Man runs wild with hammer at NH mall (at least it wasn't a gun)

You see?

Even crazy people are far less dangerous when they don't have a gun.

I wonder if he's the owner of the local glass company...

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Man runs wild with hammer at mall Published Dec 8, 2011 at 9:30 pm (Updated Dec 8, 2011)

NEWINGTON NH ? Mayhem erupted when a man ran through the Fox Run Mall Thursday, smashing display cases and glass storefronts with a hammer as he babbled incoherently, police and witnesses said.

Only one person was injured by falling glass, but witnesses described a chaotic scene in which some people feared a gunman was on the loose. Michael Williams, 34, of Dover, was arrested without incident inside the mall for felony criminal mischief.

The ruckus began at Kay Jewelers around 4:45 p.m., when the man smashed several display cases, none of which broke because they are safety glass. He then sprinted to nearby jewelry store Pandora, where he succeeded in bashing in numerous display cases as employees screamed and huddled in a back room, said Peter Gerges, who works at a nearby kiosk and watched the scene unfold.

The man even told Pandora?s employees not to worry, Gerges said. ?He?s like, ?Don?t panic ladies, I?m not gonna hurt no one,?? Gerges said. As the smashing began, some people panicked, said Matt Pilar, who works at the shoe store Journeys. ?There were people down there that were screaming and dropping down because they thought it was gunfire,? he said.

Joe Allen, an employee at the T-Mobile kiosk next to Kay, said he and several others chased the man as he smashed display cases at Zales before he ran through the mall and slipped in front of Pretzel Time. Allen said he and three others surrounded the man as he got up from the spill and reacted wildly.

?He?s just swinging it around,? Allen said of the hammer.

The man then walked over and smashed windows at Sleep Number, Yankee Candle, Motherhood Maternity and The Limited before sitting down on a bench outside Victoria?s Secret and tossing the claw hammer aside, Allen said.

?He said, ?You can call me God,?? Allen said of the man.

Fire Chief Dale Sylvia said all seven stores affected have been shut down for safety reasons and won?t be allowed to reopen until they?ve been inspected. Glass was strewn everywhere at The Limited and Motherhood Maternity, where storefronts were obliterated.

Allen said the man was speaking incoherently. He and others tried unsuccessfully to calm him, he said. ?Honestly, I got more scared when he threw the hammer down and sat down,? Allen said. ?I was nervous he had a gun.?

Newington police Sgt. Tim Stuart said Williams was ?cooperative and polite? as he was arrested. ?The gentleman obviously has some issues,? Stuart said. Allen said that when police arrived, the man told them everything that just happened. ?The cops showed up and he told them exactly what he did,? Allen said.

?He was just nuts; it?s this time of year, I think.?

Reply to
Home Guy
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Probably just some poor construction worker that went berserk over all the silly building laws they have in New England.

Reply to
Frank

And if any of the "sane" people in the mall had had a gun, there would have been considerably less mayhem.

Reply to
HeyBub

I'm sure some of them did, didn't panic and determined that a guy smashing windows with a hammer didn't pose a threat to them.

Reply to
Pete C.

Oh yeah, gun shots would have really calmed people down....NOT!

Don

Reply to
IGot2P

"Pete C." wrote in news:4ee4f57f$0$29511$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreader.readnews.com:

nonsense;A Japanese guy went amok with a SWORD and killed several people. a single hammer strike to the skull can kill a person,and a guy could hurt a lot of people with one. especially if they used a claw hammer. A guy in California used his Cadillac to run over several schoolchildren.

Yet didn't even try to stop him?

New Hampshire? doubtful that other people around were armed,lawfully or otherwise. NH is mostly liberals.(escapees from Mass.)

BTW,there's been several incidents where people with hammers attacked and robbed jewelry stores,smash and grab.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Nope. Never has happened.

COPS shoot a great number of innocent bystanders, but ordinary civilians? It just doesn't happen.

Reply to
HeyBub

The ratio is almost 6:1 of cops vs civilians shooting innocent bystanders And that's with civilians shooting more than TWICE as man criminals as the police

Reply to
Attila.Iskander

The key here is he was NOT hurting people. I don't care what side of the gun argument you come from, you cannot possibly justify the use of deadly force if he all he is doing is destroying property.

The second he takes a swing at the perfume girl, you drop him. Until that time, you either let him continue on his rampage, or get a few guys together and gang tackle him.

Reply to
dennisgauge

Don't get out much, do you? This just happened:

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They even use the words "run amok" right in the article.

Reply to
dennisgauge

Blart had the day off. Him and the girl were zipping around San Francisco on a Segway. Had to stop every half mile and get something to eat.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

That's certainly one view, commonly held by pacifists and liberals. Alternatively, in more enlightened climes we have:

Texas Penal Code - 9.42 DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY

A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or tangible moveable property: (2) when and to the degree he believes the deadly force is immediately necessary: (A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime; or (B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property...

Reply to
HeyBub

OK, so *he* wasn't hurting people, but his actions caused injury.

"...one person was injured by falling glass..."

If he had pointed a gun at a wall and a bullet ricocheted or a piece of concrete hit a person, would you still say "he was NOT hurting people"?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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