Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1996)
--- News Digest Monday, April 29,1996 Page 2 Gunman in Australian massacre captured PORT ARTHUR, Australia — A gunman who slaughtered 32 people at a popular tourist site and nearby pub was captured Monday by police, after he set fire to a guest cottage where he held three hostages. The gunman, whom police identi fied as a 29-year-old with a history of psychological problems, had opened fire with an semiautomatic rifle Sun day afternoon on tourists at an colo nial prison site on the island of Tasma nia. It was the worse shooting massacre in Australia this century. “Various massacres would pale into insignificance when you look at what has happened in Tasmania,” said Tas manian Police Commissioner John Johnson. The arrest ended 12-hour stand-off at the cottage, where the gunman had barricaded himself with the two own ers and a guest. The hostages’ fate was not immediately known, but police said the gunman was the only person they saw inside the house after it was set ablaze. Among those killed at the Port . Arthur historic prison complex were two Canadian tourists and 30 Austra lians, including several children and a baby, witnesses and police said. One American was among 18 people in jured; police said that the man, from Washington state, was not badly hurt. Witnesses said the man, a blond surfer-type, had mingled casually in the crowd at the prison complex be fore pulling a rifle from a tennis bag and shooting methodically at visitors. He moved on to a local pub, shoot ing and killing more people, before fleeing to the nearby Seascape bed and-breakfast cottage at about 5 p.m. Sunday. By early Monday, more than 200 local and special police units had surrounded the guest house. Police had tried to negotiate by phone with the gunman, who fired at t hem with two heavy-caliber mili tary type rifles, Deputy Police Commis sioner Richard McCreadie said. The top and bottom floors of the cottage were burning when police ar rested the gunman outside. He had suffered burns. Witnesses said a heli copter landed nearby and an ambu lance headed toward the blazing cot tage. Other details of the arrest weren ’t immediately available. About 500 tourists were milling about the prison compound at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday when a young blond man drove up in a Volkswagen with a surfboard strapped to the roof, a wit ness said. He carried a tennis bag. He had been chatting to people calmly when he went into the cafe, pulled a rifle from his bag and started shooting. An unidentified Melbourne woman “Various massacres would pale into insignificance tuhen you look at what has happened in Tasmania. ” JOHN JOHNSON Tasmanian Police Commissioner said that she hid under a table. After ward, she told AAP, “There were people just sitting there in their chairs where they’d been eating—dead. “There was a weird sort ofcalm, as i fno one could bel ievc what they were seeing,” she said. Wendy Scurr, who was working at the front desk of the historic site, said the gunman left “shooting as he went, shooting everybody he could see.” She said she called for help and ran for her life along with hundreds of other people at the site. He continued shooting outside the cafe, firing methodically at screaming tourists trying to flee. “He wasn ’t going bang-bang-bang bang- it was ‘bang’ and then he’d pick someone else out and line them up and shoot them,” witness Phillip Milburn told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. The gunman next shot at two buses, kil ling several tourists in each and one driver. He fired on cars approaching the gates to the site. Witness Karen Jones told Austra lian radio that a little girl was killed. “The guy that we were with had to go and help take a stretcher in,” she said, “and the mother was saying,' You have to get my baby to the hospital, quick, quick.’ But it was already dead.” The gunman moved next to a local pub, and then to the guest house about three miles away. He then reportedly had stolen a car. The Age newspaper of Melbourne identified the hostages as David and Sally Martin, the cottage owners. The guest was an unidentified Australian. The old Port Arthur prison colony is on the Tasman Peninsula, connected to Tasmania’s mainland by one road on a narrow isthmus. Police closed off the road into Port Arthur, the landing site of some of the toughest convicts England sent into Australian exile in the 1800s. AP Stale gun laws vary in Australia, but it is fairly easy for a person without a criminal record to buy a rifle or shotgun. Pistols are less commonly owned. Tasmania has one of the most lax gun laws in the nation. Until recent law changes, almost anyone could buy any kind ofweapon—even a machine gun. Pakistan bus bomb kills at least 40 ujjiciats jear rising death toll as holiday nears ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A pow erful bomb stuffed in the gas tank of a passenger bus exploded Sunday, kill ing at least 40 people, mostly Muslims heading home tocelcbrate Islam’s most sacred holiday. The explosion in eastern Pakistan turned the bus into a fireball, and most of the victims—including six children— were burned beyond recognition. Police feared the death toll could reach 60, because many of the 26 who were injured were in critical condition and more remains may be found in the charred shell of the 52-seat bus. The bus, which was overcrowded with passengers preparing for Eid al Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, exploded in the bustling marketplace of Bhai Pheru, about 15 miles east of Lahore. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion. “There were two explosions. The first one and then a second one almost “We couldn't do anything but watch. People inside were screaming. It was so horrible." ATA DADA paramedic and witness immediately, I guess when the petrol (gas) tank exploded,” said Ata Dada, a paramedic whose first aid station was about 200 yards away from explosion. Dada said he was helpless to stop the fire. He could sec the victims in side the bus, some still alive, scream ing for help. But there was no fire extinguisher nor a nearby fire department to douse the blaze. “We couldn’t do anything but watch,” said Dada, his voice trem bling. “People inside were screaming. It was so horrible.” It was nearly four hours before the bodies could be removed. uveryuiing was so not. w e couiun t touch anything,” he said. “No one was recognizable.” Another paramedic, Mohammed Iqbal, said 36 people died immedi ately and another four died en route to the hospital. The ashes of some victims were buried later in the day in a single coffin in a treeless graveyard near the town. Relatives of the victims and thousands of people from surrounding villages came to mourn. Wails and sobs inter rupted the prayers for the dead. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto con demned the attack, calling it “a hei nous act (that) showed they had no respect even for the most pious day of Islam.” The explosion was the second in as many weeks in Punjab state, Pakistan ’ s most populous province which bor ders on India’s Punjab region. Six people were kil led when a bomb ripped through the outpatient depart ment of a cancer hospital in Lahore on April 14. The hospital was built by cricket star Imran Khan, and many believed the explosion was a warning to him to stay out of politics. U.S. warship rescues Japanesefishermen near Okinawa TOKYO — A U.S. warship res cued seven Japanese fishermen who had abandoned their blazing vessel in waters off Okinawa on Sunday. The destroyer USS O’Brien, based in Yokosuka, Japan, and in the area for training drills, saw smoke from the burning 20-ton Haka Maru shortly after dawn, Navy officials said. The O’Brien plucked the crew members, who were in a small life craft, from near the blazing ship about 75 miles off Japan’s southernmost is land of Okinawa. There were no injuries, though the fishing boat was destroyed, the Navy said. The rape of an Okinawan school girl by U.S. servicemen last year fu eled opposition to American bases on the island. In a step toward reconcili ation, Washington had agreed earlier this month to return some key U.S. military bases to Okinawa. Republicans stockpile funds in effort to maintain majority r WASHINGTON — Led by House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s massive efforts, House Republicans have rolled up a huge money ad vantage in their quest to maintain and enlarge their majority in this year’s elections. GOP lawmakers running for re election collected $21.8 million during the first three months of this year, pushing their total thus far in the two-year election cycle to $74.4 million. Democrats, languishing in the minority, were able to raise just $ 12.9 million during the first quar ter of 1996, bringing them to $44.6 million for the period, according to figures compiled fromFederal Elec tion Commission reports by the lib eral consumer group Citizen Action. When fund raising by the two parties’ House campaign commit tees is figured into the totals, the disparity grows wider. In that arena the GOP outraised its rivals, $15 million to $5 million. The growing money gap prompted Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., to hold closed door meetings last week with Demo crats on the top money-raising com mittees — Ways and Means, Ap propriations and Commerce — seeking their help. Gephardt asked each lawmaker to raise $20,000 this summer and give it to the Democratic Congres sional Campaign Committee to sup port needier party members, an aide said. Leading the GOP charge, Gingrich padded his already mas sive campaign accounts with an other $750,000 in the first quarter of this year, bringing his total fund raisingto $2.6 million for thisyear’s election. The No. 3 House GOP leader, Rep. Tom DeLay, has col lected just over $1 million. Second on the money list was Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who had raised nearly $ 1.5 million over the past 15 months. Gephardt was third with $1.3 million, and Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., was fourth at $ 1.1 million. The Citizen Action study found that House freshman Republicans, among the most dominant influ ences on Capitol Hill since they propelled their party into the ma jority last year for the first time in four decades, continued to be pro lific money raisers. Nevada GOP Rep. John Ensign —who has strong ties to his state’s leading industry, gambling — pulled down $171,000 in the first quarter of this year, bringing his total fund raising to $797,000 so far this election cycle. Hot on his heels were Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. with $788,000; Jon Cristensen,R-Neb.,with $777,000; Greg Ganske, R-Iowa, at $679,000; and Charles Norwood, R-Ga., $659,000. Nebraskan Editor Doug Kouma Night Editor Beth Narans 472-1766 Night News Editors Jennifer Milke Managing Editor Doug Peters Antone Oseka Assoc. News Editors Paula Lavigne Nancy Zywiec Jeff Randall Art Director Aaron Steckelberg Opinion Page Editor Anne Hjersman General Manager Dan Shattil Wire Editor Joshua Gillin Advertising Manager Amy Struthers Copy Desk Editor Julie Sobczyk Asst. Advertising Manager Tracy Welshans Sports Editor Mitch Sherman Classified Ad Manager Tiffiny Clifton Arts & Entertainment Editor Alexis Thomas Publications Board Chairman Tim Hedegaard Photo Director Tanna Kinnaman 436-9253 Web Editor MaryAnn Muggy Professional Adviser Don Walton, 473-7301 http://www.unl.edu/DaiiyNeb/ FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during summer sessions. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 am. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436-9253,9 a.m.-11 p.m. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. _ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1996 DAILY NEBRASKAN_ York teen dies after collapsing at prom YORK — A York teen-ager who collapsed in his tuxedo on the dance lloor at his junior senior prom died early Sunday morning of an unknown cause. Parents in the audience performed mouth-to mouth in an effort to revive 17-year-old Kory Sierp as they waited for paramedics to arrive at York High School Saturday. About 300 prom goers stood and watched in horror. Sierp fell to the ground and began wheezing at about 9:30 p.m. CDT, said Nate Reiser, a student teacher and dance chaperone. “Like I said, he started out wheezing and pretty soon, he j ust started to fade away,” Reiser said. The cause of death was unknown, the York Police Department said. An autopsy will be performed Monday. At first, Reiser said, he thought the teen was choking, so he rolled him onto his side. “There was gum in his mouth, but it wasn’t lodged,” Reiser said. The students were later moved from the gym to a commons area as paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation in an attempt to revive the teen. Sierp was taken to York General Hospital. He was later transferred by helicopter to Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln where he died at about 2:30 a.m. CDT. The prom was called off after Sierp was taken from the gym. Superintendent Paul Toms said the school’s crisis intervention team will be available when students return to school today.
