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Showing posts with label Nevada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nevada. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Nevada air race crash victims mourned in Reno

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By Stephen Ward

RENO, Nev | Sun Sep 25, 2011 11:26pm EDT

RENO, Nev (Reuters) - Hundreds of mourners filled an outdoor arboretum at sunset on Sunday for a candlelight memorial tribute to 11 people killed in the crash of a vintage World War Two plane at a Nevada air show over a week ago.

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell presided over the somber, 40-minute service, held on a grassy hill of Idlewild Park near downtown, about 20 miles from the site of the September 16 tragedy, following a symbolic planting of an oak tree in memory of the victims.

"Thank you all for joining us as this community begins its healing process," Cashell told the gathering.

Taking the podium for his own remarks, Governor Brian Sandoval said, "We come together as the Nevada family to grieve our loss."

He was followed by three clergy members who recited brief prayers.

A city spokeswoman, Barbara Dicianno, put the number of attendees at about 500.

The mourners, each given small white candles as they entered the park, huddled on the hill, most of them standing, to form a circle around the speakers and a string quartet that played bits of soft music.

A lone singer performed the national anthem a cappella around the start of the event.

The service climaxed at sunset as a guitarist accompanied another vocalist in a rendition of "Amazing Grace" while the mourners all silently lit their candles, which flickered in a gentle breeze that rustled the surrounding trees.

Displayed beside the podium was a framed artist's rendering of the single-engine plane that crashed, a modified P-51 Mustang, depicted flying through a cloud-blotched sky, with the words, "In memory of Jimmy Leeward" -- in tribute to the pilot who died.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused Leeward, 74, to lose control of the aircraft while competing at the 48th Annual National Air Championship Races.

The plane plowed into a box-seating area in front of the grandstand, leaving a 3-foot-deep crater in the tarmac. Besides Leeward, 10 people on the ground were killed, and another 66 seriously injured.

Leeward, a Florida-based real estate developer well-known in air racing circles, had flown as a stunt pilot in movies.

Federal safety regulators have said they are examining evidence that a piece of the aircraft broke loose shortly before the plane plunged to the ground. A photograph snapped seconds before the crash appears to show a plane component falling off.

The accident took place a day before another vintage plane crashed in a fireball during an aerobatic demonstration at a West Virginia air show, killing the pilot.

The two incidents have raised new questions about the safety of such events.

A total of 30 people have been killed in the Reno Air Races since they began in 1964, though city officials say this year marked the first spectator deaths.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jerry Norton)



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Monday, September 19, 2011

Terrifying Video: Plane Crashes into Crowd at Nevada Air Show, Killing 9 and Injuring 56

An air race turned deadly in Reno, Nev. Friday when a plane nosedived into the stands, killing spectators and the pilot.
(UPDATED: 4:15 p.m.) The Reno Air Race is one of nation's few remaining air shows. Thousands of spectators flock to the Nevada desert each year to watch the races where planes can fly in excess of 500 mph.
The Unlimited race event had just kicked off, with flyers on their third lap out of six. The “Galloping Ghost”, flown by veteran pilot Jimmy Leeward, was in third place when it unexpectedly plunged into the grandstands.
(PHOTOS: Technology in the Sky)
The crash happened just after 4 p.m. Friday. Witnesses report a chaotic and bloody mess when the plane nosedived into the VIP box seats. One spectator said the plane “absolutely disintegrated” as pieces of the downed plane were thrown into the air, striking a number of onlookers.
Authorities originally said 3 were dead including Leeward, but that toll was upped to 9 Saturday afternoon at a briefing by federal investigators. They reported that seven people died on the tarmac and two spectators died later at local hospitals. Of the 56 people brought to the hospital, 15 were said to have critical injuries.
Leeward was a 74-year-old veteran Hollywood stunt pilot who had a fondness for the plane he named “Galloping Ghost,” a P-51 Mustang Fighter plane from the World War II era. Friends told the Associated Press that Leeward was a "very qualified, very experienced pilot" at the helm of the P-51, with no medical issues to speak of. Reno Air Races president Mike Houghton, a good friend of the pilot, noted Leeward “would have done all he possibly could” to avoid a crash.
But the Reno Air Races is no stranger to tragedy. Over the event's 44-year history, there have been 19 deaths reported, either while flying or during practice runs, according to KTVN News.
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation. Federal investigators will look into the incident Saturday, and officials have canceled the Air Show's remaining events.
Nick Carbone is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @nickcarbone. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndd9PVDM3jU&w=450]

Friday, September 9, 2011

The names of victims released in fatal shooting at Nevada IHOP Rampage

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Authorities are trying to piece together what led a Nevada man armed with an AK-47 to open fire on an IHOP restaurant Tuesday, killing five people - including himself and three Army National Guard soldiers - and wounding seven others.

Police on Wednesday released the names of the Army National Guard soldiers who died in the rampage at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev., and called the shooting "the most devastating attack" in the city's history.

Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said the National Guard members killed were 38-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Christian Riege of Carson City, 31-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Miranda McElhiney of Reno and 35-year-old Major Heath Kelly of Reno. Also killed was 67-year-old Florence Donovan-Gunderson of South Lake Tahoe.

"Yesterday our town was shocked to the core," Furlong said during a news conference Wednesday.

Authorities identified the shooter as 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion, of Carson City, Nev., who they say opened fire before shooting himself in the head. He later died at a nearby hospital from what appeared to be self-inflicted wounds, Furlong said.

The shooter's motive remains unclear, but family members said he had mental issues. He had never been in the military and had no known affiliation with anyone inside the restaurant.

Police have confirmed that he had a previous run in with the law involving his mental health.

South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. David Stevenson says the department took Sencion into protective custody during a mental health commitment in April 2000.

He said Sencion fought with officers during the incident but wasn't charged.

Stevenson tells the Associated Press No. court order or weapons were involved. He says officers have the authority under state law to individuals take into protective custody if they determined the person poses a danger to themselves or others.

He declined to release further details, citing the ongoing investigation of Tuesday's attack.

Witnesses and authorities described a frantic scene in the bustling business district, where the shooter drove a blue minivan with a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker. He drove near the complex of retail stores and shops just before 9 a.m., when he left his vehicle and immediately shot a a woman near a motorcycle, a witness said.

Ralph Swagler said he grabbed his own weapon, but said it was too late to stop the shooter, who charged into the IHOP through the front doors.

"I wish I had shot at him when he was going in the IHOP," said Swagler, who owns Locals BBQ & Grill. "But when he came at me, when somebody is pointing an automatic weapon at you - you can't believe the firepower, the kind of rounds coming out of that weapon."

The gunman went all the way to the back of the restaurant to the back area and opened fire, Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said.

When he left the restaurant, he stood in the parking lot and shot into the nearby businesses, shattering the windows of a barbecue restaurant and an H & R Block and a casino across the street.

Officers arrived minutes later and found the suspect and the person who was by the motorcycle wounded and lying in the parking lot. The names of the victims, including the three Guard members who were killed were not immediately released.

Sencion left two more guns in the van - a rifle and a pistol, authorities said.

As the attack unfolded, Nevada officials worried about the violence being more widespread. They locked down the state Capitol and Supreme Court buildings for about 40 minutes, and put extra security in place at state and military buildings in northern Nevada.

"There were concerns at the onset, so we took some steps to ensure we had the capability to embrace an even larger circumstance," Furlong said. "At this point in time it appears to be isolated to this parking lot."

Reno-based FBI Special Agent Michael West said there was no indication of any terrorist plot.

As police interviewed dozens of witnesses after the shooting and kept the gathering crowd of media at bay, a body lay on the ground, covered with a white sheet except for the feet, clad in tan boots.

Sencion was born in Mexico City and had a valid U.S. passport. In interviews with investigators after the shooting, his family raised concerns about his mental health, Furlong said. Sencion worked at his family's business in South Lake Tahoe and had no criminal history. The minivan he drove to the shooting was registered to his brother.

The shooting shocked some who knew him, including Joe Laub, his lawyer in a 2009 bankruptcy filing, who called it an "aberration of his character."

"He's a gentle, kind man who was very helpful to friends and family," Laub told The Associated Press. "I couldn't venture to guess what would cause him to do something as horrible as this."

In the bankruptcy filing, Sencion listed more than $42,000 in outstanding debts for a car, several credit cards and some medical expenses. At the time, Sencion reported having $200 spread over three bank accounts and $923 in disability income, mostly from Social Security.

At a Reno hospital, service members gathered, waiting for word on those killed and hurt. A hospital spokesman said four shooting victims were being treated there, but wouldn't can't discuss their conditions or provide any other information.

Authorities provided few details about the five other injured people, except to say one was a woman who was found near a motorcycle. Three of those wounded have minor wounds. the others were shot in critical areas of the body, Furlong said.

"You go a whole tour in Afghanistan and no one is shot." "And you go to IHOP and several are shot," said 31-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Cameron Anderson of Reno, a Nevada Army National Guard soldier. "It's a shock." "I came to work today and had no idea I d be driving the chaplain here [to the hospital]."

Another Guard soldier, 33-year-old Spc. Lee Amato, said he didn't 't know the victims' names purpose expected they were people he knew.

"It's hard to believe something like this would happen to really good people," Amato said. "It's like a hole, something taken away." "It's mind-boggling and hard to comprehend."

The IHOP is about four miles from the Guard's headquarters complex. Nevada Army National Guard spokeswoman April Conway said she didn't know why the five Guard soldiers had met at the IHOP. Conway said she did not believe any of the Guard at the restaurant were armed soldiers.

"Our guards would have no reason to be carrying military weapons here today," Conway said. "We have no reason to believe that any of them were armed with personal weapons."

Furlong says they're analyzing the shooter's weapon to determine whether it is automatic or semi-automatic.

Nevada's capital city of some 50,000 is normally a sleepy town when lawmakers are not in session, a jumping off point 30 miles south of Reno for travelers headed to Lake Tahoe gold back to California across the Sierra.

"I ve lived in Carson City since 1961 and I've never seen anything like this," said Fran Hunter, who works at the Sierra Bone pet shop just north of the IHOP. "This is the kind of thing that happens in New York City or L.A., not here."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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