The once-proud City of Champions jumped the shark today, or perhaps just the pigeon.
The latest victim of the constant barrage of pseudo-terror is my very own city of Pittsburgh, PA.
The incident was first reported as a bearded sniper in camo on the roof of a downtown building with a high powered rifle and scope resulting in the lockdown of a fairly large portion of the downtown area and closure of the south hills entrance to the city. The 'terrorist' was later discovered to be a maintenance man, reducing the surplus pigeon population with a pellet gun.
CNN picked up the story as police in riot gear swarmed the cultural district in the heart of downtown. School kids and office workers were kept locked in buildings and told to stay away from windows. The flack-jacketed mayor was called in to oversee the melee.
I am so fucking humiliated.
A worker at a Downtown building who was using a pellet gun with a scope to scare pigeons prompted a massive police response that led to the shutdown of several blocks this afternoon.
An area around Stanwix Street, Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Penn Avenue was closed to vehicles and pedestrians after at least two people in neighboring buildings saw the man with a gun in the old Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building that faces Fort Duquesne Boulevard.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06081/674773.stmDozens of Pittsburgh police were seen near the theater district looking to the man with a gun that had a scope of lighting device on it. There were reports that the suspect wore a beard and camouflage clothing.
A SWAT team was also called to the scene.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188804,00.htmlCBS radio station KDKA reports several witnesses reportedly saw a man with a high-powered rifle and dressed in camouflage enter the five-story PACT Building located near the city's theatre district.
About two hours later, police were able to locate the man's supervisor, who said that the man sometimes brings the pellet gun to work to shoot pigeons.
City Police Chief Dom Costa did not immediately say if charges would be filed.
Mayor Bob O'Connor, who was on the scene in a bulletproof vest, at first called the man a "presumed sniper."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/22/national/main1430805.shtmlA caller to 911 reported seeing a man dressed partly in camouflage and carrying what appeared to be a rifle equipped with a telescopic or laser gunsight, police at the scene said.
Mayor Bob O'Connor, wearing a bulletproof vest, called the man a "presumed sniper."
Several roads and bridges leading into the city were closed, city buses were rerouted, and students at nearby schools were kept inside.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3741633.html