Super Bowl massacre averted at last minute

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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/108361

A distraught Tempe man was within sight of the Super Bowl on Sunday with an assault rifle, but a change of heart kept him from unloading 200 rounds of ammunition on the crowd, court records show.

Kurt William Havelock, 35, turned himself in Sunday to Tempe police and the FBI at the urging of family and confessed his plan, which he hatched in retaliation for the Tempe City Council rejecting a liquor license application for a restaurant and bar he owns.

According to court records, Havelock is charged with mailing threatening communications in the mailing of eight copies of a “manifesto†explaining the planned massacre.

“I will test the theory that bullets speak louder than words ... I will slay your children. I will shed the blood of the innocent,†Havelock wrote. “No one destroys my dream. No one.â€

Magistrate Judge Edward V. Ross said in a hearing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday: “I haven’t read more chilling words, and I’ve been doing this a long time.†Ross found Havelock was a danger to the public and ordered him held without bail.

Havelock on Sunday mailed copies of the manifesto intended for friends and media from a post office at 59th and Peoria avenues in Glendale, but authorities were able to intercept them.

In the letters he says his family has been attacked and the futures of his children have been destroyed.

In October, Havelock was before the Tempe City Council to get approval for a liquor license application for a restaurant called The Haunted Castle, a Halloween-theme bar where horror-theme bands and actors could gather to promote themselves, according to city records.

Liquor licenses are typically rubber-stamped by city councils, whose votes are only advisory.

The State Liquor Board makes the final decision.

Council members, however, got word from a blog written by Havelock that the business would be called Drunkenstein’s and questioned him about it.

Havelock said there would be a sign with that name but would be only one corner of the business at 6463 S. Rural Road.

The council voted 6-1 to deny the application, which is still pending before the liquor board.

“Alas, this all boils down to an econopolitical confrontation. I cannot outvote, outspend, outtax, or outincarcerate my enemies,†Havelock wrote in the manifesto. “But for a brief moment I can outgun them.â€

According to court testimony by FBI Special Agent Philip Thorlin and Havelock’s father, Frank Havelock, he bought an AR-15 assault rifle on Jan. 29 from Scottsdale Gun Club.

Thorlin described the rifle as the U.S. military’s weapon of choice.

Havelock began Sunday by going back to the gun club for target practice, but there was a private function and he couldn’t get in. Besides the rifle, Havelock was carrying at the time six 30-round magazines and 20 loose rounds.

Thorlin said Havelock’s original destination was Desert Ridge Marketplace in northeast Phoenix. It’s unclear according to court documents why Havelock changed his mind about Desert Ridge and headed for Glendale instead.

He drove to different post offices in the West Valley to obtain the envelopes and postage for his copies of the manifesto and mailed them before he went to the parking lot of Jobing.com Arena, which can be seen from University of Phoenix Stadium, where a host of activities were happening before the 4:30 p.m. kickoff.

“He waited about a minute and decided he couldn’t do this,†Thorlin said.

Havelock then called his fiancee and met his parents at his Tempe condominium.

“He was very upset, he was sobbing hysterically,†Frank Havelock said. “He said, ‘I’ve done something terribly, terribly wrong.’ â€

Frank Havelock believed his son was talking about financial problems he was having with his restaurant, which the elder Havelock learned about for only the first time on Sunday, but then he confessed about the letters and the rifle.

Frank Havelock said he went to his son’s car and moved the weapon and ammo to his car and persuaded him to turn himself into Tempe police.

When authorities searched Havelock’s car, they found another typed letter to police with a handwritten note at the bottom that read: “do not resuscitate.â€

Havelock has no criminal history, and a mental health evaluation conducted at his arrest found “no mental defects†that would warrant a commitment to a mental hospital, Thorlin said.

Frank Havelock said he’s never had any problems with his son.

Neighbors who live next door said Havelock lived with his fiancee and two small children and two large dogs. Martin Trump and Danny Q. Rivera said Havelock kept to himself and had a variety of cars, including a white hearse with a vanity plate that read “drtnap.â€

They were shocked to learn of Havelock’s plan to use an assault rifle on crowds at the Super Bowl.

“The Patriots versus the Giants — do you see the ironic parallel? How many dollars will you lose? And all because you took my right to work, to own a business, from me,†Havelock wrote in his manifesto.

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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/108553

A semiautomatic weapon a Tempe man bought for $899 to commit mass murder at the Super Bowl was banned until three years ago.

Today, the AR-15 is one of the more popular rifles on the market.

“They’re very accurate rifles,†said Todd Rathner, a Tucson resident on the National Rifle Association board of directors. “They’re a lot of fun to shoot.â€

People use them for target practice, in shooting competitions, for self-protection and in some limited cases, hunting, Rathner said.

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center in Washington, said the AR-15 is being pushed by the industry, but he doesn’t believe it’s a good thing.

And since no one was hurt at the Super Bowl, the incident will be easily ignored, he said.

“We were lucky this time,†Sugarmann said, “and the question is: Will we be so lucky next time?â€

Kurt William Havelock, 35, went to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale with the intention of shooting spectators with the semiautomatic rifle, according to court documents and testimony.

He changed his mind and turned himself into Tempe police.

Havelock is in federal custody in connection with sending eight letters explaining his plot, which was in retaliation for the Tempe City Council refusing his liquor license application.

Havelock bought an AR-15 at Scottsdale Gun Club and 250 rounds of ammunition Jan. 29 in preparation for the planned slaughter.

The AR-15 was one of 19 guns banned under the 1994 Crime Bill, which expired on Sept. 13, 2004.

FBI Special Agent Philip Thorlin testified at Havelock’s detention hearing Tuesday that the gun is the weapon of choice for the U.S. military.

But Rathner said the rifle is actually a semiautomatic version of the U.S. military’s fully automatic M-4.

Semiautomatic weapons fire one round and automatically load each time the trigger is pulled.

Automatic weapons are designed for military use and shoot without stopping as long as the trigger is pulled.

Rathner said the rifle, which fires a .223-caliber round, is considered high-powered, a designation that pertains to the trajectory of the round.

According to manufacturer Colt’s Web site, the rifle’s effective range is 600 meters.

But there are more powerful rifles, such as the .30-06, Rathner said.

He added that when people ask him what use a rifle like that would have, he replies: “It’s like asking someone why you own a Ferrari. You can’t drive 140 mph on the street.â€

No one has tried to ban Ferraris for what they might do, Rathner said.

Thorlin said Havelock admitted to taking 200 rounds with him Sunday and went to Jobing.com Arena, which is within sight of the football stadium, but he couldn’t go through with it.

When federal authorities searched his car, they found the sales tag for $899, and a note to not resuscitate him.

Havelock’s attorney, Jeffrey Williams, said in court that Havelock doesn’t have a criminal record and that he began withdrawing as he took on a substantial business venture that was failing.

“He felt basically he was a failure,†Williams said.

Even after the discovery of Havelock’s plan and the shooting of five people in Kirkwood, Mo., by a man with a grudge against city officials there, Rathner and Sugarmann don’t believe much will change in the gun debate because it is a politically risky issue to support.

Rathner doesn’t expect much to happen locally either.

“Arizona is a pro-Second Amendment state,†Rathner said, “and people understand these things aren’t because of law-abiding gun owners.â€

[Im Neero]

Sounds like this guy was pissed off and had a flair for the dramatic, but fortunately, he wasn't psycho enough to go through with it.

It's a shame that the anti's are going to try and use something that didn't even happen to further their cause.

[Guest bkelm18]

At least they didn't try and put an "Evil Black Rifle of Death, Destruction, Rape, and Doom" spin on the story.

[shaftbass]

You never know when your card is going to be pulled.