traveling to Pittsburgh on Sunday to be with their son.

Treated and released from Mercy Hospital were 6-10 Shawn James, the nation’s leading shot blocker last season at Northeastern University before transferring to Duquesne; Kojo Mensah, a guard who averaged nearly 17 points last season at Siena before transferring, and Aaron Jackson, a guard who is one of only two returning players from Duquesne’s 3-24 team of last season.

According to police, two players were returning from a social function on campus when they encountered a man who apparently had been disruptive at the party. After the players tried to calm down the man, the players began walking away, only to be shot. Several other players who were nearby rushed to their aid, also to be shot.

http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/cli...quesne-ON.html

Last edited by Windswept : 2006-09-17 at 13:17.
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_Ω_
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2006-09-18, 04:08

This story angers me on two levels.

One on the simple level of why the fuck is there a recessive gene moron running around shooting people. Bullet + Head = problem solved. I can remember a time when a gun 'accident' was abnormal, not the norm.

Second is the fact that the article seems to go out of its way to highlight that these boys play basketball, and truth be told, probably quite good at it. But is the fact that one of the players is 6'7" really an important fact here? How about it being a tragedy that five students were shot. That they were basketballers is very much secondary in my opinion, but for sensationalism this little tidbit seems to help.....

6' and can't shoot a hoop, Ω.....

Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress
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scratt
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2006-09-18, 04:22

Whilst it is no excuse, and shooting people is very very wrong..
This quote does make me wonder what really happened..

Quote:
According to police, two players were returning from a social function on campus when they encountered a man who apparently had been disruptive at the party. After the players tried to calm down the man, the players began walking away, only to be shot. Several other players who were nearby rushed to their aid, also to be shot.
It could be re-written so easilly in any number of ways.

What exactly does 'calm down the man' mean?

I am playing devils advocate here, and bear no ill will to anyone.
And this guy needs something to happen to him for what he has done.

But, my question is, what did the eleventy-five foot high guys do to him?

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
Extreme Sports Cafe | ESC's blog | scratt's blog | @thescratt
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Bryson
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2006-09-18, 04:30

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Ω_ View Post
Second is the fact that the article seems to go out of its way to highlight that these boys play basketball, and truth be told, probably quite good at it. But is the fact that one of the players is 6'7" really an important fact here? How about it being a tragedy that five students were shot. That they were basketballers is very much secondary in my opinion, but for sensationalism this little tidbit seems to help.....

I think it's reasonable to report any distinctive features of a person you are describing, and 6'7" is a notable height.
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Windswept
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2006-09-18, 04:38

Well, Omega, the basketball aspect is a major part of this particular story. The university had hired a brand new coach just six months ago with the mission of rebuilding their basketball program from scratch.

He'd recruited ten new players, which is a *lot*, including some pretty outstanding ones. I imagine news of these recruits had been making sports headlines in the area for some time, with lots of interest and excitement from local fans. (Edit:...especially considering the school's win/loss record last season was 'really' bad at 3 wins/24 losses.)

And yes, two were 6'7" and one was 6'10", which is a major asset on any basketball team. I do realize that this sport is not of much interest in many parts of the world, so think if your local uni had acquired 10 extremely promising brand new football players and 5 of them had suddenly been shot all in one incident.

I think that would be shocking news, and the sports aspect would be a major part of the story for people in your area, don't you think?

Quote:
The players most badly injured were 6-foot-7 forward Sam Ashaolu, a transfer from Lake Region State College and a cousin of former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon, and Stuard Baldonado, a 6-7 transfer from Miami Dade College who was considered the Dukes’ best recruit.

Treated and released from Mercy Hospital were 6-10 Shawn James, the nation’s leading shot blocker last season at Northeastern University before transferring to Duquesne; Kojo Mensah, a guard who averaged nearly 17 points last season at Siena before transferring, and Aaron Jackson, a guard who is one of only two returning players from Duquesne’s 3-24 team of last season.

New Duquesne coach Ron Everhart, formerly at Northeastern, had rebuilt the Duquesne program almost from scratch after being hired in March by bringing in 10 new recruits — one of the most sweeping upheavals of any Division I program in recent years.
One thing you may not realize is that the sports programs at American colleges and universities bring in lots of desperately needed financial support from alumni - that is, if the teams are halfway decent. So revitalizing their basketball program is not just 'strictly' a sports issue for that particular school.

Last edited by Windswept : 2006-09-18 at 04:56.
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_Ω_
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2006-09-18, 04:58

What is shocking is that people were shot.

To me that they were basketballers is irrelevant, but it seems to sell 'papers'. Where does your moral outrage stop as far as sportspeople are concerned? If they were the nations best petanque players would you care as much?

The sport is irrelevant. The crime itself is not.

Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress
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Bryson
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2006-09-18, 05:16

So, by your argument, if someone shot, say, Conan O'Brien* tomorrow, the newspapers shouldn't be able to report what he did for a living? It is reasonable to report any distinctive features or facts about the people involved.

And of course the newspapers are out to sell copies. That's what they do. they aren't charities.


*=I have no idea why this example was the first to present itself to my mind.
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_Ω_
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2006-09-18, 05:44

My argument is that the papers are focusing more on the basketball aspect than the shooting tragedy aspect.

The story is the shooting, not that they had/have game.
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Windswept
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2006-09-18, 05:57

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Ω_ View Post
What is shocking is that people were shot.

To me that they were basketballers is irrelevant, but it seems to sell 'papers'. Where does your moral outrage stop as far as sportspeople are concerned? If they were the nations best petanque players would you care as much?

The sport is irrelevant. The crime itself is not.
Yes, the fact that five students were shot is indeed shocking and worthy of moral outrage.

The fact that they composed nearly half of a basketball team simply adds another dimension to the story in the eyes of many readers.

As we all know, newspapers refer to such details as the 'human interest' angle. If the human interest angle were ignored, we'd have bare-bones stories like this:

"Local man suffers fatal stingray wound on Monday while snorkeling in shallow waters."

So, the 'human interest' angle can make a huge difference in the reality of a story, don't you think?
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psmith2.0
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2006-09-18, 08:31

Beyond all the basketball-ness (or not) of everything, the real story - and tragedy - is that people are, once again, shot over stupid things (words, maybe?). That it's even someone's first or second instinct to address this sort of situation with a gun is what is so troubling. And idiotic.

Who does this? Honestly? What's their thinking? They can't flash-forward a few minutes, or hours, and think "okay, I'll shoot all these guys and then my problems will be solved...oh, wait...no they won't. I'll be arrested, I'll go to prison, I'll be someone's girlfriend for several decades, etc. Maybe I should count to ten or go home and watch some TV".



Whatever happened to people just getting into a quick, simple fistfight - and whoever got beaten, that's how it went. You licked your wounds, went home and healed. But you lived to fight - and love, learn, grow and everything else that makes life what it is - another day.



I really don't know what's wrong with people, that this is how they "fix things".



Who knows. More school athletes, so who will ever know the truth? Like those lacrosse players, those two guys who put the fake deer on the road and countless other stories involving high school and college (and professional) athletes, I'm sure things are never as they seem. Things will be covered up, spun, suppressed, retold, embellished, played-down, lied about, PR'ed to death, other parties demonized, etc.

And it ain't "a gun problem". It's a people problem...that one's natural impulse is to REACH for the stupid gun to begin with in situations like this. That's what is so wrong and sad.
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dfiler
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2006-09-19, 12:47

Some of the neighborhood around Duquesne is pretty rough. There are streets you shouldn't be found alone on at night. A street altercation and shootout in that neighborhood is not too uncommon. Just driving through at night, on three occaisions i've been offered crack while waiting at a red-light. [Edit: Come to think of it. This hasn't happened since I bought a new car. My old car must have been a dealer magnet. ]

An interesting thought...

Were the five guys being menacing toward someone? Not that it would justify the shootings. But it would be interesting to know exactly what transpired. Five big-ass dudes being intimidating could easily cause an unstable person to flip-out. Perhaps they simply menaced the wrong thug? Not too difficult in that area.
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Windswept
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2006-09-19, 13:15

Quote:
Originally Posted by dfiler View Post
Were the five guys being menacing toward someone? Not that it would justify the shootings. But it would be interesting to know exactly what transpired. Five big-ass dudes being intimidating could easily cause an unstable person to flip-out. Perhaps they simply menaced the wrong thug? Not too difficult in that area.
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=2462353

Here's ONE version. I'll post another version of the story in a sec.

Quote:
Sept. 19. 2006 — Police arrested a suspect early this morning in connection with the shooting of five Duquesne basketball players, ESPN has learned.

The man was arrested around 2 a.m. and was being held in Pittsburgh for questioning. The charges against him were not immediately known.

In another development in the investigation on Monday evening, a woman who was involved in an argument that may have led to the shooting was arrested on two conspiracy charges. ESPN has learned that one of the conspiracy charges involves aiding someone with bringing a weapon onto campus.

Brittany Jones, 19, a sophomore at Duquesne whose mother is a campus drug and alcohol counselor, decided to cooperate with officials only after she was charged, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

It was not clear if there was a connection between Jones and the suspect who was taken into custody.

Investigators told the Tribune-Review that they will speak with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office about dropping the charges against Jones if she continues to cooperate.

Jones invited several friends to a dance sponsored by Duquesne's Black Student Union on Saturday. None of the friends were students at the school. According to the Tribune-Review, one of the friends was her boyfriend, but ESPN was told by police that that is not the case.

Investigators said that at the dance Jones hugged and flirted with several members of the basketball team, angering one of her male friends. The two argued, and the basketball players left the dance.

A short time later outside Vickroy Hall dormitory, the man with whom Jones had argued and another man allegedly pulled guns and fired approximately 12 shots at the players, police said.

Three of the five players remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition.
No outside students should be allowed into such university social functions, especially if the school is located in a rough part of town.

They were careless about letting just *anyone* in, and now they're paying the price. What a shame, especially for the student in critical condition.

Here are excerpts of another version, with a somewhat different take on things:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14904346/

Quote:
PITTSBURGH - Police arrested a man Tuesday in the weekend shootings of five Duquesne University basketball players and hunted for another suspect considered armed and dangerous.

The arrest came after a 19-year-old sophomore was apprehended on weapons-related charges. Police said Brittany Jones helped six men get into a school dance and knew some were armed.

Brandon Baynes and William Holmes, both 18, fired on the players early Sunday after the dance on campus, police said.

Jones was arrested Monday on charges of reckless endangerment, carrying a firearm without a license and criminal conspiracy. She was arraigned and posted bond Tuesday morning, leaving the Allegheny County Jail out of the view of TV cameras.

According to a criminal complaint, Jones, who is active with the Black Student Union, got a call from a man asking if he and his brother could come to the dance. They arrived with four others about midnight.

Jones told police she became aware that several of the men had guns while walking to the party and they asked Jones if they were going to be “patted down” before entering, authorities said. The doorman allegedly told Jones that partygoers weren’t being searched, and the men went into the dance, police said.

In interviews Monday with The Associated Press, several players said the shooter was a non-student unhappy that the woman he accompanied to the dance had talked with a player. The shooter and at least one other man followed the players when they left the dance to walk to their dormitory, they said.
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psmith2.0
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2006-09-19, 13:32

Sounds like we're dealing with sheer genius types at work here.

Because, you know, my first impulse when I see someone "talking to my woman" is to shoot them. It's the only viable solution, you know. It pretty much solves everything and is the most sensible course of action, right?



Idiots.
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Windswept
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2006-09-19, 13:48

I *really* don't think charges should be dropped for the female student.

She definitely needs to spend some time suffering in purgatory (ie, in the state lock-up) for the part she played in all of this.

*seethe*
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dfiler
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2006-09-19, 15:13

It's all speculation at this point. I could see either side being the instigators. Although allegedly only one side had, and used, a firearm.

I could see it going down as alledged in those stories. But it is equally plausable that the men were hitting on the woman in a lewd manner. The boyfriend tells them to stop. The five ballplayers then may have used their large stature to intimidate or threaten the boyfriend. Maybe they were about to beat him and his girlfriend into an inch of their lives, and that is when he pulled out the gun.

Remember... it is Duquesne's PR machine that is in full gear here. What we have seen on the news so far is only one side of the story.

Last edited by dfiler : 2006-09-19 at 15:19.
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