Hello LIST,
I am reporting to you the tragedy at the FHC, Salt Lake City.
The following is an eye witness account:
We learned today, to our horror, that Salt Lake City, and the Family
History Center, are not immune from the actions of a crazed individual.
I was on the main floor of the FHL, reading "The State of Franklin", in
which Rev. Thomas Woolsey signed his name to a petition for a new state,
pondering the imponderables, (my wife says I was asleep). 10:35 a.m. MDT
(approx.)
She had been on the second floor, and had walked down the curving
staircase, and through the front lobby, just a minute or two previously,
and was in the stacks looking for a couple of books, when a man in a
baseball cap and full beard, in army fatigues, began systematically to fire
a gun in the front lobby.
I wasn't the first one under the table, but I may have been the second. My
wife hid behind a big column in the stacks. The gunman must have fired
20-25 shots, not rapid but slowly, as if he was picking targets. He either
had two guns or someone got a couple of shots at him, because I heard a
louder, deeper shot twice.
He killed the Church security guard at the entrance, and a woman, a patron,
of the library, and shot at least five other people. I think he did most
of the shooting in the lobby of the building, but I wasn't about to stick
my head out and see what was going on. I was doing a good job of playing
dead.
After about eight or ten minutes under the tables, we were evacuated out
the rear of the building where I met up with my wife, both so relieved we
were all right.
We all went into a near-by hotel and waited for word. Finally, we began to
get news from the t.v. which stated that the gunman was holed-up in a room
and shots were being exchanged with a Salt Lake City Swat team. Rumors
were rife.
This may have been a man who had had an altercation at the library last
evening. He also appeared at the "Triad Center" (KSL t.v.) this morning
and was asking directions to the FHL. There was a yellow Rider U-Rent
truck parked next to the Triad Center and so a bomb squad was called and
people were evacuated from there and also from the Delta Center (Jazz
basketball).
The Swat Team killed the gunman and they announced that he was not wired to
any bomb. They then made a careful sweep of the building because it was
thought there may have been a second gunman. I don't know about that, yet.
About 20 or 30 people in the FHL could not come down from the second floor
(where the census records and microfilms and readers are) so they locked
themselves into a couple of rooms and are still there, the last I heard a
few minutes ago.
About 13 other people were "injured" during this senseless attack,
heart-attacks, anxiety attacks, etc. So they are saying about 20 people
have been "injured". With three dead, security guard, one woman, and the
gunman.
Oh, how I long for a return to a simpler life, a more sensible life, a
better life. "Sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind". A terrible, terrible
tragedy, and a sad commentary on the world in which we live today.
I was amazed at how long this gunman shot, carefully and deliberately, it
seemed like an hour, but was probably about 10 minutes, while we cowered
under the tables, not moving, nor speaking, not wanting to call undue
attention to ourselves. I wasn't too scared, as I didn't notice any
bullets coming close to me, but not knowing when the next shot would come
or from where. It was not rapid fire, but slow and deliberate.
One of the Church missionaries, a sweet man, was shot in the chest, I don't
know how he is doing at the moment. One woman was shot in the shoulder and
another woman had facial lacerations.
I am relieved to report that we are all well, though my glasses, note book,
and briefcase and coat are still in the library.
I'll go back tomorrow and retrieve them. All of Downtown Salt Lake was
cordoned off and six of seven emergency teams (units) were at the scene.
The gunman has since been identified as a 70 year old schezophrenic, and
hadn't taken his medication.
Will stop for now and catch my breath.
Wilford W. Whitaker