Man Shoots TV Over DTV Converter Problems

[K. B.]

The man was livid over losing cable and couldn't get his digital TV converter to work.

[letterman]

Oh my God....... While it's not really funny, I cant stop laughing...... What an idiot !!!! (I wish they would have shown a picture of the tv)

Here is the whole story

Man shoots TV in frustration over digital conversion NBC News Updated: 2/19/2009 5:59:44 PM Posted: 2/19/2009 5:58:45 PM

A Missouri man, frustrated over losing his cable television service, peppered his TV set with gunfire.

Police responded to 70-year-old Walter Hoover's house in Joplin, Missouri Wednesday after reports of shots being fired inside.

The man was livid over losing cable and couldn't get his digital TV converter to work.

After a brief standoff, police took him into custody and charged him with unlawful use of a firearm.

It was Hoover's wife who reported him to police, and she also told them he had been drinking.

[Jimw]

Well, I guess that solved the problem...... Now he can go for help over his drinking and wont need to worry about whats on tv.

Too bad someone didn't video this, it would have been a big hit on Youtube.

What I cant understand is how anyone can NOT figure out how to connect a DTV converter. It's surely not difficult, at least not the two converter brands I have used. I also cant understand why anyone would take tv that seriously considering the trash programs that are on most of the time.

[WhiteTea]

I'm glad you aren't in counseling or public service.

[ransley]

When he gets out he will probably shoot the wife.

[mkirsch1]

Resign yourself to the fact that most people are stupid.

[Patty Winter]

[bunch of extraneous text removed]

I was wondering about that reference to "losing cable," too. Maybe it meant that he lost it because he wasn't working and couldn't pay for it, and thus was attempting to switch to OTA TV just around the time of the transition??

I wasn't particularly surprised that the last line of the article was, "Hoover's wife...told [police] he had been drinking." Yeah, ya think? ;-)

Patty

[phil-news-nospam]

| Too bad someone didn't video this, it would have been a big hit on | Youtube.

Don't worry. Someone will stage it. I just hope they use one of those TVs with the picture tube on top of the box. The only real question is whether the gun should be full-auto or not.

| What I cant understand is how anyone can NOT figure out how to connect | a DTV converter. It's surely not difficult, at least not the two | converter brands I have used. I also cant understand why anyone would | take tv that seriously considering the trash programs that are on most | of the time.

Some of the converters are dead out of the box. And good luck if you got one of those and bought it at Circuit City.

[Jer]

Here's a clue: he's a senile 70 y/o drunk with a gun. Anything is difficult for this dude.

Same clue.

[Sal M. Onella]

Resign yourself to the fact that most people are stupid.

-------------------------- missing quote-back marks -----------------

No, resign yourself to the fact that stupid people can do things that get them noticed.

[Sal M. Onella]

I'm glad you aren't in counseling or public service.

---------------------- missing quote-back marks -------------------

Dealing with a drunken dope is nobody's job, save the cops. You appear not to understand the proper application of either both counseling or public service. While they both have value, they are wasted in certain situations. Stop underestimating the value of a jail cell to solve a problem.

[Too_Many_Tools]

I agree.

No officer takes it lightly.

TMT

[Too_Many_Tools]

"he's a senile 70 y/o drunk with a gun. Anything is difficult for this dude.

Correction...he is a winger with a gun...same thing.

TMT

[Jer]

The term 'winger' requires a conclusion I'm not qualified to provide, given the limited information available from the article about a one-time event. I might be inclined to agree with the 'winger' term if I was aware of a pattern of behavior. The article didn't mention anything about a pattern of behavior, so I can't draw that conclusion - primarily because I'm not prejudiced.