Z
ZBaum
Guest
Well, first you might want to start off by reading at least a bit of this:
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=576300&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=3/29/2007
When they began evacuating that part of campus, no one had any clue what was going on. Rumors ranged from chemical spills and gas leaks to bomb threats and shootings. My editor told me to go out with my camera and see what I could get photos of. I did just that, and inadvertently ended up a lot closer to the action than I should've been. Most of the area was taped off well away from the closest entrance to the scene of the death. I found an access road that was open, and decided to walk down it until I came to a taped off area. I stopped when I came to that place, but quickly found that I was in a place I shouldn't be. A SWAT officer walked out of a door BEHIND where I was, and I decided I needed to snap a few photos and get the h*ll out. As I walked back the way I came, I was approached from behind by two personnel, and they insisted that I was to be escorted back through the taped-off area. I got a nice walk past all of the other media cameras, and ended up among them at the end.
With all that said, it certainly wasn't a good move on my part, but it was entirely accidental. I never want to be that close to a uniformed SWAT officer again in my life.
Here's a pretty simple map of my walking route. The yellow dots are my walking path, the red lines are barriers that they set up, the blue line is where there SHOULD have been a barrier, and the green dots are my path when I was escorted out and walked across to the other media. All-in-all, a very stressful and disturbing day.
EDIT: I might also add, that the victim was from a town that I visit quite frequently (Amherst, MA is the location of UMASS). It hits home on a few fronts...
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=576300&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=3/29/2007
When they began evacuating that part of campus, no one had any clue what was going on. Rumors ranged from chemical spills and gas leaks to bomb threats and shootings. My editor told me to go out with my camera and see what I could get photos of. I did just that, and inadvertently ended up a lot closer to the action than I should've been. Most of the area was taped off well away from the closest entrance to the scene of the death. I found an access road that was open, and decided to walk down it until I came to a taped off area. I stopped when I came to that place, but quickly found that I was in a place I shouldn't be. A SWAT officer walked out of a door BEHIND where I was, and I decided I needed to snap a few photos and get the h*ll out. As I walked back the way I came, I was approached from behind by two personnel, and they insisted that I was to be escorted back through the taped-off area. I got a nice walk past all of the other media cameras, and ended up among them at the end.
With all that said, it certainly wasn't a good move on my part, but it was entirely accidental. I never want to be that close to a uniformed SWAT officer again in my life.
Here's a pretty simple map of my walking route. The yellow dots are my walking path, the red lines are barriers that they set up, the blue line is where there SHOULD have been a barrier, and the green dots are my path when I was escorted out and walked across to the other media. All-in-all, a very stressful and disturbing day.

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EDIT: I might also add, that the victim was from a town that I visit quite frequently (Amherst, MA is the location of UMASS). It hits home on a few fronts...