# Superdome Evacuation Stopped After Shots Fired At Helicopter **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576 "2005-09-01T12:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/41 "2005-09-01T16:37:23Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Sorry, guys, I am working and I had to deal with a few phone calls. I suppose that I have been a little half assed here and there probably are situations where lethal force would be effective. Thanks for coming back to respond. I can understand that the direness of the situation is hard to take in from far away. It’s escalated far beyond civil disobedience into something more sinsiter – and the national news are slow to pick up on it. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/42 "2005-09-01T16:43:56Z")
> [@Dag Otto](#): > > No. Just kill them, secure the weapon, and let the police get back to search and rescue efforts. No, we wouldn’t want them confused with corpses of innocent victims of the tragedy. A spraypainted L on the front of the bastard would do nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/43 "2005-09-01T16:45:40Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Thanks for the good news. > > Yes, 1500 police/guardsmen were moved off of rescue/evac and re-assigned to counter-“looting”. Sounds like the area around the Superdome, at least, is secure. This is NOT good news. The 1,500 people taken off rescue duty to fight the looters is 1,500 less people to help with the rescue of innocent civilians. ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/44 "2005-09-01T16:48:05Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > We need to put the cops and National Guard on a simple rule: shoot all looters on sight; do not attempt to apprehend. Same for anyone seen carrying a weapon. Just over 200 years from Innocent Until Proven Guilty to Go Ahead and Shoot. Two good centuries of Right To Bear Arms before that is punishable by death without trial. Og forbid I try to carry my computer, not only my most valuable portable possession but also the source of my income, away from my flooded home, while being a black male. Even worse if I should try to defend myself by carrying, in plain view, my licenced handgun. Just shoot me now, please. Of course, if you’re a homeowner, and someone’s looting your home, yeah. Go ahead and shoot. THAT is gonna be justified. Taking potshots at anybody with items and/or weapons isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/45 "2005-09-01T16:50:08Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > This is NOT good news. The 1,500 people taken off rescue duty to fight the looters is 1,500 less people to help with the rescue of innocent civilians. The good news was that Superdome evacuation was able to resume. But, yes, it’s a damn shame these 1,500 police/military can’t concentrate on rescuing folks trapped in homes, on roofs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/46 "2005-09-01T17:02:45Z")
Hey, trigger happy assholes: chill out. You, like the rest of us, have no idea what’s really going on. > [@](#): > > “At the Superdome, **we have a report that one shot was fired** at a Chinook helicopter,” Schneider said, adding that the Chinook is “an extremely large aircraft.” > > Laura Brown, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Washington, said she had **no such report**. > > “We’re controlling every single aircraft in that airspace and **none of them reported being fired on** ,” she said, adding that the FAA was in contact with the military as well as civilian aircraft. [cite](http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1087205) > [@](#): > > The looting goes on, even after the city pulled some police officers off relief duty and ordered them to go after people who are ransacking shelves. > > One woman was sobbing uncontrollably as she loaded children’s clothing and snack food into bags to take to her kids in a shelter. > > Another man approached a reporter with an armful of toothpaste and deodorant and said he was only taking personal hygiene products, and not anything he could “get drunk or high with.” > > A woman on a bike played it safe – riding up to a drug store and asking others if any arrests were being made. When she was told no, she said she’s diabetic and needed to find test strips. from the OP’s cite Stop spewing hysteria and sit back and wait for facts. Especially before you go advocating blowing people’s heads off. You don’t know what the fuck is happening, and death is permanent. And shooting people trying to get food, water, and medicine is morally indefensible. Shut up already. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/47 "2005-09-01T17:24:22Z")
> [@Winnie](#): > > [Motherfuckers](http://www.nbc4.com/weather/4887230/detail.html?treets=dc&tml=dc_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=dc_natlbreak_1_07550209012005) > > I hope the people that fired shots waste away from disease. What the fucking hell are you talking about? The fourth paragraph of your own fucking link says the opposite of what you claim: “Despite the violence, a National Guard commander said the evacuation hasn’t been affected.” And the subheading under the article title says: “Able-Bodied Evacuees Still Being Moved To Astrodome” I can’t imagine what your objective here is by making such a patently false claim. But you’ve certainly stirred up a nice brew of shit soup. Asshole. In fact, mebbe you oughtta read your goddamned SDMB membership agreement again. Specificially the part about knowingly posting false information. Fuckin’ useless jerkoff. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/48 "2005-09-01T17:24:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Stop spewing hysteria and sit back and wait for facts. Especially before you go advocating blowing people’s heads off. You don’t know what the fuck is happening, and death is permanent. And shooting people trying to get food, water, and medicine is morally indefensible. Shut up already. 1. No one who matters is advocating “shooting people trying to get food, water, and medicine is morally indefensible”. 2. AFAIC, Internet cites right now are totally useless and hopelessly outdated. I’ll take info from local radio and from my father-in-law’s friend (a cop working in N.O. right now communicating by two-way radio) before I give credence to 12-hour old (at best) info off the Net. National news and Internet sites are about the worst sources of info right now. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/49 "2005-09-01T17:25:07Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Stop spewing hysteria and sit back and wait for facts. Especially before you go advocating blowing people’s heads off. You don’t know what the fuck is happening, and death is permanent. And shooting people trying to get food, water, and medicine is morally indefensible. Shut up already. Thank you and Amen, Brother! Some people here are posting from their fortified woodland survivalist bunkers because the uprising that they have predicted for so long has finally started (sorry - no cite available)! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/50 "2005-09-01T17:26:46Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > What the fucking hell are you talking about? The fourth paragraph of your own fucking link says the opposite of what you claim: > > “Despite the violence, a National Guard commander said the evacuation hasn’t been affected.” > > And the subheading under the article title says: > > “Able-Bodied Evacuees Still Being Moved To Astrodome” > > I can’t imagine what your objective here is by making such a patently false claim. But you’ve certainly stirred up a nice brew of shit soup. Asshole. In fact, mebbe you oughtta read your goddamned SDMB membership agreement again. Specificially the part about knowingly posting false information. Fuckin’ useless jerkoff. Local radio on my way to work reported that evacuations in general (not just from the Superdome) have been affected by people taking pot-shots at copters. At the moment, I’m giving my local sources of info more credence than any websites. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/51 "2005-09-01T17:31:42Z")
That’s fine, bordelond. However, Winnie the asshole posted a citation which states something directly and entirely opposite of his own claim. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/52 "2005-09-01T17:31:47Z")
**bordelond** , shut the fuck up. No cite=no facts. I’m not for a second gonna believe your “facts” without a cite from a reputable source. **As I cited** the people in direct control and communication with **all air traffic** have no reports of shots being fired. Even the man on the ground only says he has a report, not that he has confirmation. Crawl back into your survival bunker, throw the blanket back over your head, and wait for further instructions. :wally ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/53 "2005-09-01T17:39:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > **bordelond** , shut the fuck up. No cite=no facts. I’m not for a second gonna believe your “facts” without a cite from a reputable source. > > **As I cited** the people in direct control and communication with **all air traffic** have no reports of shots being fired. Even the man on the ground only says he has a report, not that he has confirmation. Crawl back into your survival bunker, throw the blanket back over your head, and wait for further instructions. :wally Sure, guy … so easy to armchair QB from Las Vegas. I’ve no beef with you. However, I promise you I’m not changing my positions. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/54 "2005-09-01T17:41:06Z")
I have a hard time getting my head around how some people think that willy-nilly executions will be helpful at all in restoring order. I can scarcely credit that people can be so stupid. That being said, I heard an aid worker on the phone to CNN yesterday who said that they were unable to do anything because out-of-control looters and rioters had turned over their boats and stolen all their generators. So clearly some application of forceful authority is desperately required. I don’t think this should extend to a “shoot-on-sight” policy, though, and humbly submit that anyone who suggests such a barbarous thing should be taken out and quietly shot.\* \*Sarcasm, not death-wishing. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/55 "2005-09-01T17:42:21Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Sure, guy … so easy to armchair QB from Las Vegas. > > I’ve no beef with you. However, I promise you I’m not changing my positions. It’s not a position you have, it’s a lack of facts. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/56 "2005-09-01T17:44:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > And shooting people trying to get food, water, and medicine is morally indefensible. Shut up already. I absolutely agree with you there, good buddy. But blowing the fucking heads off of assholes trying to get computers, TVs, Xboxs and weapons is not only morally acceptable, it’s probably going to become tactically necessary, if it isn’t already. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/57 "2005-09-01T17:47:19Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I have a hard time getting my head around how some people think that willy-nilly executions will be helpful at all in restoring order. I can scarcely credit that people can be so stupid. I know it’s been advocated elsewhere. But nobody in this thread is saying “willy-nilly executions”. > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > That being said, I heard an aid worker on the phone to CNN yesterday who said that they were unable to do anything because out-of-control looters and rioters had turned over their boats and stolen all their generators. So clearly some application of forceful authority is desperately required. I don’t think this should extend to a “shoot-on-sight” policy, though, and humbly submit that anyone who suggests such a barbarous thing should be taken out and quietly shot.\* > > \*Sarcasm, not death-wishing. If you’ve got a way to stop armed thugs from interefering with aid workers and rescuers without using violence, please share. You can’t just categorically refuse all violent means of response and say, “Nope – you gotta do it non-violently”. … Reiteration for anyone who’s missed it: \*\*Random looters of merchandise \*\* **does not equal** **Thugs interfering with rescue efforts** The two groups should be dealt with differently. … **Snowboarder Bo** – if it turns out local ground-level reports are BS, and _no one_ is interfering with aid and rescue in any way … then of course, no one should be shot. Maybe that wasn’t clear before. ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/58 "2005-09-01T17:47:33Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > I absolutely agree with you there, good buddy. But blowing the fucking heads off of assholes trying to get computers, TVs, Xboxs and weapons is not only morally acceptable, it’s probably going to become tactically necessary, if it isn’t already. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. Exactly sums up my feelings about the issue. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/59 "2005-09-01T17:47:35Z")
Could we assume a person running out of a “Best Buy” or “Circuit City” with a carton of CD players is _not_ doing that for humanitarian reasons? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576/60 "2005-09-01T17:54:23Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > It’s not a position you have, it’s a lack of facts. I disagree with you – I believe I have the facts. You can’t verify what I know and don’t know from where you’re sitting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superdome-evacuation-stopped-after-shots-fired-at-helicopter/319576.md?page=4)