Tripod-wielding photographer mistaken for would-be gunman
Kari in Toronto blogs:
When I first heard the news yesterday, that Sheridan College had been locked down because of a gunman, I felt chills run up my spine. Someone from my work had just been sent over to the school to talk about sales, and back at my office we were all concerned. Thankfully it was reported later in the day that there was no attack. Today, however, it's been revealed that the gun sighting that caused a professor to call in the emergency and the subsequent police lockdown was actually... a camera tripod sighting.Link to blogTO post. (thanks, Jerrold)
the latest
latest episodes
Why are they still looking for this guy if he's known to be wielding nothing more dangerous than a tripod?
And did you notice how the description changed from a man in camo to a man wearing blue jeans and a coat (the coat was possibly green)?
I think this is a stock photo. It seems as though it really is pretty easy to herd sheep with constant cries of "Look Out - FEAR!"
This is what I thought of initially:
http://www.binocularsmart.com/cameras/photosniper.shtml
I've seen other versions of this at photography shows.
Sabotabby, a Sheridan alum says,
She recommends looking for the guy in the photography studio.Wow, I have the exact same Bogen-Manfrotto portable tripod and while it is silly that this happened, it always reminded me of a machine-gun tripod more than anything.
I went to Sheridan and the place really is crawling with people carting around their huge cameras and tripods, trying to get assignments done without the hassle of leaving campus. (I was one of them!) That hall by the library the guy was spotted in isn't very heavily traveled but has a long window into the library. I'd guess those who saw him were in the library and couldn't get a good look.
Actually there, I imagine people more likely to mistake a rifle for a tripod than the other way around.
Crime Stoppers is great. They always make sure to mention that they don't use Caller ID or *69. Except they have a toll-free 800 number. Toll-free numbers don't need to use Caller ID or *69 because they get ANI information. If you really want to report a tip to them anonymously, use a payphone not in your neighbourhood. I don't know if they will use ANI to match who called about what, but they can if they want.
The end of the article says that police would still like to identify the man... Why? If he was just carrying a tripod then who cares? Get the prof a tinfoil hat and move on.
Many here have already commented on how silly it is that the police are looking for a guy with a tripod. But if they can't find him, how are they supposed to charge him with perpetuating a terrorism hoax like Boston did to the ATHF guys.
Canada produced some of the most ass-kicking warriors in WWI and WWII.
What happened to Canadians since WWII?
Sm knd f pnts-wttng wssyfctn vrs nfct th cntry?
Sm knd f pnts-wttng wssyfctn vrs nfct th cntry?"
That has brilliant potential as a conspiracy theory. Can you work the reptilian overlords into it?
What the hell is up with them continuing to look for the guy, now that they've realized they realized it was a tripod?
#2
"I think this is a stock photo. It seems as though it really is pretty easy to herd sheep with constant cries of "Look Out - FEAR!""
..and the fact that the extremely stylized photo in question only appeared on that one blog and not on every news channel reporting the event, and that the police analyzed cctv footage of the incident and still couldn't conclusively decide it wasn't a gun, didn't give it away?
Or what about the photo-credit link on the bottom of the blog pointing to www.photosapience.com?
Still, I think u could be on to something :p
http://www.prosebeforehos.com/word-of-the-day/02/05/fourteen-characteristics-of-fascism/
'nuff said.
Cockwood,
That's such a good link. That should show up in everybody's e-mail every day of the year. My friend's mother grew up in Germany as it turned toward fascism and she says that it was so incremental that you just got used to it. In the current political climate, daily reminders are necessary.
And it was fun typing your name.
#14
A very interesting read.
http://www1.sheridaninstitute.ca/corporate/news/2008/post_lockdown.cfm
I find it interesting that the school's president insists that the lockdown procedures worked. I'd submit that there's no way of knowing if they work or not, as there wasn't actually a threat.
...and the war on photogs continues...
:(
Noen, my apologies. That was overly snarky.
"school's president insists that the lockdown procedures worked. I'd submit that there's no way of knowing if they work or not, as there wasn't actually a threat."
I'd submit that the procedures definitely didn't work, since they were triggered by a false alarm. A good procedure identifies threats correctly.
#1: "Why are they still looking for this guy if he's known to be wielding nothing more dangerous than a tripod?"
If this were Boston, they'd want to arrest him for possessing a hoax device.
maybe someone remembered
"For 45 minutes on Dec. 6, 1989 an enraged gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal's École Polytechnique and killed 14 women."
or perhaps they are on edge because of the two bomb threats earlier at the University of British Columbia.
It happens;
School shootings
Attacks on students and staff
Last Updated October 26, 2007
CBC News
Some prominent school shootings in Canada
Sept. 13, 2006:
Dawson College, Montreal
A young man opens fire outside Dawson College, a CEGEP serving about 10,000 students in downtown Montreal, and then continues the rampage inside the school. Witnesses describe seeing a tall skinny youth with a Mohawk haircut walk into the cafeteria shortly before 1 p.m. ET carrying a large gun. The shooter, Kimveer Gill, 25, lived in a borough of Laval north of Montreal. He killed himself in a confrontation with police inside the school. One woman is killed, 18-year-old Anastasia DeSousa, and 19 people are wounded, at least six critically. They range in age from 17 to 48, according to police.
April 28, 1999:
W. R. Myers High School, Taber, Alta.
A 14-year-old boy opens fire with a .22-calibre rifle inside W. R. Myers High School in Taber, an Alberta town about 200 kilometres southeast of Calgary. The boy, who can't be named because of his age at the time of the crime, kills student Jason Lang, 17. Another student, Shane Christmas, 17, is wounded, but recovers from his injuries. The shooting takes place a week after the Columbine High School massacre.
October 1994:
Brockton High School, Toronto
A student unhappy with his grades shoots two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in Toronto. Both survive.
Aug. 24, 1992:
Concordia University, Montreal
A professor at Concordia, Valery Fabrikant, fires on his colleagues, killing four and wounding one.
Dec. 6, 1989:
L'École Polytechnique, Montreal
Marc Lépine, 25, walks into a classroom at Montreal's l'École Polytechnique engineering school, separates the men from the women and tells the men to leave. Then he begins shooting from a semi-automatic military weapon, shouting "I want women" as he roams the school's floors. Lépine kills 13 female students and a college employee, and injures 13 others before committing suicide. He had purchased a semi-automatic, a Ruger Mini-14, to carry out his assault. The ease with which he had acquired it and carried out the assault leads to the creation of pressure groups, which eventually forces the federal government to set up a national gun control registry.
October 1978:
Sturgeon Creek School, Winnipeg
A 17-year-old student shoots and kills a 16-year-old at Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg.
Oct. 27, 1975:
Saint Pius X School, Ottawa
Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old militia sharpshooter, sexually attacks and kills a friend, 17-year-old Kim Rabot, then shoots six people at Saint Pius X school in Ottawa. Poulin then kills himself. One of the wounded students would die more than a month later.
May 1975:
Centennial Secondary School, Brampton, Ont.
Michael Slobodian, 16, shoots and kills a teacher and a student, and wounds 13 others before turning the gun on himself.
#19 arkizzle
Noen, my apologies. That was overly snarky.
Thanks, It's ok arkizzle. It isn't like I haven't opened my mouth and made a fool of myself, several times, and in rapid succession. It's just the internet.
Takuan, I live in Boston, VERY near to the Dorchester area of the city. There have been LOTS of shootings barely 2-3 miles from my front door. (Hell, last year, there were TWO shooting incidents within sight of my living room window!)
nd yt, my trsrs rmn nskd by my wn rn. lv my prtmnt bldng ncncrnd f 'm gng t b gnnd dwn. 'm mr lkly t d f slp nd fll n th tb, ctlly.
Bng trrfd f th Bgmn 24/7 is no way to go through life.
nd flppng t n cllg cmps wth bg stdnt rtst ppltn s rlly dmb. You see a LOT of people with tripods and easels by MassArt on Huntington Avenue here in Boston. You see a LOT of people with oddly shaped cases slung over their shoulders in the vicinity of Massachusetts Avenue between Boyleston Street and Huntington Avenue. Thats where the Berklee School of Music is located.
And yet, I have yet to hear any urgent police calls on my scanner about "people with guns" at either MassArt of Berklee.
We are not unfamiliar with terror, here in Boston. Two of the hijacked 9/11 jets took off from Logan Airport. And while city officials are terrified of pictures of Mooninites made from LEDs, the rest of us are made of sterner/smarter stuff.
Refuse to be terrorized.
I think the professor felt too much like an idiot to tell the police it was a photographer with a tripod after he called it in. After all who doesn't try to find out whats actually going on if they thought they saw a gunmen on the campus?
Unfortunate news...
deniz.carbonmade.com
Never should you have doubted the terrifying power of... THE FIFTEEN DOLLAR STEADICAM. It's not a tripod. It definitely looks like something else. Especially if painted black to match photo equipment.
Even more terrifying is ZERO-COST STEADICAM, wherein the photographer is convinced to carry a collapsed tripod IN AN ODD POSITION.
The horror.
Keep on making your smartass jokes about the reptilian overlords...
This never would have happened if the professor and the students had all had guns....
The decision to go to lock down when no gun was ever seen just because someone is carrying what looked like photography equipment at a photography school has to be investigated - this incident diverted lots of resources, and who's going to pay for the tens of thousand of dollars of emergency and police time? Sheridan or Halton Region?
@#20, not true. "A good procedure identifies threats correctly."
A good procedure results in 0 deaths. A false alarm is always better than a real one. The point of the procedures isn't to "protect the threat"--which just happened to be a guy taking pictures in this case. It's to protect the students and faculty by identifying a potential threat. From a distance, a tripod can mimic a weapon.
The sticking point here, is that someone made a mistake--there's just no way around that.
the possibility that it might have been a gun arose from people's expectation and willingness to believe it was a gun. In societies where there are few or no guns (or no gun culture), the tripod would have identified as "unknown, long, tubular object" by whoever saw it.
If gun control in Canada was adequate, there would have been no panic.
A good procedure results in 0 deaths.
That is the promise of the police state. You give us your freedom and we will give you security. It never quite works out that way though.
Hr. gr wth th rtcl "t wht pnt ds rctnry pnc srpss cmmn sns?" t sms lk sm cltrs r s nfctd wth nmstc, prmtv, crg-clt fr f gns tht thy bgn t crt bgymn t f thn r. Myb f thr cltr hd mr *ctl* xprnc nd knwldg f gns, thy wldn't wt thmslvs vr cmr trpd.
*snrk*
welcome back JLBraun, I expected you.
One thing though, did you really tell the truth about being multiple? They have rules about sock puppets here. Just need to know if I am talking to a legitimate and honest person.
Wht's sck-pppt?
Frthr, wll sbmt tht ths rtcl n ddtn t th THF Bstn ncdnt s wht hppns whn y lt yr scty bcm rld by fr - fr f gns nd trrrsm, rspctvly. t's prtty sd.
Don't feed it!
to refresh your memory:
"February 4, 2008 9:36am
What makes you think there's only one jlbraun rather than a coalition of them? :)
Don't strain your elbows patting yourselves on the back too hard. BB needed a shot of something to combat the sanctimony."
I can't talk to a committee, no matter how lonely they might be.
n prsn, f crs. :)
I think it's funny that people bring up Boston. I don't for a second defend the actions (over-reactions) of the Boston Police or City Government, but I will say that it's foolish to point at Boston alone; these kinds of hyped-up paranoid reactions are going on all over. True, in Boston they took it a little too far with their demands of reimbursement from Turner Broadcasting, but when cops embarrass themselves on such a grand scale of course they're going to deflect the blame on a similarly grand scale. At least there haven't been any bans on photography in Boston. I was on a bridge overlooking the Mass Pike the other day, taking pictures, nobody stopped me, including at least one police car that went by (maybe I should get a tripod and see what happens)
It may very well be that Police in the Sheridan case will give the "suspect" some kind of slap on the wrist if he ever turns up, but that remains to be seen. Indeed-- if the school is well known for its arts/animation/film-making/etc. then it would be an embarrassment for them to mistake a tripod for a gun so easily.
A lot of this over-reaction is a logical human response to things like 9/11 and the various school shootings of recent years. I'm divided on how I feel about this particular case-- in the aftermath of a mass shooting we all scream about how lax security was, how the police should have known, etc., but when it turns out that there was no gun, we instead point at the cops (or whoever reported it) as being paranoid.
nd tght nthr fllw lbrl t sht tdy. Hppnss!
Wll, thr ws n ncdnt hr whr prfssr tk blck-pwdr rfl t clss crryng t pnly (fr clss), smbdy wt thr pnts nd clld th cps, nd n cp shws p, sys "h, jst n ld mzzl ldr crrd by brdd ld gy - n thrt" nd gs bck bt hs bsnss lk nthng hppnd.
N lckdwn, n PB, n SWT, n nthng. Gy pnly crrs gn nt cmps nd th rctn s vry mnr. 'm gld lv n sn plc nstd f sm plc wth sch prlyzng fr f gns tht smn *mgnng* thy sw gn s cs t lck dwn cmps, wst dzns f cps' tm, nd spnd tns f thsnds f txpyr dllrs.
Don't feed the troll.
"#10 posted by Chris Tucker Author Profile Page, February 9, 2008 8:19 PM
Canada produced some of the most ass-kicking warriors in WWI and WWII.
What happened to Canadians since WWII?
Sm knd f pnts-wttng wssyfctn vrs nfct th cntry?"
Since WWII your heros are all Hollywood, we still have the real deal, the pansies are the actors and those who idolize them! And Chris I have a hockey stick t nsrt n yr sorry Grenada attackin' ass.
#43 Antinous
Don't feed the troll.
Seconded, otherwise this will end up being another 300 comment post.
Don't feed it.
Dear Ill,
Why would the "suspect" be given a slap on the wrist? Or anything at all? From the facts given, he or she was guilty of possessing a tripod.
If anyone should be punished,shouldn't it be the person who called police without checking facts first?
"a professor thought he saw a young man with a weapon walking through the hallway.
After school officials watched surveillance video of this person, it still appeared that he could have had a weapon, Turner said. At least eight other student witnesses, who described what they saw as a "long, tubular object," came to the same conclusion "
What kind of environment fosters this? One in which fear of guns is real? Even if the gun isn't real? We have to go back to a time when the chance sighting of a "long, tubular object" isn't automatically associated with "gun".
"Self control" leads to de-facto gun control. If the majority of people in a society practice self-control so fear doesn't lead to a gun in every pocket, then the chances of gun violence greatly diminish.
"#43 ntns
Dn't fd th trll.
Scndd, thrws ths wll nd p bng nthr 300 cmmnt pst.
Dn't fd t."
Sys th sm gys tht gt schld fr thr ntlrnc n sd pst. Clssc. :)
"W hv t g bck t tm whn th chnc sghtng f "lng, tblr bjct" sn't tmtclly ssctd wth "gn"."
r whr sghtng f vn n ctl gn ds nt ndc nrsnng pnc.
""Slf cntrl" lds t d-fct gn cntrl."
xctly. f ppl dn't hv n nrsnng fr f gns sch tht thy cnjr thm p t f thn r, thn tht prdcs lss fr nd lss ppl wll wnt t crry gn s rslt. Hwvr, thr wll lwys b ths f s tht wld vn crry gn n prfctly sf scty.
Noen,
I firmly believe that Cory's baby should have been the only thread with 300 comments. Let's stick to the happy!
I do not permit people to effectively censor free discussion by behaving so repellently that they drive away and silence contrary views.
Besides, the same post over and over only counts as one post.
OH, three hundred comments! Not 300 comments. I getcha...
Japan seems to have a solution that works for them. I doubt it would work here.
Japanese Gun Control
As a Sheridan Media Arts alumni, I can't even begin to quantify the number of times I was walking past the library with a tripod on one shoulder, a big duffle bag full of equipment and what would charitably be described as an 'angry face'.
Frankly, anyone at that school should know better -- between the photography program and the media program... sigh.
Hell - we used to do all kinds of crazy shit -- running past the security desk with a Harvey's cup full of boiling water and dry ice pellets left over from a shoot yelling "It's gonna blow!"
I suppose that things have changed - after all, I'm class of '95 - we barely had the interwebs.
" d nt prmt ppl t ffctvly cnsr fr dscssn by bhvng s rpllntly tht thy drv wy nd slnc cntrry vws."
Wht, lk hvng n's sl rgmnt cnsst f cpy-pstng nws strs bt ppl bng klld by gns whn y hv nthng ls lft?
'Cs tht wld b y.
:)
I graduated from high school in 1975. You could make a pipe bomb for your science project and leave it in your locker all year. People would have thought that it was cool.
Tak-kun,
You're good at this. Can you find that filter thingy? There's a ringing in my ears that I want to get rid of.
Times change. I once had a large handgun fall out of my coat in a university study hall. People looked up, and then went back to their books. the possibility that it could be anything but a prop never even occurred to them.
Alas, we have to deal with now. In Canada's example, the number of shooting incidents at schools and colleges is still miniscule compared to the USA. And out of control compared to Japan. How do you want to live? In the end,it is a personal choice. Apart from a few lunatic jurisdictions, no one is forcing anyone to go armed. Enough people decide on theirown to be part of the solution instead of the problem and once again,you could have a relatively safe and peaceable society.
I recollect reading somewhere that American society was not always a gun culture. Apparently the corner was turned after the Civil War when the decision was undertaken to allow soldiers to go home with their guns. Why should American culture remain married to the gun? It wasn't always that way.
Antinous: first, control yourself.
Kinnaird, you are free to come to Boston and make the attempt.
However, do not be too greatly surprised if things don't go as you imagine them.
Perhaps people who do own guns should be required to pass some simple tests to show they can interact with other people without reflexively resorting to unthinking, aggressive behaviours. Some level of minimum social stability index. For example; to be unable to be baited by mere words. To never offer physical threats until actually physically attacked?
Why should American culture remain married to the gun?
We are huge, a continent really. With vast open spaces and states that are larger than most European countries. It all revolves around population density and so there is a conflict between the western states and the coasts. Everybody thinks that what works for them in Montana should work in Brooklyn N.Y. and vice versa.
And then there are the genuine nutcases who think a society where everyone is armed would be cool. They think they are going to be heroes. That's how it played out here in Minnesota. The left was afraid there would be gun battles in the streets and the right had their wet dream of pulling our their concealed gun during a robbery and saving the world. Neither happened.
What I think we need is community policing (and more police) and moderate gun control.
I agree there are people with confused ideas about what constitutes courage.
If there must be guns, why not set high standards?
At the moment, all a gun owner is broadly recognized as having is a pulse. Imagine a system where a licence to possess a gun instantly conferred respect since it meant that person had passed many rigourous tests and trials and was a person that could be looked up to and respected? A person who could be relied upon to be trusted with a gun since they would never, ever misuse it or be subject to petty disorders of mood like temper?
If there must be guns, why not set high standards?
That would be fine with me. There was a big fight over conceal and carry here. The proponents wanted rules that a sheriff must issue you a permit if you are a legal gun owner and I think thats what they got. Law enforcement didn't like that at all. The current battle is over allowing C&C into houses of worship. For some strange reason a lot of pastors don't like the idea of their congregation packin' heat. Those of us who don't think you should be able to C&C anywhere you damn please are winning that one so far.
The other way to restrict C&C here is if you put up a sign saying "Coffeehouse X bans guns on these premises." And of course the sign has to be on each and every entrance, displayed at eye level and in large legible type. It's nuts.
Two words USA: CHILL!!!!!!! OUT!!!!!!!!!!!
JLBraun, if you think that just because I like guns I'm going to ignore all those snotty ad hominems and other incivilities, you've got another long hard think coming.
Also, a general announcement: I'm calling a moratorium on references to incontinence in gun discussions.
"Lw nfrcmnt ddn't lk tht t ll."
Nt prly crrct. Lw nfrcmnt hs bn plld n ths. Th rnk nd fl ws vrwhlmngly n fvr f CCW, bt th pltcl ppnts (chfs f plc) wr gnst lwfl ctzns crryng gns, lkly rflctng thr pltcl mstrs' vws.
Hr s thrd n ffcr.cm:
http://frms.ffcr.cm/frms/rchv/ndx.php/t-6229.html
Hr s nthr rfrnc:
http://www.nqrr.cm/dtns/2001/02/25/lc_th_cncld-crry.html
"Fr sm strng rsn lt f pstrs dn't lk th d f thr cngrgtn pckn' ht."
chrch smwhr n C dcdd t rm thmslvs, nd stppd gy ntnt n mss mrdr. chrch sn't sm spcl xcptn f mgcl plc whr gns dn't wrk.
http://rmsndthlw.cm/rchvs/2007/12/shtng_t_nw_1.php
" prsn wh cld b rld pn t b trstd wth gn snc thy wld nvr, vr mss t r b sbjct t ptty dsrdrs f md lk tmpr?"
xctly, tht's wht w hv nw. n Mchgn nd Txs, thy hv fnd tht CCW hldrs r svrl tms lss lkly thn vrg ctzns t b rrstd fr ny crm whtsvr.
"Th thr wy t rstrct C&C hr s f y pt p sgn syng "Cffhs X bns gns n ths prmss." nd f crs th sgn hs t b n ch nd vry ntrnc, dsplyd t y lvl nd n lrg lgbl typ. t's nts."
nd f crs tht sgn css ll gns t mgclly dsppr n pff f lvndr scntd smk whn thy ntr th dr.
Sms lk th nly ppl crryng gns n tht cffhs wld b ns tht dn't fllw th lw nywy, nd r CC'ng llglly - g. flns nd crmnls.
"mgn systm whr lcnc t pssss gn nstntly cnfrrd rspct snc t mnt tht prsn hd pssd mny rgrs tsts nd trls nd ws prsn tht cld b lkd p t nd rspctd?"
Gnrlly, tht's th wy t s nw. Shwng yr CCW prmt t cp wll gnrlly gt y t f mst spdng tckts nd thr mvng vltns (fl t sgnl, rnnng stp sgns, n lft trn, t l.).
Y dn't sk fr th crtsy slck f crs, bt dn't b srprsd f y gt t.
"y'v gt nthr lng hrd thnk cmng."
Vry wll. 'll jst gnr ths tw.
"ls, gnrl nnncmnt: 'm cllng mrtrm n rfrncs t ncntnnc n gn dscssns."
Cn y xtnd yr mrtrm t rfrncs t pns lngth s wll? :)
Many have asked why are the police STILL interested in the suspect.
Though I am not involved in the criminal justice system, my guess is that the police want to CONFIRM that it was a tripod and not a gun. But this is just a guess.
That may depend. If they are incompetent or lazy police, they still want someone to blame for making them put down their coffee cups. Possibly they wish to confirm what they still only suspect.
None of the media I've found so far indicate HOW the police determined it was a tripod and not a gun. Did the person phone in? Maybe the campus security and police are generating a tempest in a teapot to justify next years budget.
If I had been the one walking along with my tripod and later realized from news reports what was going on,there is no way I would do more than a courtesy phone call.