Reverse 911 and A Double Murder, Execution-Style in the Neighborhood

UPDATE: Late Monday afternoon prime murder suspect, Jason Bobo, was arrested, by U.S. Marshalls and members of the Metro S.W.A.T. team. Bobo was found hiding in an attic. One down, two to go. Details.

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Murder, brutal murder, is not usually fodder for my blog, unless it happens within two blocks of where I live. Two tragic killings; I need to get it off my chest. Today has been sadder and busier than usual, but I hope to be back to the computer in a little while.

When I finish this post, I want to say more about the Second Amendment and self-defense. Oh yes I do.

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REVERSE 911:

My phone rang sometime after 11 pm last Friday night. I was fast asleep and awoke startled and pricked my ears to listen to the voice that began speaking to my answering machine. It was a message I had never heard before:

"This is the Metro Police Department calling with a message of vital interest to you and your family. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOME AT THIS TIME. We repeat, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOME AT THIS TIME. We will notifiy you as soon as it is safe for you to leave your home again. Goodbye....." Click.

What in the world was going on?

Obviously a prank of some kind, or a computer glitch at the Police Department. Whatever, it couldn't be anything to get worked up about. I then turned over and promptly fell back asleep.

Until, that is, the phone rang and woke me up again, an hour or two later with yet another message:

"This is the Metro Police Department with a message of vital interest....... IT IS NOW SAFE for YOU TO LEAVE YOUR HOME.....We repeat, IT IS NOW SAFE FOR YOU TO LEAVE YOUR HOME. Goodbye....." Click.

What on earth was going on? Didn't the police have anything better to do with their time? I could image what other messages they had on that tape. Then without further ado, I turned over and fell asleep again, for the rest of the night.

In the morning, my next door neighbor, Martha, met me on the steps outside, "What did you think of those calls last night?"

"What in the world were they, Martha?"

"They're called reverse 911 calls. The Police Department now has the ability on its computers to call large numbers of people to warn them of some impending danger. We all got those calls. You, me, everyone in the complex. There were two awful murders---execution style---over at the pizza place on White Bridge Road next to Pier One and the murderers escaped. And I think they're still at large....... "

"After the calls I looked outside and in your door, but all your lights were out, so I figured you were asleep......"

"Yeah, I went back to sleep, both times. But why would they call us and say it was safe to leave our homes if the guys were still at large and loose in the neighborhood?"

We looked at each other and said in unison...."Beats me."


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THE CRIME

At approximately 10:30 pm Friday night, three armed gunmen walked into the front door Bellacinos's Pizza on White Bridge Road and ordered the two pizza employees on duty to get on the floor, face down, with their hands behind their backs.

Both men evidently immediately obliged the gunmen.

The bandits then proceeded to rake between $3,000 and $6,000 out of the cash register and the safe.

Then they went over to the two pizza employees on the floor----one an 18-year-old high school senior and the other the 30-year old manager, and shot them both in the back of the head, killing them instantly.

The killers fled out the back door. As they rushed out, they dropped almost all money they had stolen. Then they disappeared into the night. The police later identified the prime suspect as a former disgruntled employee. Evidently, the suspect had worked there for a while last summer, but then was let go after being caught stealing.

This was a crime of revenge by a disgruntled former employee. With a gun. With an attitude. And evidently with no conscience whatsoever. Police say the men intended to kill the pizza employees. In other words, it was premeditated murder.