Maybe it looked something like this.
Seriously, I’m thinking maybe he had one of those collapsible chairs that slips into a long carry-sleeve. Still….
Parent Filming School Football Game Misidentified As A Sniper, Because His Chair Looked Like a Gun
A parent attempting to record a middle school football game from the school’s roof was misidentified as a sniper, causing police to evacuate hundreds of people from the field.
James Kranz wanted to shoot video of his children playing on Saturday. But an officer spotted him climbing a ladder onto the school’s roof with what looked like a rifle, said police Sgt. Gregg Olsen.
“An officer saw a man on top of the roof, walking around, pacing back and forth,” Olsen said. “He was acting extremely suspicious.”
It turned out to be a lawn chair that Kranz had with him — not a gun.
Kranz jumped down from the roof and ran when officers tried to get him to drop to his knees and show his hands, Olsen said. Kranz told police he didn’t respond because he didn’t believe they were really officers.
Authorities ticketed Kranz for trespassing, then ordered him off the school grounds.
This is what happens when a culture goes insane. Everybody is afraid of everybody else.
So, if it was some idiot with a gun and the police hadn’t done what they did here? Then there would be a lot of whining about the police not protecting you. The police did the right thing. The idiot shouldn’t be on the roof to begin with.
“The police did the right thing.”
I agree. This chair menace is getting out of hand and has to stop. I think anyone seen with a chair should be shot on sight! And don’t even get me started on park benches!
#2 Everyone knows that the real menace are “lazy-boys”…
#2
Have you seen a camping chair packed up in a carry bag? In a distance or from an angle, it can be mistaken for a gun case. But that’s not important… we’re going to bash the police no matter what they do.
The dude should have droped. He is very lucky he is not dead. I guess you missed all the news about recent school shootings.
The usual quota of self-filtering comments, I see. Don’t let reality get in the way! Though even the cops in my family never asserted they were infallible.
wtf????
since when is ANYONE in utah dangerous enough that they’d hire a sniper?
seriously folks, this is an over-reation at its best
#0: “This is what happens when a culture goes insane. Everybody is afraid of everybody else.”
On the nyc subway every day I have to hear repeated announcements in the subway cars: “this is an important message from the new york city police department, be aware of your surroundings at all times, PROTECT YOURSELF, if you see a suspicious package or activity on the platform, DO NOT KEEP IT TO YOURSELF, T E L L a police officer…” they run this shit repititavely. Who’s to blame? The motherf*cker we have as a president, that’s who.
Oh man, and all this right before I have to go to a school assembly on friday. Anyone have a flak jacket I can borrow?
#4….yep…..I have friends who carry those chairs in a bag all over the place, they DO look like a damn rifle bag.
I’m with the cops on this one. If the guy had been a sniper….the same people here knocking them now would be here knocking them for not doing their job.
That guy was/is an idiot – period The cops did what they are supposed to do, investigate suspicious behavior and take action – period Culture isnt insane, idiots are – period
If you can’t tell the difference between canvas chair and a gun bags, you need your eyes checked. Every canvas chair bag I have ever seen is brightly colored while every gun bag I’ve seen is either black or camo. Now, if he had a tripod for the camera because those bags are usually black and might have been mistaken.
Secondly, if the police didn’t arrest the guy, why should he “drop”? Did the “SWAT” team at any time time see a weapon? Investigating a situation should not have to include police take downs with several automatic rifles pointed at your head.
Put this into the over reaction category. If you find yourself defending the police then consider yourself brainwashed by Bush. And try not to let your shadow scare you.
12 – f you can’t tell the difference between canvas chair and a gun bags, you need your eyes checked. Every canvas chair bag I have ever seen is brightly colored while every gun bag I’ve seen is either black or camo.
Obviously you didn’t click the first link in number four’s comment. If the chair bag turns out bright on your screen, then your eyes are failing you or your monitor is not correctly calibrated correctly. We’ve got three lawn chairs with bags, and all of them are dark green and could easily be passed as gun bags.
Unfortunately, I also agree with the police, but probably not for the same reasons mentioned here, and definitely not because I’m a Bushbot (although I am a conservative Republican that usually does agree with Bush). You see, I remember August 1, 1966, when Charles Whitman ascended to the University of Texas Tower with a small arsenal, and in a little over 90 minutes snuffed out 14 lives and injured dozens more. This was long before Bush, and was a random act of violence and terror simply because he could. Thus, I would contend tis better to err on the side of caution, especially when noone is hurt by doing so, than to regret a failure to act for the rest of your life.
LINK (please use embedded links or tinyurl)
One of those brown folding chairs could be mistaken for a gun too, if the police missed the other two legs.
Carrying guns is legal in Utah.
“Carrying guns is legal in Utah.”
Probably not on school grounds, I expect.
What does this mean? “He was acting extremely suspicious.”
And how could the officer tell that from that far away?
#13, If the chair bag turns out bright on your screen, then your eyes are failing you or your monitor is not correctly calibrated correctly.
Ok, I checked out your link. Now, armpit, tell me where this one is sold? That part is conveniently missed with your link. Is it a picture or photo? At that resolution I can’t tell. Is that supposed to be the actual color? When you’ve done all that, explain what your point is.
Oh right, I forgot. Everything on the internet is true.
But, isn’t that link the same color as the other link? Gee, even down to the available in black only. And three lawn chairs, I mean wow. Do they all come with the warnings about no hot liquids?
FYI, my monitor was calibrated professionally. Although it has been almost two years, I don’t anticipate needing another calibration.
…
What you and other posters here missed is that every so often someone gets shot because some trigger happy cop mistakes a cell phone for a handgun. Now we have the cops mistaking the ubiquitous canvas lawn chair for a rifle. Are all the public gatherings going to be canceled because cops don’t know the difference? Is our life so dangerous simply because someone out there used a rifle to shoot up a school?
Put it into perspective. How many people have been shot at or in a school over the past 10 years? Then put that beside how many will be seriously injured or killed in a traffic accident today. Bush has everyone so frightened of terrorists that the mere suggestion that something might be amiss send the ignorant masses into hysterics.
Exactly the empty headed moronic sheep the Republicans use to keep in power.
19 – Your response surprises me. Obviously you’re against the police responding to calls from the public. Perhaps if you or someone you love got shot (no, I don’t wish upon you, but it seems to be the only way you learn), you would be more understanding.
#4 – Have you seen a camping chair packed up in a carry bag? In a distance or from an angle, it can be mistaken for a gun case. But that’s not important… we’re going to bash the police no matter what they do.
Comment by Jägermeister — 10/18/2006 @ 3:39 pm
Yes… The police get bashed no matter what. It’s a good thing too. It’s how I know speech is still free.
There is nothing stupid about using a roof to get a good shot. There is something stupid, I suppose, about not asking for permission (and i only assume he didn’t because no one knew why he was there).
There is no debate on this. Of course the cops were right to investigate, and they must have done something right because an innocent man is NOT dead or in jail, so all is well.
But the point KB makes is still right. We do live with paranoia and fear and we don’t need to. There is really no valid reason for it aside from political fearmongering.
Someone else made a quip about “all the school shootings” lately… Would it help if we reported on the number of schools where there were no shootings every day. Better safe than sorry is a smart philosophy if you are deciding whether of not to wear the spare chute when you jump out of a plane. It’s a stupid plan when we talk about the everyday stuff, because really, not very much happens every day and raising our children to be frightened of the world isn’t healthy.
#21
I can’t see anything wrong with what happened. I rather have one case too many investigated, than one real one missed because the police didn’t bother answering to a call from the public.
#20, oh quite the opposite.
What I’m opposed to is the hysterical panic. The argument about better safe than sorry is bull crap. What if the police decided that they wouldn’t take the chance and just shoot anyway. After all, they don’t know and safety is their thing.
What if the same scenario played out near a reservoir? Only instead of a canvas chair, it was a fishing pole bag. Or some guy carrying his camera tripod in a bag? Remember all those old gangster movies where they carried machine guns in violin cases, …?
The whole thing remind me of a case years ago. The man had an argument with his wife. She left the home in a huff and got pulled over for speeding. She said she was speeding because of the argument. The cop asked if the husband had weapons in the house, which he did. Next thing you know the swat team had surrounded the house and was ordering the guy to come out. When he didn’t, they shot out the windows with tear gas and killed the family dog. Only he wasn’t home at the time and there had never been any suggestion of any danger.
Now what does me being shot have to do with this instance? That sounds more like an argument to ban guns. This is just the effects of fear mongering.
#22, Jägermeister
I agree. Investigate why a guy was on the roof. My point, and I believe several others, is not that it was investigated, but the SWAT team was called out to do the investigation. The SWAT guys are there with heavy ordinance on the understanding that they are the first line of defense. It isn’t that it ended bloodlessly, because when you point a weapon with the safety off, the weapon may very well fire with little coaxing.
I know that when I photograph events such as a football game, I too will look for a good advantage point. I want the best shots I can get with my equipment. I might have also think about the roof, but probably dismiss it as too far from the action. But regardless, I would have let some officials know, Coach and Referee, why I am there and to let me know if anything I’m doing interferes with the game. The rapport with the Coach and officials has always gotten me access and had my back watched.
But then this guy was just some Joe Amature trying to get a good shot of his kid’s football game.
>Put it into perspective. How many people have been shot at or in a >school over the past 10 years?
I’m sure you made the same point after Columbine when gun control was proposed.