3 Pittsburgh policemen shot and killed responding to domestic dispute

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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090404/world/pittsburgh_shooting

3 Pittsburgh policemen shot and killed responding to domestic dispute

15 minutes ago

By Ramit Plushnick-Masti, The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - A man described by friends as someone who feared the Obama

administration was about to impose a ban on guns opened fire on police during a

domestic disturbance call Saturday, killing three of them, a police official

said.

The three deaths were confirmed by a police official at the scene, who spoke on

condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Police spokeswoman Diane would only say that at least five officers had

been wounded, but would not give any other details.

The man who fired at the officers was arrested after a standoff lasting several

hours, she said.

One witness reported hearing hundreds of shots.

The shootings occurred just two weeks after four police officers were killed

March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since

Sept. 11, 2001.

Police did not immediately release the gunman's identity, but his friends at the

scene described him as a young man who thought President Barack Obama would ban

firearms.

One friend, Perkovic, 22, said the gunman feared " the Obama gun ban

that's on the way " and " didn't like our rights being infringed upon. "

Another longtime friend, Vire, said he feared that Obama was going to take

away his rights, though he said he " wasn't violently against Obama. "

Perkovic, who described himself as the gunman's best friend, said he got a call

at work in which the gunman said: " 'Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell

your family I love them and I love you. " '

Perkovic said: " I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in

pain, like he got shot. "

Vire, 23, said the gunman once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't

successful. Vire said his friend had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful

handguns, including a .357 Magnum.

The officers were called to the home in the Stanton Heights neighbourhood at

about 7 a.m., said.

Tom Moffitt, 51, a city firefighter who lives two blocks away, said he heard

about the shooting on his scanner and went to the scene, where he heard

" hundreds, just hundreds of shots. And not just once - several times. "

Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said he heard rapid gunfire as he was

letting his dog out.

He said the neighbourhood of well-kept single-family houses and manicured lawns

is home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city

workers.

" It's just a very quiet neighbourhood, " Gift said.