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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1996)
i SHOOTING from page 1 money.” Hertzler refused, rolled up his window and told Howe to lock his door. Hertzler was backing up the car when the man on the driver’s side pulled out a short shotgun and fired at the window. The shot broke the driver’s side window, and pellets struck Hertzler in the left wrist, forearm and right leg. Howe was hit in the left fore arm and abdomen. Hertzler quickly drove away and went to Fire Station 9 at 901N. Cotner Blvd., where the two Were given medical attention. Howe said he remembered most of the experience clearly. “The guy pulled his coat aside and pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at Mike’s head,” Howe said. When the first shot was fired, Hertzler leaned forward and put his hand in front of his face, Howe said. Most of the pellets sunk into Hertzler’s arm, Howe said, and some sprayed into Hertzler’s leg. “The second shot was aimed at me,” Howe said. Hertzler again put up his arms and leaned forward, blocking some of the shot, Howe said. “He took both blows trying to protect me,” Howe said. “If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” Howe’s clothes — a T-shirt, I .-.in...—. sweater and heavy parka coat — also absorbed some of the blast, he said. Four pellets hit him in the left arm and one hit his stomach, he said. “My arm just felt like it was on fire,” Howe said. Howe helped Hertzler turn the steering wheel as they sped away. He directed Hertzler to the fire sta tion a few blocks away and prayed aloud that his Mend would survive. Howe ran into the fire station, not realizing his own wounds were leaving blood on the ground. " “I yelled, ‘Help, help, the guy in the car is worse than me,’” Howe said. Firefighters cut through the vic tims’ blood-soaked shirt sleeves and stopped the bleeding, Howe said. At the hospital, Howe waited waited for nine hours for Hertzler to get out of surgery. Doctors told Howe that Hertzler had lost all feeling in three fingers and had to have a skin graft to re construct his wrist. Hertzler also had an artery removed from his right leg. Howe’s arm was bandaged as doctors told him they would have to wait to see if his muscle would heal on its own, he said. The pellet in his stomach had dislodged itself in the ambulance. Hertzler will probably undergo surgery again this week, Howe said. Howe described Hertzler, a pas tor at Faith Bible Church, 5910 S. 58th St., as a “great friend.” Howe said the pastor’s actions Monday night showed he cared about him. Howe had called Hertzler Mon day to ask him few: a ride to work, he said. Howe cleans the dental of fice at night after his late English 253 class at the University of Ne braska-Lincoln. " , Normally, Howe rides his bike to die office, but he called Hertzler because he wanted to talk about his i long day, he aaft. Hertzler didn’t remember much of that conversation Monday after* noon when Howe left the hospital. Howe tried to cheer him up before he left. “I knew it would do him a lot of good to see me,” Howe said. Police weren’t able to talk to Hertzler about the shooting, but Howe gave them a description of the two men. He told police the gunman was a black man about 30 years old, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a beard and mustache. He was wear ing a dark, heavy coat. The other assailant was a black . man of medium build. He had dark chin-length hair and a beige coat. *' Anyone with information i&<*n couraged to call Lincoln police, 441-7204. ' Forensics team awarded FORENSICS from page 1 have learned more lessons through competing than through any other col lege class or activity. They have learned these lessons not only from their coaches and teammates, but also through the friends they have made at tournaments. “We have met so many people across the nation and have formed great friendships, with other teams,” Azizinamini said. “The team’s success has really made UNL stand out nation ally for more than just football.” Hie'team is already preparing for the state and national tournaments in the spring. At last year’s state touma ment, the team took first place away from Hastings College, which had won six years in a row. At nationals, it placed 17th out of 145 speech teams with only six people competing. “When we can go up against the largest universities who bring 40 to 60 people — and still be in their league — it shows the quality we have,” Perlich said. Regardless of how the team does competitively this year, success goes beyond awards and trophies, Perlich said. “Our real goal is to have students try new techniques and take risks,” he said. “Learning something new is the true victory.” Gering teen dies from gunshot MINATARE (AP) — A 16-year old Gering boy was killed and another 17-year-old injured during a shooting that stemmed from an argument, pos sibly over a woman, according to court documents filed Tuesday. Travis Iron Shell was killed and Jesse Gallagher was injured during a shooting Monday at a Minatare house. Pete Herrera, 25, of Minatare was charged with unintentional manslaugh ter, felony assault and use of a firearm to commit a felony in the incident. Apparently Herrera and Gallagher were dating the same woman. A probable cause affidavit filed in Scotts Bluff County Court said Herrera told police he invited Gallagher to bis home after the boy threatened him over the telephone. Herrera said two carloads of people showed up at his house and at least four of the visitors were armed with pipes and bats, according to the documents. Herrera said he got a .22 caliber rifle when the crowd got violent and he fired once into the crowd, hitting one person. When he went back into the house, he said he heard someone breaking windows and fired at a screen, hitting another person. Iron Shell was pronounced dead at a Scottsbluff hospital of a bullet wound to the back. Gallagher was in good condition late Tuesday. Herrera is being held on $250,000 bond. A crisis intervention team visited Gering High School on Tuesday to help students cope with the trauma of the shootings. Minatare is a town east of Scottsbluff in western Nebraska with a population of about 970 people. cancer By Kasey Kerber The l to turn si fight against breast cancer?. The center has joined effbrts-with the National Breast Cancer Coalition in Washington, D.C., to collect 2.6 million signatures, the number repre senting the number of women in the United States currently afflicted with breast cancer. The petition also calls for $2.6 bil lion in congressional funding for can cer research by the year 2000. Judith Kriss, director of the Women’s Center, said the center be gan collecting signatures for the peti tion in October. She said 98 signatures had been collected so far, and she expected many more to be collected before the March deadline set by the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Kriss said all 93 signers had a per sonal connection to breast cancer. “Everyone either knows someone who has died from breast cancer or is battling it,” she said. “With 2.6 mil lion Women inflicted with it, it’s hard not to know someone who has been affected by it.” ...w.u Kriss said breast cancer sometimes gets less attention than health problems Uke HIV and AIDS, but she said it still needs the same financial support. She said breast cancer is often mis conceived by the public as affecting only those women who have a family history of breast cancer. “We always look at the high risk category,” Kriss said. “Someone is in the high risk category if a grandmother, mother or family member has a past history of breast cancer.” But Kriss said women who are not in high-risk groups for breast cancer still account for many cases. “There needs to be a cure,” she said. “Seeing as how we don’t have a clue how to prevent it or what causes it...” The Women’s Center, is encourag ing anyone concerned about finding a cure for breast cancer to stop by its office and sign the petition. ASUN senators to take part in campus diversity teleconference By Tasha E. Kelter Staff Reporter Many ASUN senators will attend a national teleconference in the Ne braska Union tonight to discuss diver sity issues on campus. The 6 p.m. teleconference will fea ture a panel discussion with Michael Dyson, professor of communication studies at the University of North H Carolina at Chapel Hill,v and Ronald Takaki, professor of ethnic studies at the University of California at Berke ley. ' CNN political analyst Farai Chideya will moderate. The audience will watch the dis cussion for half an hour, after which there will be an open discussion about diversity topics specific to UNL’s cam pus. They will then pick up the tele conference, where more than 200 schools will be watching the program. ; Reshell Ray, coordinator of ethnic minority programs at the University of U|, ifem Nebraska-Lincoln, said the event would provide an opportunity to look at di versity issues on campus. “I think it’s incredibly positive,” Ray said. “It adds to their commit ment” , Eric Marintzer, president of the Association of the Students of the University of Nebraska, said senators would be giving progress reports throughout the meeting. “It’s always interesting to see ex actly what perceptions of race relations are on other campuses,” he said. Marintzej- said the program could provide valuable insight into what stu dents see as positive and negative as pects of UNL’s commitment to diver sity. Malcolm Kass, Government Liai son Committee chairman, is attending the program to represent the government’s interest in diversity is sues on campus.