Attacks on EMTS, Firefighters...

[JSojourner]

Just what the hell is going on?  Is this like the "wilding" nonsense in NYC a couple decades ago?


Firefighters, EMT’s Menaced      (WSBT TV)
(SOUTH BEND)--  South Bend emergency crews had some tense moments early today (Tuesday) while responding to a call in the Laurel Woods neighborhood. And with several ambush attacks on firefighters across the Midwest in recent weeks — including Monday's shooting death of a firefighter near St. Louis — their concern underscores how rapidly a situation can change during a 911 call. A city 911 dispatcher said paramedics were sent to the home because a woman had fallen on glass and cut herself. When crews arrived, they jumped from their rigs to care for the patient, who had non-life-threatening injuries. The 911 dispatcher says crews then called for police to assist them and, ultimately, grabbed the patient and took off for St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. The dispatcher says the EMTs were being menaced by a large crowd. Officers arrived to control the hostile crowd, but there was no word on any arrests or what initially caused the incident, believed to be a domestic dispute. Dispatchers said the EMS crews sped away after retreating to their vehicles, with the crowd following them and even climbed onto the ambulance. While no one was hurt in the 1:30 a.m. incident, it comes just one day after an ambush attack on firefighters in the town of Maplewood, near St. Louis. That mob assault left a 22-year-old firefighter dead. Two police officers were wounded in that incident. The shooting was at least the fourth involving fire and emergency medical services workers — as well as the media — in the Midwest since mid-May. Early Friday morning, two photographers in Indianapolis were shot while covering a vacant house fire. Police told the AP that one bullet also struck a firefighter's air tank, but he was not wounded. On June 29, a Chicago fire investigator was shot in an alley while investigating a southeast-side blaze, and in May, a Belleville, Illinois EMT was shot while trying to treat a gunshot victim in the East St. Louis area.

-x-

[dead0man]

What a shame.  Words can't explain how low a person is that would shoot an EMT or a Firefighter.  I don't agree with cop hatred, but it's understandable, but not FFs and EMTs, it doesn't make any sense.

[Everett]

Pathetic. If you feel an absolute need to violently attack someone, at least be "decent" enough to shoot at the police, who can presumably defend themselves (and hopefully take down your sorry backside in the process). Better yet, get into a shootout with corrupt cops or something. Don't shoot at unarmed EMTs and firefighters who are simply trying to help people.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

A dear friend of mine is an EMT and she has been attacked in nearly every manner conceivable, mostly by assholes strung out on drugs, and some simply violent crazy jerks.

[JSojourner]

What bothers me is that these seem to be semi-organized attacks.  I would think it was just a case of one crowd turned into a mob.  But it's happened in various Midwestern cities.  I didn't know if it was some sort of anarchist nonsense, the Nation of Islam or just a gang thing.

In any regard, it's time for lengthier prison sentences for those who attack anyone in public service.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

In any regard, it's time for lengthier prison sentences for those who attack anyone in public service.

Generally, even bleeding-heart judges do throw the book at these guys.  Good for them!

[JSojourner]

In any regard, it's time for lengthier prison sentences for those who attack anyone in public service.

Generally, even bleeding-heart judges do throw the book at these guys.  Good for them!

They should.  And my views on prison reform are both liberal...and conservative.  I believe in rehabilitation.  I also being in chain gangs, breaking rocks and hard labor.  Depends on the case.  If someone hurts a firefighter, put em on the rock pile until they die.