Two handgun violations didn't keep the suspect from carrying illegally. So what's the use?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020400962_pf.html
3rd Man Dies In Shooting At Largo Retail Center
By Avis Thomas-Lester and Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 5, 2008; A01
A third victim died yesterday after a dispute in a crowded Prince George's County restaurant escalated into gunfire during the Super Bowl, bringing bloodshed to a family-oriented retail center in Largo that has helped transform a once crime-prone area.
About 75 people were in the Uno Chicago Grill on Sunday night as the game was shown on a big-screen television. About 9:15, late in the tight contest, shots rang out and screaming patrons scrambled out of booths and jumped up from tables, falling over one another as they tried to flee, a law enforcement source said.
Terrance L. Sneed, 22, of Hyattsville and Curtis L. Poston, 26, of Temple Hills died in the bar area of the restaurant, which is part of the dining, shopping and entertainment complex that replaced the Capital Centre sports arena. Charles D. Harrison, 25, of Landover, who was gunned down in the parking lot as he fled, died yesterday.
Last night, two patrons who argued with the victims and are suspected in the shooting were being sought.
"We are just floored, shocked, saddened and in a state of disbelief that this happened," said Rick Hendrie, senior vice president of marketing for the pizzeria chain. "We're grateful, of course, that none of our employees and no other guests were injured. Our hearts go out to the families of the people who were killed."
The 70-acre Boulevard at Capital Centre, just inside the Capital Beltway, opened four years ago after Largo residents demanded a better alternative to strip malls. The area had been a magnet for loiterers and was a breeding place for crime.
Residents were delighted by some of the new shops and restaurants, including a Borders, a Circuit City, an Ann Taylor Loft and a Magic Johnson movie theater complex. Some expressed disappointment in stores that arrived later.
Police said in a statement that the victims "were inside the restaurant when they became involved in a dispute with the suspects. During the dispute, one of the suspects produced a handgun and shot Sneed and Poston in the bar area. The suspect chased Harrison outside of the restaurant and shot him in the parking lot. After the shooting, the suspects fled."
A county police spokeswoman, Cpl. Diane Richardson, said investigators were looking into several possible motives.
A police source, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, said one theory is that the shooting was sparked by an argument about the game. But two other law enforcement sources said investigators believe that some of those involved had feuded in the past.
"A lot of people saw the shooting, but they didn't see what led up to it," said another law enforcement source. "People are speculating they did know each other, but we're not sure. It seems like there was one shooter."
Poston pleaded guilty in 2004 to illegal possession of a handgun but did not serve jail time, court records show. According to a police charging document, he was arrested with the handgun in a Bowie park. He had been fighting with men who were playing football, then went to a vehicle and got the weapon, the document says. He returned and threatened to shoot but was restrained by an off-duty county police officer and a prosecutor, the document says.
In 2003, Sneed pleaded guilty to a handgun violation and was sentenced to the three days he had already spent in jail, court records show. Sneed also was charged with second-degree assault Jan. 1, the records show.
According to the charging document in the assault case, Sneed and three other men were walking near a Landover apartment complex holding bottles of alcohol. When police asked them to put the bottles down, an officer wrote, "Mr. Sneed got very combative and threw a punch at me so I grabbed him and put him against a car."
Maurice Poston, 50, who said he was the father of Charles Harrison and an uncle of Curtis Poston, said in his Landover apartment that his son and nephew often went to the pizza restaurant, about a mile away, to watch football. He said the two young men worked as furniture movers.
At her apartment a few miles away, Sneed's mother, Sandra Sneed, said: "I don't know what could have been said that was so bad that someone would want to kill them. It's just senseless."
Sneed said her son was unemployed but was looking for work. He had a 3-year-old daughter.
"I just want them to catch whoever did this," she said.
The killings were not the first at the shopping center. In 2005, Matthew Pickett, 21, died of injuries he suffered in a beating outside Borders. His 15-year-old attacker was charged as a juvenile and eventually ordered confined in a youth detention center.
Before the shopping center opened, residents exacted pledges from the developer that they hoped would ensure a family-friendly atmosphere. They wanted to limit the number of athletic-shoe stores, T-shirt shops, cellphone stores and other types of businesses that generally attract young people, many of them loiterers with little or no money to spend.
Community activist Arthur Turner, head of the Coalition of Central Prince George's Community Organizations, said crimes such as Pickett's killing have left residents concerned about security at the shopping center. He said a committee of residents, the Boulevard Council, has told the center's owners and managers that they want security stepped up.
Inland U.S. Management, the company that manages the shopping center, said in a statement that managers meet regularly with the council and have "been in touch several times" since the shooting.
"With the council's input and cooperation we have made enhancements to our security program, which has been a high priority during the past three years," the statement said.
Staff writers Paul Duggan, Allison Klein and Hamil R. Harris and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020400962_pf.html
3rd Man Dies In Shooting At Largo Retail Center
By Avis Thomas-Lester and Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 5, 2008; A01
A third victim died yesterday after a dispute in a crowded Prince George's County restaurant escalated into gunfire during the Super Bowl, bringing bloodshed to a family-oriented retail center in Largo that has helped transform a once crime-prone area.
About 75 people were in the Uno Chicago Grill on Sunday night as the game was shown on a big-screen television. About 9:15, late in the tight contest, shots rang out and screaming patrons scrambled out of booths and jumped up from tables, falling over one another as they tried to flee, a law enforcement source said.
Terrance L. Sneed, 22, of Hyattsville and Curtis L. Poston, 26, of Temple Hills died in the bar area of the restaurant, which is part of the dining, shopping and entertainment complex that replaced the Capital Centre sports arena. Charles D. Harrison, 25, of Landover, who was gunned down in the parking lot as he fled, died yesterday.
Last night, two patrons who argued with the victims and are suspected in the shooting were being sought.
"We are just floored, shocked, saddened and in a state of disbelief that this happened," said Rick Hendrie, senior vice president of marketing for the pizzeria chain. "We're grateful, of course, that none of our employees and no other guests were injured. Our hearts go out to the families of the people who were killed."
The 70-acre Boulevard at Capital Centre, just inside the Capital Beltway, opened four years ago after Largo residents demanded a better alternative to strip malls. The area had been a magnet for loiterers and was a breeding place for crime.
Residents were delighted by some of the new shops and restaurants, including a Borders, a Circuit City, an Ann Taylor Loft and a Magic Johnson movie theater complex. Some expressed disappointment in stores that arrived later.
Police said in a statement that the victims "were inside the restaurant when they became involved in a dispute with the suspects. During the dispute, one of the suspects produced a handgun and shot Sneed and Poston in the bar area. The suspect chased Harrison outside of the restaurant and shot him in the parking lot. After the shooting, the suspects fled."
A county police spokeswoman, Cpl. Diane Richardson, said investigators were looking into several possible motives.
A police source, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, said one theory is that the shooting was sparked by an argument about the game. But two other law enforcement sources said investigators believe that some of those involved had feuded in the past.
"A lot of people saw the shooting, but they didn't see what led up to it," said another law enforcement source. "People are speculating they did know each other, but we're not sure. It seems like there was one shooter."
Poston pleaded guilty in 2004 to illegal possession of a handgun but did not serve jail time, court records show. According to a police charging document, he was arrested with the handgun in a Bowie park. He had been fighting with men who were playing football, then went to a vehicle and got the weapon, the document says. He returned and threatened to shoot but was restrained by an off-duty county police officer and a prosecutor, the document says.
In 2003, Sneed pleaded guilty to a handgun violation and was sentenced to the three days he had already spent in jail, court records show. Sneed also was charged with second-degree assault Jan. 1, the records show.
According to the charging document in the assault case, Sneed and three other men were walking near a Landover apartment complex holding bottles of alcohol. When police asked them to put the bottles down, an officer wrote, "Mr. Sneed got very combative and threw a punch at me so I grabbed him and put him against a car."
Maurice Poston, 50, who said he was the father of Charles Harrison and an uncle of Curtis Poston, said in his Landover apartment that his son and nephew often went to the pizza restaurant, about a mile away, to watch football. He said the two young men worked as furniture movers.
At her apartment a few miles away, Sneed's mother, Sandra Sneed, said: "I don't know what could have been said that was so bad that someone would want to kill them. It's just senseless."
Sneed said her son was unemployed but was looking for work. He had a 3-year-old daughter.
"I just want them to catch whoever did this," she said.
The killings were not the first at the shopping center. In 2005, Matthew Pickett, 21, died of injuries he suffered in a beating outside Borders. His 15-year-old attacker was charged as a juvenile and eventually ordered confined in a youth detention center.
Before the shopping center opened, residents exacted pledges from the developer that they hoped would ensure a family-friendly atmosphere. They wanted to limit the number of athletic-shoe stores, T-shirt shops, cellphone stores and other types of businesses that generally attract young people, many of them loiterers with little or no money to spend.
Community activist Arthur Turner, head of the Coalition of Central Prince George's Community Organizations, said crimes such as Pickett's killing have left residents concerned about security at the shopping center. He said a committee of residents, the Boulevard Council, has told the center's owners and managers that they want security stepped up.
Inland U.S. Management, the company that manages the shopping center, said in a statement that managers meet regularly with the council and have "been in touch several times" since the shooting.
"With the council's input and cooperation we have made enhancements to our security program, which has been a high priority during the past three years," the statement said.
Staff writers Paul Duggan, Allison Klein and Hamil R. Harris and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
A good question is many people are going to go out and legally buy a NEW gun to commit a crime, if they already own a gun?