From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This was posted on the CNN board. Thought it might be interesting.
Nigel
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Bruce Caruso - Sunday, 05/14/00, 10:06:29pm (#72094 of 72132)
On November 17, 1999, each of the major networks should have opened their
evening newscasts with the following story: "Today, a teenaged boy and a
housewife used guns to save their Oregon neighborhood from a crazed killer."
Instead, it was a local newspaper that carried the story. Even then, the
heroics were only mentioned half-way down the column, and briefly at that.
Had this sixteen-year-old shot up a few students at his high school, the
nation would have known about it in minutes. Had Nancy Rabine, a housewife
who lived a few doors down from the teenager, gone door-to-door shooting up
houses, it would have been headline news.
But since all they did was to save their neighbors from a desperate,
murderous thug, the major media washed their hands of the story.
It happened in Lebanon, Oregon.
Marc Mealy Holcomb, Jr. was a career criminal and crack addict. While
serving time in the county jail for forgery, he was suddenly sprung when a
paperwork snafu caused him to be released prematurely. Not being one to
learn from his experiences, Holcomb immediately called a friend and
described his plan to rob two brothers who were alleged to keep large
amounts of cash in their home. The friend signed on, so late that afternoon,
they drove to the home of Dean Frederick Pruitt and John Oliver Pruitt.
After forcing his way in the front door, Holcomb shot and killed and Dean,
and wounded John. Given Holcomb's luck, there was no money.
Compounding his ill fortune, Holcomb's accomplice, waiting outside, panicked
at the sound of the shots and fled. Now the killer was without
transportation.
Holcomb, determined to steal a vehicle, made his way on foot to Rock Hill
Road. Police later concluded that he had no reason not to kill anyone who
got in his way.
Using a semi-automatic pistol, he shot through the door of the first home he
came to. As he entered the home, the lone inhabitant fled out the bedroom
window carrying his car keys.
The frustrated carjacker went to a second home but found it vacant.
He then made his way to the home of the un-named sixteen-year-old who was
babysitting his seven-year-old brother while his parents worked. Again,
Holcomb used his gun to announce his arrival, blasting several slugs through
the front door.
But this time, when he entered, he was met by the teen who was armed with a
.22 rifle. The boy yelled for Holcomb to leave. Instead, the killer charged.
The frightened teenager then took aim and drilled Holcomb with a bullet to
the chest. The murderer staggered out the door and lurched on to the next
house.
Still determined to find a car, Holcomb proceeded to the back door of Nancy
Rabine's home. Using his pistol, he smashed out a window near the door knob
and reached through it in an attempt to open the door. Rabine, who had heard
the breaking glass, armed herself with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and
confronted the desperate man.
"I told him I had a gun and would use it if he didn't back off," Rabine
later told a local reporter. Holcomb then handed her his own weapon before
fleeing.
Now disarmed, the fugitive broke into yet another home. Using a kitchen
knife, he attacked the occupant, an elderly woman who lived alone. Holcomb
forced her to give him the keys to her van. The sobbing, bleeding woman was
later taken to the emergency room to be treated for knife wounds.
But at last the neighborhood was quiet. Because of two armed citizens, many
lives were undoubtedly saved. Police later arrested Holcomb. He faces life
in prison if convicted.
Bruce Caruso
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Nigel Tolley
Partner - Hardware & Programming
Office Devils
--
Shame the last lady didn't have a gun.
Steve.
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