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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1998)
4 shot after basketball game uauy rennsyivanian University of Pennsylvania (U-WIRE) PHILADELPHIA - One person was killed and three oth ers, including a University of Pennsylvania student, were wounded in related on-campus shootings fol lowing the Philadelphia Public League high school boys basketball championship Sunday afternoon. The incidents all occurred on 33rd Street north of the Palestra at about 4:10 p.m. Witnesses described hearing a series of gunshots that sounded like “fireworks” shortly after the tournament ended and throngs of fans began leaving the building and filling die street. According to witnesses and police, the incidents were the result of a drive-by shooting in which a sus pect inside a car fired an automatic or semi-automatic gun at least 15 times before fleeing. Police officers at the scene said they suspect the shootings were related to a fistfight between two fans inside the building during halftime of the game. After the shootings, police stopped at least four people for pos sessing weapons. It is unclear if any of the people questioned were direct ly related to the incidents or whether they were arrested as suspects. A 22-year-old man was pro nounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after being shot in the back, according to HUP and University Police officials. An HUP spokesman refused to release the victim’s name. The Penn student wounded in the shooting, senior John La Bombard, is being treated for a gunshot wound to his left leg and remained hospitalized in stable condition as of 12:45 a.m. Monday, according to a spokesman for Allegheny University Hospitals Hahnemann in Center City, Penn. La Bombard, 21, was working on a project for a Design of the Environment class inside the Blauhaus - the blue, shed-like Fine Arts building - when a stray gunshot went through the wooden wall and hit him in the left leg, police and wit nesses said. A woman who was taken to HUP after being shot in the elbow remained in fair condition. Her name and age were not immediately avail able. According to witnesses, the woman was also an innocent bystander. The fourth victim, a 19-year-old West Philadelphia man, was treated in the emergency room of Jefferson University Hospital in Center City after receiving what a hospital spokesman called a “small gunshot wound to the back.” The spokesman would not identify the victim, who was released. The basketball championship, which attracted about 3,700 specta tors, has been the scene of numerous security problems in the past. Sunday’s shootings raise doubts as to whether Penn will continue to host the tournament. University spokesman Ken Wildes said the uni versity has not yet decided whether it will host the event next year. Last year, gunfire following the game sent people “fleeing every where,” University Police Capt. John Richardson said at the time. No one was injured in the incident. At Sunday’s and last year’s games, security was tight in and around the Palestra. Ten University Police officers, 40 officers from the School District of Philadelphia and 60 security guards were on hand. An additional six to eight Philadelphia Police vehicles were patrolling out side, and all fans had to pass through metal detectors. Detectives from the Philadelphia Homicide unit are investigating Sunday’s incidents. Information on the specific shootings was not imme diately available, but a Homicide detective said yesterday that the unit was in the midst of interviewing “about 60 witnesses” in an effort to piece together the events. Franklin Learning Center student Arkeda Hall, 14, who attended the game, said she believed the gunshots were related to a fight that broke out inside the Palestra during halftime. Hall said a small boy received cuts when he was “trampled” during the altercation. Shortly afterward, police at the event told the individuals who were fighting to leave the Palestra, wit nesses said. Wharton senior Erica Meyers, who was inside the Blauhaus at the time of the shooting, described the scene as one of “chaos and confu sion” after the shots rang out. She said she heard “a couple of shots really quickly,” followed a few seconds later by “a succession of maybe 10 or 12 shots.” Police arriving at the scene told the students in the Blauhaus to move to a windowless room in the back of the building so they wouldn’t be hit by stray bullets, several witnesses said. Palestinians: Peace talks dead GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Declaring the Middle East peace process dead, top Palestinian officials urged the United States on Monday to push Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli gov ernment to honor its agreements. “Without any pressure or any inter national sanctions imposed in Netanyahu’s government, then the Middle East future will be one of war and not of peace,” said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the secretary general of the Palestinian Cabinet Rahman and Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said a series of secret contacts initiated by the Israeli prime minister have gone nowhere and were designed to deceive other nations into believing that Israel was forging ahead with peace talks. The officials, interviewed separate ly by The Associated Press, confirmed reports of recent high-level talks, including lengthy negotiations between Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat’s deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, and with the Palestinian parliament speaker, Ahmed Qureia. In further diplomatic activity Monday, Israeli Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh met with the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, at the home of U.S. Ambassador Edward Walker. They were discussing two rela tively minor issues, the operation of the Palestinian airport and die opening of an industrial park, both in the Gaza strip. The talks “just produce a mirage the peace process is OK when there is absolutely no activity whatsoever,” Shaath said. “It is extremely useful from Mr. Netanyahu’s point of view because it keeps the Americans away, keeps them from using their potential pressure to get this process moving.” “The peace process is dead,” said Rahman. “There has been no official funeral. No one is willing to take the dead body to the cemetery.” The Palestinian officials urged the Clinton administration to act quickly to end the impasse and to offset Arab anger over the threat of U.S. military strikes against Iraq. “You needed half of the American army to enforce this in Iraq, and not even a little slap on the knuckles of Mr. Netanyahu when it comes to Israeli exe cution of its own security council reso lutions or signed agreements witnessed by the United States,” said Shaath, refer ring to the Oslo accords. Israeli government spokesman Moshe Fogel insisted Israel was acting in good faith. What's the meaning of this ad? Before you ponder the fundamental principle of this logical question, consider this: Fazoli’s features 12 menu items priced under $4, including Ravioli, Fettuccine Alfredo and Spaghetti. Meaning, in theory, you won’t need a student loan to eat here. ' - • • ' . , 1 4603 Vtne Street, 4664045, Lincoln North Korea searches for international aid SbUUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea is still running out of food despite dramatically reducing grain rations to its people, the coun try’s official media reported Monday. The government cut the daily ration per person from 10.5 ounces a day to 7 ounces a day in February. Even if the ration is cut again to 3.5 ounces, “the stock will run out in mid-March,” said the North’s state run Korean Central News Agency, quoting an unidentified government official. International experts say a daily minimum of 1 pound of food is needed to keep an adult relatively healthy. North Korea has suffered through three years of disastrous weather that aggravated problems caused by inefficient cooperative farming techniques. The official said the communist nation’s domestic grain stock stood at 167,000 tons as of Jan. 1. The U.N. World Food Program issued a new appeal in January for 650,000 tons of food for North Korea this year. On Monday, the food program said that the North Korean warning confirms earlier assessments that international assistance is urgently needed. The WFP added that it is cur rently supplying 98,000 tons of grain to 4.7 million of the neediest North Koreans, mainly children, and that the food aid should last the recipients through this month. The United States has commit ted 200,000 tons, worth $75 million, to die latest UN. appeal. There have been no reports of major donations from other countries. In Washington, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said Monday that the United States plans no assistance beyond its pledge. He said the first ship ment under that pledge - 22,000 tons - is scheduled to arrive in North Korea at the beginning of April. The country expressed gratitude for outside food aid and said it was mobilizing “all the people and ser vicemen” to increase grain produc tion this year. I I Aliant Communications MAHNO IT EASIBI TO COMMUNICATE." Visit our web site: www.aliant.com THE ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR TEAM, representing the largest car rental company in America, invites you to visit us during 2 days of events on campus. Ask questions, explore opportunities with us, and team Just how ENTERPRISE can jump-start your career in business management. Schedule of events: I ' Oxt-campu* interviews Monday March 9, 1998 Sign up in career services UNL General fob Fair Wednesday March II. 1998 ,i Nebresiq Union 9Jtm-3pm ' Watain*; WMMrJTKeom Squat Opportunity Employer
