From: matus [matus@snet.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2002 12:19 PM
To: matus@snet.net
Subject: MFD List - Armed citizen helped stop law school killer (gun
laws)

(While I would never buy or own a gun, I fully support the right of people
to be armed and able to protect themselves.  This occurance was a good
example of where an armed citizen may have saved multuple lives by bing in
the right place at the right time. - Mike)

Armed citizen helped stop law school killer
----------
JPFO
by staff
   In the name of journalistic integrity and telling the whole
   story, JPFO sets the record straight: "Before this story
   becomes recorded as 'another senseless school shooting' that
   'proves why handguns should be banned,' we think everyone
   should know the whole story." (01/17/02)

http://www.free-market.net/rd/978709156.html

http://www.jpfo.org/alert20020118.htm

Armed Citizen Helped Stop Law School Killer
Read the story at http://www.msnbc.com/news/688939.asp

"A 43-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Nigeria, went to the
Appalachian School of Law on Wednesday to talk to his dean, L. Anthony
Sutin, about Odighizuwa's dismissal for failing grades, officials said. He
shot Sutin and professor Thomas Blackwell, who taught Odighizuwa's contracts
classes, with a .380-caliber pistol, authorities and students said. Also
killed was student Angela Dales, 33..."

We at JPFO express our anger at the killer, our sympathy for the survivors
of the three persons killed and for those three others who were gravely
injured, as well as to all those who grieve and suffer with them.

Before this story becomes recorded as "another senseless school shooting"
that "proves why handguns should be banned," we think everyone should know
the whole story. Thanks to Robert Waters, author of The Best Defense
(www.robertwaters.net), we received the link to the MSNBC report that
states:

"Students ended the rampage by confronting and then tackling the gunman,
officials said."

"We saw the shooter, stopped at my vehicle and got out my handgun and
started to approach Peter," Tracy Bridges, who helped subdue the shooter
with other students, said Thursday on NBC's "Today" show. "At that time,
Peter threw up his hands and threw his weapon down. Ted was the first person
to have contact with Peter, and Peter hit him one time in the face, so there
was a little bit of a struggle there."

In other words: an armed student helped stop the killer. At this point we
don't know whether the attacker (Peter) decided to stop before or after he
saw the armed student, but we do know that the student Tracy Bridges:

(1) Was prepared for defense by being armed
(2) Had the presence of mind to obtain the weapon when it was needed most
(3) Would have been capable of stopping the attacker if some other means
(tackling, etc.) had failed

We at JPFO salute that student, Tracy Bridges, for having the foresight to
be armed and for the courage to use the firearm to save lives. Tracy Bridges
exercised the right to keep and bear arms the way that every competent
non-violent American should feel proud to do.

We needed four Tracy Bridges on September 11, 2001 -- armed.

The Liberty Crew

     -----------------------------

MSNBC article

GRUNDY, Va., Jan. 17 -   A former law student who is accused of killing his
dean, a law professor and another student told a judge Thursday that he is
sick and needs help.















 Jan. 17 -- Tracy Bridges describes to NBC's "Today" how he helped apprehend
the suspect.



         PETER ODIGHIZUWA shuffled into Buchanan County General District
Court in leg chains, surrounded by police officers.
       Hiding his face behind his green arrest warrant, Odighizuwa told
Judge Patrick Johnson, "I was supposed to see my doctor. He was supposed to
help me out. ... I don't have my medication."
       Odighizuwa, a 43-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Nigeria, went
to the Appalachian School of Law on Wednesday to talk to his dean, L.
Anthony Sutin, about Odighizuwa's dismissal for failing grades, officials
said. He shot Sutin and professor Thomas Blackwell, who taught Odighizuwa's
contracts classes, with a .380-caliber pistol, authorities and students
said.
       Also killed was student Angela Dales, 33, said State Police spokesman
Mike Stater. Three other students were injured and were hospitalized in fair
condition.
       Prosecutors charged Odighizuwa with three counts of capital murder,
three counts of attempted capital murder and six charges for use of a
firearm in a felony.
       A few minutes before his arraignment, Odighizuwa told reporters as he
was led into the courtroom, "I was sick, I was sick. I need help."
       When Johnson said he would appoint lawyer James C. Turk Jr. to
represent him, Odighizuwa asked for another attorney. But Johnson appointed
Turk and said, "Once you've talked with him, I'm sure you'll see he can help
you."
 Advertisement




         Odighizuwa will remain held without bond pending a preliminary
hearing March 21.

STUDENT INTERVENTION
       Students ended the rampage by confronting and then tackling the
gunman, officials said.
       "We saw the shooter, stopped at my vehicle and got out my handgun and
started to approach Peter," Tracy Bridges, who helped subdue the shooter
with other students, said Thursday on NBC's "Today" show. "At that time,
Peter threw up his hands and threw his weapon down. Ted was the first person
to have contact with Peter, and Peter hit him one time in the face, so there
was a little bit of a struggle there."
       The suspect, known on the rural campus as "Peter O.," had been
struggling with his grades for more than a year and had been dismissed once
before.

          Chris Clifton, the school's financial aid officer, met with
Odighizuwa on Tuesday. "He was angry. He thought he was being treated
unfairly, and he wanted to see his transcript," said Clifton.
       "I don't think Peter knew at this time that it (his dismissal) was
going to be permanent and final," Clifton added.

NEW LAW SCHOOL
       The private law school has an enrollment of about 170 students. It
opened five years ago in a renovated junior high school to help ease a
shortage of lawyers in the region and foster renewal in Appalachia.


  Crime & Punishment

  Complete coverage
from MSNBC.com

  * Add to your list of bookmarked sites




       Sutin, a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School, also was an associate
professor at the school. He left the Justice Department to help found the
school. Previously, he had worked for the Democratic National Committee and
Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, according to the Web site of
Jurist, the Legal Education Network.
       Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a statement expressing his
condolences to Sutin's wife and their two children.
       Former Attorney General Janet Reno called Sutin (pronounced Sutton)
"not only a former colleague but a friend" and "an incredibly kind,
exceptionally bright and intensely dedicated public servant who was
committed to bettering the welfare of all Americans."
       "It's real shocking right now," said Bridges. "Dean Sutin had
children and everyone's worried about that. It seems kind of surreal right
now."

       MSNBC.com's Alex Johnson, and The Associated Press contributed to
this report.

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