Kelly the Mad
Congolese Empire
- Oct 28, 2020
- 1,082
June 10, 1997
At 6:36 PM, local time, law enforcement in the city of Bucharest received a phone call. On the line was a young woman. She was frantic and it took ten minutes to calm her down. She claimed that her husband had been shot by two men in a pickup truck on Strada Palonã. They responded immediately by deploying two cars, with two officers each to the scene. They assumed, in a move that has caused outrage, that the shooters were after a single, targeted victim. They stopped their response there. The woman was questioned and the body removed from the street. But just 10 minutes after the first shooting, before the first officers even arrived, they got another call. In the Parcul Grădina Icoanei, a small park just a kilometer away, 18 civilians were shot. The shooters were in the same pickup truck.
By now many more officers had been dispatched. Ten patrol vehicles in total were out, helping the wounded and searching for the shooters. An hour passed without any other word from the shooters. Then, at 7:52 PM, the phone lines were clogged with calls. The shooters were in the National Museum of Romania, holding over 100 people hostage. This is where many people say the officers on duty made the biggest mistake. They did not call for backup. They did not negotiate. 30 officers, armed only with sidearms, attempted to rush into the building. Immediately inside the doors officers Banica and Vulcan were shot dead, and four others were wounded. The shooters were armed with submachine guns. The other cops rushed behind pillars, desks, and exhibits for cover.
The second of the shooters turned to the hostages. He picked out the first- a young girl. He planted a bullet in her head. When her parents stood, shocked, sobbing, he shot both of them. He then began systematically going through the hostages one at a time. While this was going on, the officers were engaged in a firefight with the other shooter, who was behind a famous and highly regarded ancient pillar. The gunfight scarred and pitted the surface, destroying the intricate carvings on it. another 10 officers were injured and one killed before they managed to injure the shooter enough to advance. These poorly trained officers then executed the man on the ground, as well as the second shooter. By now 58 civilians had been executed. Paramedics arrived shortly.
Public outrage has grown at these events, and now riots are breaking out across Bucharest. What will come of this volatile response is uncertain.
At 6:36 PM, local time, law enforcement in the city of Bucharest received a phone call. On the line was a young woman. She was frantic and it took ten minutes to calm her down. She claimed that her husband had been shot by two men in a pickup truck on Strada Palonã. They responded immediately by deploying two cars, with two officers each to the scene. They assumed, in a move that has caused outrage, that the shooters were after a single, targeted victim. They stopped their response there. The woman was questioned and the body removed from the street. But just 10 minutes after the first shooting, before the first officers even arrived, they got another call. In the Parcul Grădina Icoanei, a small park just a kilometer away, 18 civilians were shot. The shooters were in the same pickup truck.
By now many more officers had been dispatched. Ten patrol vehicles in total were out, helping the wounded and searching for the shooters. An hour passed without any other word from the shooters. Then, at 7:52 PM, the phone lines were clogged with calls. The shooters were in the National Museum of Romania, holding over 100 people hostage. This is where many people say the officers on duty made the biggest mistake. They did not call for backup. They did not negotiate. 30 officers, armed only with sidearms, attempted to rush into the building. Immediately inside the doors officers Banica and Vulcan were shot dead, and four others were wounded. The shooters were armed with submachine guns. The other cops rushed behind pillars, desks, and exhibits for cover.
The second of the shooters turned to the hostages. He picked out the first- a young girl. He planted a bullet in her head. When her parents stood, shocked, sobbing, he shot both of them. He then began systematically going through the hostages one at a time. While this was going on, the officers were engaged in a firefight with the other shooter, who was behind a famous and highly regarded ancient pillar. The gunfight scarred and pitted the surface, destroying the intricate carvings on it. another 10 officers were injured and one killed before they managed to injure the shooter enough to advance. These poorly trained officers then executed the man on the ground, as well as the second shooter. By now 58 civilians had been executed. Paramedics arrived shortly.
Public outrage has grown at these events, and now riots are breaking out across Bucharest. What will come of this volatile response is uncertain.