How would the law stop this wacko?

J

jimpeel

New member
All the talk about how to stop the insane from aquiring firearms and then you have this guy. :rolleyes:

http://www.reporterherald.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=10222

New shooting details emerge
‘I need to stop this now’

By Pamela Dickman
The Daily Reporter-Herald

FORT COLLINS — Barry Shebs waited in the loft of his warehouse unit Monday, watching through a hole in the wall as Matthew Gulakowski moved his custom woodworking business.

He knew his neighbor — whom he apparently thought was targeting him with toxic fumes — was leaving Mulberry Commercial Park, 2649 E. Mulberry St., for good.

But that did not stop him from murdering the 35-year-old man, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Tuesday.

Shebs fired six shots through the hole at Gulakowski about 4 p.m. Monday, emptying his revolver and hitting Gulakowski once in the head and five times in the torso.

Sometime within the next four hours, Shebs, 46, hanged himself inside his locked and barricaded unit. He left behind an 18-page letter (four pages which were written Monday), complaining about being harassed and targeted by fumes, Alderden said.

“I know he’s leaving, but this isn’t going to stop the harassment,” Shebs wrote, according to Alderden.

“And I need to stop this now.”

The dispute between Gulakowski, who had a custom woodworking business in Unit 47, and Shebs, who was living in a camper in Unit 46, began much earlier.

Last June, Gulakowski called the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office because someone had cut the wires on a closed-circuit camera he used to see when customers were outside his business. He named Shebs as a possible suspect, Alderden said.

And earlier this year, he wrote a letter to Shebs, accusing him of purposely shoveling snow in front of Gulakowski’s freshly shoveled business.

Shebs also had written several letters complaining about “toxic military fumes” coming from the woodworking business — fumes authorities believe were from the sawdust or varnish Gulakowski used.

In January, Shebs called Poudre Fire Authority about the fumes, then a few days later, called the Larimer County Health Department, which referred him to the Sheriff’s Office, according to Alderden.

He reportedly told deputies he had an organic gas mask to protect him from the military gas fumes, Alderden said.

His complaint that the fumes would affect only enemy troops did not make sense, Alderden said. (Which begs the question: Did he believe himself to be an enemy troop?)

But, he said, Shebs had not been diagnosed with medical or mental issue and had no major criminal charges in his past that would have caused concern.

Gulakowski must have thought he was leaving behind the dispute and associated problems. He was moving to a new location because his business was expanding and because of Shebs, the sheriff said.

On Monday afternoon, he and a friend were nearly finished when Shebs fired through a 4-inch square hole cut in the wall shared by the units.

“(Gulakowski) was about an hour away from completing the move,” Alderden said.

His friend heard the shots from the parking lot and ran toward the business. He saw shots hit Gulakowski but did not see the shooter, Alderden said.

His account initially baffled investigators, Alderden said.

How could he not have seen the shooter?

If he saw the actual shots, why were there no shell casings in the garage?

Those questions were answered when authorities entered Shebs’ unit nearly four hours later and discovered the .357 Ruger in the loft and the hole between the units about three feet from the ceiling.

But some questions remain unanswered.

Investigators do not know how much time passed between the shooting and when Shebs hanged himself, or during that time, whether Shebs watched investigators through the hole in the wall or on a monitor tuned to a pinhole camera aimed at the front of his unit.

During those four hours, deputies surrounded the business park, sharpshooters positioned themselves on the roof, and armored specialists began searching each unit from the outside of the perimeter in, starting with unlocked doors.

They skipped to Shebs’ unit about four hours later after learning about the dispute.

“He could have been watching,” Alderden said. “It’s caused us to re-examine our tactics.”
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There's really not much you can do about something like that. No matter how strong and well trained you are you can be easily killed by any old bum if they shoot from a distance or catch you off guard. If someone is set on killing you and you don't know about it there is nothing you can do, especially if they "snipe" you from a hidden location some distance away while you go about your everyday life. Even a concealed vest wouldn't have helped this guy, as he got shot in the head too.
 
I think the point here is...

That the shooter was not someone who would have been classed as "danger to himself and others". He had no record of violence, and no record of mental problems.

All the authorities had was a dispute, where one side sounded a little "kooky". This kind of thing is common, yet in this case, it ended in murder/suicide, with none of the "warning signs" that are being made such a big deal of because of the VT shootings.

The shooter was 46, hardly fitting any kind of "disturbed youth" characterization.

This just illustrates the fact that there are people who live their entire lives, giving no definate indications of how disturbed they are, until they act, no test, no law will ever be able to stop them.
 
And of course because we cannot stop them all we shouldn't try to stop any.

It's a balance. There are some you will never stop, but there are others that may be stopped if precautions are taken. The key is to make sure that any precautions taken don't cause an undue burden on the rest of us.
 
This just illustrates the fact that there are people who live their entire lives, giving no definate indications of how disturbed they are, until they act, no test, no law will ever be able to stop them.
Click to expand...

BINGO!!!

The guy was obviously delusional with his protestations of "toxic military fumes" and wearing of an "organic gas mask"; which cotton balls inserted into the nostrils would qualify. :rolleyes:

There was also the issue of his being "harassed and targeted" with these toxic fumes. He had detailed this in several letters to the authorities who, it can be said, ignored the implications. (donning flame proof suit) Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden reinforced this when he stated "His complaint that the fumes would affect only enemy troops did not make sense."

Yet they could do nothing about this delusional, paranoid individual because he "had not been diagnosed with medical or mental issue and had no major criminal charges in his past". There has to be a first time for such diagnosis and this was that opportunity. The fly in that ointment, however, is that he obviously already had the firearm he used to kill the other man and no law would have prevented him from attaining that which he already owned.
 
No law would have stopped him...then again had Gulakowski been carrying a firearm of his own it still would have made no difference whatsoever so the fantasy that guns always save lives is as foolish as the fantasy that gun control laws always save lives.

Like JC said, balance. Just because we couldn't stop this guy doesn't mean that some other nutjob that is clearly unstable should be allowed to walk into a gun shop and walk out with a gun - or worse walk into a gun show where no one would even care if he has a mile long list of felonies or just walked out of a mental institution that morning.
 
Does anyone know if the deputies warned Gulakowski about the letters they were receiving? Does law inforcement normally tell people that they 'might' be targeted? I don't know. Anyone?
 
so the fantasy that guns always save lives is as foolish as the fantasy that gun control laws always save lives.
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I know of no one -- on this board or otherwise -- who has ever stated that firearms always save lives. In the case of this poor schlub, he was downed with a head shot. He was dead before he hit the ground. A firearm can only be effective when one has some forewarning of an impending attack.
 
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