TexasCHLforum.com

seamusTX wrote:There is a standard called "reasonable suspicion" for behavior that is not on its face illegal, but warrants looking into.

Lunatics have taken positions with a rifle and shot people in Austin and other places, so the possibility of such a thing is not imaginary.

Here's another example: It's perfectly legal to wear a wig or sunglasses, to sit on a park bench, or to take photos in a public place. But if someone is doing all those things at the same time, and taking photos of kids in a park, I sure hope someone looks into it.

- Jim

135boomer wrote:I will say only this. After 24 years of active duty military service, including Vietnam, I danged sure would have checked him out. There are plenty of nut cases out there, and always the possibility of a real terrorist. There is nothing wrong with a LEO asking him what he is up to.

911 report of possible gunman prompts search near Capitol
Police do not find alleged armed man.

By Tony Plohetski

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, November 08, 2007

A 911 report that a man, dressed in all black and possibly armed with a rifle, was atop a downtown parking garage Wednesday prompted an hour long search and led officials to temporarily lock down the Texas Capitol and several nearby state offices.

Austin police and troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety did not find the man but asked that anyone who might know his identity notify authorities.

Still, the report and search prompted a stream of concerned e-mails and phone calls among downtown workers.

A few hours later, police got a second report that a man wearing all black was entering a garage blocks away. They searched the area but did not find a man matching the description or any weapons.

Austin police spokesman Joe Muñoz said a woman, peering down from a taller building, called 911 about 8:30 a.m. and said the man was on top of a garage near 13th and Guadalupe streets. The woman reported that he appeared to be armed with a rifle, although she could not be sure it was a weapon.

Police had not released an audio recording of the woman's 911 call Wednesday afternoon.

Officers searched the five-story garage. Police found a car on the top level and identified the owner, who they said was not the subject of the 911 call. Pilots with STAR Flight also searched the area.

"We felt her information was credible enough to search the area" and look for the man, Muñoz said. "We took no chances, and the proper precautions were made."

Outside First United Methodist Church at 1201 Lavaca St., which owns the garage, an officer rushed parents who were dropping off their children for preschool inside.

Darcy Hamre, who was taking her daughter to the preschool, said that children were moved to an interior room and that church staff locked the exterior doors.

"Obviously, I was worried about my child," Hamre said. "You never know with these things. ... Basically, my intent was to just get my daughter and go home."

The church closed its preschool for the day.

Public Safety officials e-mailed all state employees in the Capitol about the incident, advising them to stay indoors, which is part of their procedure for handling such incidents.

Police said they got the second report of a suspicious person about 11 a.m. The 911 caller reported seeing a man wearing all black walking up a ramp to the parking garage at 504 Lavaca St.