Hundreds mourn 3 slain Pittsburgh police officers Options

[dauss]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...I6_7cAD97EIO600

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Law enforcement officials from as far away as Georgia and Boston gathered Wednesday to pay tribute to three fellow officers killed in the line of duty over the weekend.

Allegheny County police officers led three riderless horses to Pittsburgh's City-County Building, where mourners from the region and a host of police and correction officials visited the bodies of Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo II.

The officers were shot to death Saturday morning while responding to an argument between a mother and her 22-year-old son, who is jailed on homicide charges.

R. Joseph Mason, a motor officer patrolman in Cobb County, Ga., north of Atlanta, drove up in a rental van with five fellow officers.

"We just don't wear uniforms in Cobb County. We wear them all over the country," he said. "And we wear the same uniforms. The band of brothers, the color blue sticks together."

Though he did not expect to meet the officers' families, he said, "There's thousands of people behind them, thousands of officers who love them and care about them."

Sgt. Joe Teahan, of the Boston Police Department, was one of 75 Boston officers and 25 from surrounding departments who will attend Thursday's memorial service. He said police officers are "pretty much a fraternity throughout the country."

"We're showing them that we got their backs," he said. "I think the families see the support from the number of guys here to let them know they're not alone. They know there are other guys out there, much like their husbands or fathers. ... We care."

Jane Bean, a retired counselor for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, made the trip from the suburb of South Park to pay her respects to the fallen officers. Her daughter and son-in-law are police officers in suburban Pittsburgh departments.

"You just admire and honor what they do," Bean said as she fought back tears. "It's time like this you realize how important they are."

Police say Richard Poplawski shot the officers when they arrived at his mother's house Saturday morning after she called 911 to ask them to remove him.

When officers arrived, Margaret Poplawski opened the door for them. She later told police that she didn't know that her son was standing behind her with a gun.

Sciullo was shot in the home and Mayhle on the front stoop. Both men were dead within seconds. Kelly was shot as he arrived to provide backup, prompting a four-hour siege and gun battle with police, authorities said.

Another officer, Timothy McManaway, was shot in the hand and a fifth broke his leg on a fence.

Authorities said Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest and was armed with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle.

Poplawski sustained wounds to his legs and is being held under close observation at the Allegheny County Jail on criminal homicide, attempted homicide and other charges.

Friends have said Poplawski was upset and angry about losing his job a few months ago, feared that President Barack Obama would take away his gun rights and believed Jews controlled the news media. Internet rantings found on a white supremacist Web site indicate Poplawski was preoccupied with the idea that Obama was going to overturn the Second Amendment and that Jews were secretly running the country.

Poplawski's public defender asked a judge on Wednesday to impose a gag order to prevent police from talking about the case. Lisa Middleman said police have disclosed what Poplawski said to them and other information about the case.

A spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said prosecutors would remind police not to talk.

Josh Davis, a 27-year-old student from Pittsburgh, waited outside the City-County Building several hours before doors opened to the public. He shook hands with officers and thanked them for their service.

"They put their lives on the line," he said. "(They) go through hell for us."

[Oasis]

Well, at least he shot cops and not innocent people

Cue another ridiculous gun debate between cmac and every rational person on here

[chook]

Well, at least he shot cops and not innocent people

Cue another ridiculous gun debate between cmac and every rational person on here

Well, those cops were innocent to. Crazy fucks like this are going to ruin gun laws for the rest of us.

This asshole shot a cop last year

http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story/Tucs...UW5Sn1oQdQ.cspx
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/200...cer0602-ON.html

[impala454]

Crazy fucks like this are going to ruin gun laws for the rest of us.

No crazy fucks like Obama & his posse are going to ruin gun laws for us because they are all for the pussification of America. Kill someone? It's the gun's fault. Fail in school? It's the teacher's fault. etc, etc.

[Psykopath]

the only good cop is a dead cop, we need more poplawskis

Would you say this to their family's faces, Lance?

[FORSAKENR320]

i have no issue with police. or even what they stand for. i do however have an issue with some of the absurd laws that they are forced to enforce by the retards with self serving political agendas

[impala454]

Lance wouldn't say shit. He just holds a grudge against every badge in existence, probably because he got some stupid traffic ticket or caught with pot or something.

[FORSAKENR320]

::insert stereotypical cop insult here::

[impala454]

oh i'd say something

You wouldn't say shit. And no it doesn't make you look cool to act like you would say it. In fact it's downright pathetic that you even attempt to do so on this message board.

, unlike you... since you wouldn't be able to say anything with the cops dick in your mouth

Oh yeah, I really have such difficulty keeping myself from telling an officer's widow that "the only good cop is a dead cop".

[impala454]

I know you wouldn't say shit to a dead person's family.

[Psykopath]

then you know wrong

Alright, prove it then.

Either fly out there and say it to their face, or at the very least of your disgusting nature...record a video of your tirade against those men and mail it to their families and/or the news media.

This post has been edited by Psykopath: Apr 10 2009, 08:54 AM

[RitalinJunkie]

Maybe I've been out of the loop a while....but seriously?
Talking shit about dead officers? Who died while doing their job to protect people?

You know...there are professions where you have to lead a bit of a double life.....Law enforcement officers being one of them...Most cops I've met are REALLY nice out of uniform, but you know what, they have shit to do and are required to enforce the law. While some do not do a good job at that part and can be assholes, sometimes they have to be asses just to get the job done.

If you really think the only good cop is a dead cop, then fuck you. The amount of stupid shit coming out of the mouths of people like you with no REAL reason (i got a ticket that was unfair....some cop gave me grief when i was skating on the sidewalk, etc) need to be put in their shoes for a while and see what happens to them. There is a ridiculous amount of stress in those professions.


The sad thing is that any one of those cops would have risked their life to save a pathetic piece of shit like you......


Again...go fuck yourself

[impala454]

then you know wrong

Nope

[moebary]

If I pass the panel interview, I start the academy in July.

[impala454]

Awesome. Where at?