Pittsburgh Cop Killer savagely beat his girlfriend when 16

[RamboLiberal]

Snippets:

By 16, Richard "Pop" Poplawski had been asked to leave North Catholic High School and was taking his first steps into an adult vagabond's life — failing to remain employed in Western Pennsylvania and Florida, accused of savagely beating his girlfriend and becoming increasingly radicalized by white supremacist propaganda.

As he grew up, relatives recalled young Richard Poplawski as moody, sometimes depressed and dogged by fears that he was being victimized by an unfair world he couldn't control. Only now, they say, are they beginning to understand the depths of his alienation and anger.

Pittsburgh police say that in 2003 Poplawski, then 16, filed a claim as a victim of harassment and threats by an unspecified Stanton Heights neighbor. No charges resulted. That same year, Pittsburgh police charged him with smoking in the annex building of North Catholic High School. According to Poplawski's family and friends, he dropped out of North Catholic but later earned a high school equivalency degree.

On Dec. 13, 2004, Poplawski enlisted in the Marine Corps, but he was administratively discharged 23 days later, according to Department of Defense records. He later told pals and his girlfriend, Melissa Gladish of Verona, that he was kicked out after scuffling with a drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C. Marine spokespeople in Quantico, Va., and Parris Island declined to comment.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_619703.html

Wow, what a surprise, NOT.

[TwilightGardener]

1. There's no one more dangerous than insecure men.

[LeftinOH]

2. Unbalanced & violent: Conservatism *is* a mental disorder...n/t

[Junkdrawer]

3. Didn't stop him from legally buying an AK-47 over the Internet...

Maybe, just maybe, if he had to buy the gun from a shop owner instead of just picking it up there, someone may have stopped him.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Would've made no difference

He bought handguns & shotgun from the shop owner. Had to go through FFL check for both. Shopowner last I heard had no record of the AK-47 being transferred to him.

BTW, I remember reading that the Gander Mountain where the Binghamton shooter got his guns got some bad vibes from him but since he passed all requirements they sold him the handguns.

[baldguy]

11. The NRA made sure of it.

His apologists ignore the facts.

[Statistical]

16. Administrative Discharge is NOT a dishonorable discharge

Only a DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE is a felony.

Not a General Discharge.
Not an Other Than Honorable Discharge (except as result of court martial and 1 year confinement).
Not an Administrative Discharge
Not an Entry Level Service Discharge
Not a Bad Conduct Discharge.

He bought weapon online it was delivered to an FFL (gunshop).
The FFL did background check w/ NICS = clean. Hands over weapon.


If instead he bought weapon in person the gunshop would have checked NICS = clean.
Paid for weapon. Dealer hands over weapon.

[ShareTheWoods]

4. beginning to understand the depths of his alienation and anger.

Why go looking for the real answers when the simple minded can just blame AM radio and the 2nd amendment?

It's so much more fun to make shit up rather than focus on serious issues.

[RamboLiberal]

6. Hey - they help stoke the fires of anger in jerks like this killer

And the TN church shooter, & Tim McVeigh. They make them feel their whacko beliefs are legit. That shit is not made up. I usually don't say much about DU'ers with low post numbers - but I get the vibe you are a lurker.

[ShareTheWoods]

9. and then we have the Binghampton killer

He killed many more people and yet we find no common ground. The fact that someone is capable
in their own mind to kill another human out of rage and hate is the obvious place to examine, yet we
flounder about in a pool of tar just looking for our feathered suit.

Everyone is a lurker at points in their reading. I post when I feel logical rather than emotional.

[Canuckistanian]

7. What?

What are the "real answers" to you?

[baldguy]

12. "The gun is good." is all they need.

Their only friend is their gun - and as long as the NRA, the GOP and hate radio affirms their paranoia they're happy.

It all gets shattered when the truth sneaks in.

[Blue_Tires]

15. what's made up?

the shooter was a colossal fuck-up in all his life's endeavors, had deep pyschological issues, was an insecure, quick-tempered woman beater, and in the American tradition, instead of looking inward to improve things, he acted out his martyr complex by mentally latching on to some 'boogeyman plot' against him (Obama/liberals/minorities/etc.)... This was compounded by the conspiracy lies spewed forth by extreme RW radio and neo-nazi sites (he was the archetype profile for both) and the fact that someone this unhinged shouldn't have been carrying in the first place...What serious issue is being missed here?

[LanternWaste]

17. Sounds apropos to the shooter...

Sounds apropos to the shooter...

"Why go looking for the real answers when the simple minded can just blame librul radio and the 1st amendment?"





Is it more valid to ascribe motives to posters than it is to the shooter? Seems like six of one and half a dozen of then other.... :shrug:

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Maybe things have changed since my day, but I don't buy that he

was booted from boot camp for 'scuffling with a drill instructor'.

I'd guess if there was a 'scuffle' it was him attacking the the DI with a weapon, and actually doing damage, such as clubbing him with his rifle butt while the DI had his back turned.

I suspect though that there was no scuffle - they just figured out he was paranoid, anti-social and violent, a psychopath, and they kicked him out. He just made up the story to make himself bigger - 'I was too tough for the Marines' bullshit.

[H2O Man]

10. You are correct.

He was discharged after throwing a tray of food at a person across the table from him. He had been acting out in a manner that made it clear that he was not fit for service. The DI story was part of his lying to make himself sound tough.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. "Scuffling" with a DI? He'd still be having his head beat in by the knuckle dragging brig guards.

They would have had to discharge him in a body cast.

[Kalyke]

14. True that.

My grandfather was a Marine DI. He was only 5'9" or 5'10", but he was solid as a frigging mountain!