Decatur Again In Weird News

Stephen Decatur.

The Commodore's power moniker is appearing lately in conjunction with some disturbing stories.

Friday, September 19, 2014. Decatur, Georgia. Friday afternoon around 2:00, Decatur (Georgia) Police got several phone calls that a man acting in a "bizarre" matter, running into traffic near B&B Trailer Park. One caller reported the man, later identified as Jose Dorsett, said "someone" was trying to kill him. He reportedly ran into traffic, and several cars had to swerve to avoid him. He was said to be foaming at the mouth. Dorsett charged the officer who responded to the scene, and the officer used his K-9 to detain him. The K-9 bit Dorsett in his thigh, and the officer was able to get him down. Another officer arrived to help handcuff Dorsett. He was taken to the Decatur Morgan Parkway Campus Emergency Room. According to hospital staff, Dorsett was under the influence of cocaine and was likely experiencing a drug overdose. On Saturday, Dorsett was declared brain dead. Source.

Sunday, September 21, 2014. Decatur, Indiana. Stephen Cox, 30, of Decatur, Indiana, died Sunday at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to the Hamilton County Coroner. The crash in which he sustained his injuries occurred September 14 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ohio. the crash occurred during an event called the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. During the event, which is offered at the speedway on most weekends, people can pay to ride in or drive race cars. Source.

Monday, September 22, 2014. Decaturville, Decatur County, Tennessee. The latest suspect, John “Dylan” Adams, 26-year old younger brother of earlier suspect Zachary, in the Holly Bobo case was arraigned in Decatur County Court. Holly Bobo, a 20-year-old nursing student, was abducted from her home outside Parsons, Tennessee, about 100 miles west of Nashville, on the morning of April 13, 2011. Her remains were found by two farmers in a rural area outside Holladay, Tennessee, in Decatur County on September 7, 2014. The timeline of the events can be found here and here.

Monday, September 22, 2014. Decatur, Alabama. A toddler found submerged in a tank of baptismal water in an Alabama church died of accidental drowning. Brayden King, who was two months shy of his second birthday, was under the supervision of a sister in her early teens when he fell into the tank on Friday at the Pentecostal House of Prayer in Decatur, about 75 miles north of Birmingham. The toddler was found in 33 inches of water and declared dead after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him. Source.

The Rebirth of Pan (1st edition, Firebird Press, 1983)

Mysterious America (1st edition cover, Faber & Faber, 1983)

Decatur again. Yes. We are aware that Decatur interacts with bizarre news. Jim Brandon pointed out "Decatur" as a "power name" in his The Rebirth of Pan in 1983, and I wrote about it as part of the "Name Game" in Mysterious America, also first in 1983.

Decatur, Illinois's iconic Transfer Station use to be located in Lincoln Square, named after the assassinated Illinois president, Abraham Lincoln.

My old hometown’s name, Decatur, (of Decatur, Illinois) has a Fortean mystique and synchromysticism about it that has created all kinds of synchromojo.

Several locations are named "Decatur" across the United States of America. Such sites are named after the War of 1812′s Navy hero, Stephen Decatur, who also fought against the Barbary pirates. Stephen Decatur at one time conducted tests in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in 1804, and allegedly fired on the Jersey Devil. The records say that Stephen Decatur identified the winged creature as a “devil” – pale in color, with leathery bat-like wings. Decatur perforated one of the thing’s wings with a fired cannonball, but it seemed unfazed, which disturbed everybody who was there at the time. It flew off.

The word decatur (French in origin) is loosely translated as “dweller at the sign of the cat.”

Stephen Decatur, a Masonic figure of some noteworthiness, is responsible, as well, for the Stephen Decatur House in Washington D.C., which is located on Lafayette Square.

The USS Bainbridge, which organized the 2009 US Navy rescue of an American ship captain (Captain Richard Phillips) from Somali pirates, was named for Commodore William Bainbridge, who was held prisoner by North African Barbary pirates from 1803 to 1806.

Commodore Bainbridge commanded several famous naval ships, including the USS Constitution and saw service in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. Bainbridge was also in command of the USS Philadelphia when it grounded off the shores of Tripoli in North Africa, resulting in his capture and imprisonment for many months. In the latter part of his career he became the U.S. Naval Commissioner.

Lieutenant Stephen Decatur commanding the USS Intrepid executed a night raid into Tripoli harbor on February 16, 1804 to destroy the Philadelphia. Admiral Horatio Nelson is said to have called this "the most bold and daring act of the Age."

It is worthy of pointing out that James Shelby Downard's research in King Kill 33 notes that Bain relates to Bane (fatal cause of mischief), and in Scottish legend, the Bain Fairy is a death fairy who is the keeper of the Bain Bridge. King Kill 33 noted the American battleship Bainbridge, which was dedicated by Lyndon Baines Johnson, is a harbinger of death, according to Downard.

On March 22, 1820, Commodore Bainbridge served as the second for Commodore Stephen Decatur (a Brother Mason) in the duel with fellow Navy officer James Barron that cost Decatur his life at the age of 41. His wife Susan called the seconds Decatur's assassins. The Decatur name game is a book unto itself.

Decatur's name dots the landscape of America.

U.S. Naval Academy

117 Decatur Road

Annapolis, Maryland

The chorus: "That Decatur old Neptune's proud trident shall bear, And the laurels of Vict'ry triumphantly wear" appears in the song Stephen Decatur, as noted in The Life and Character of Stephen Decatur; Late Commodore and Post-Captain in the Navy of the United States, and Navy-Commissioner by Samuel Putnam Waldo (1822).

(Thanks to Robert Schneck for pointing out the Decatur, Alabama story to me.)

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Suffer The Little Children, Part II

A 3-year-old girl (identified as Wynter Larkin) is dead after an accident occurred at a Rita's Water Ice Saturday afternoon [June 28, 2014].A security gate detached and came crashing down on the child shortly after 4 p.m. when she was standing outside a Rita's location at 2829 Girard Ave. in Philadelphia's Brewerytown neighborhood, according to reports.
An ambulance rushed the victim to Hahnemann University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:02 p.m., according to officials.
Police say the girl was with her mother attending a fundraising event for the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority when the tragedy occurred. (Read more at source.)

Photos from the scene show the black metal gate lying on the sidewalk, pink balloons still tied to it in front of the shop's red and white striped awning.
Several popped balloons appear trapped underneath the gate, which businesses typically roll down after hour to prevent crime. (These details were graphically mentioned in the Daily Mail.)

Omega Psi Phi (ΩΨΦ) Fraternity, Inc. is the first international fraternal organization to be founded on the campus of a historically black college.
Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The founders were three Howard University undergraduates, -- Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman. Joining them was their faculty adviser, Dr. Ernest Everett Just.

From the initials of the Greek phrase meaning, "friendship is essential to the soul," the name Omega Psi Phi was derived. That phrase was selected as the motto. Source.

Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑΚΑ) is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African-American college women. Membership is primarily for college educated women, but not all members have attended college. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of twenty students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. Source.

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In an update of an earlier "Suffer The Little Children" item about the child who died in a SUV in the Atlanta area, CNN reported:

The suspect in a Georgia toddler's death told police he used the Internet to research child deaths inside vehicles, a search warrant said.
The father, Justin Ross Harris, 33, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and second-degree child cruelty in the death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper Harris. The boy died after he was left seven hours in a sweltering SUV on June 18.
"During an interview with Justin, he stated that he recently researched, through the internet, child deaths inside vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for that to occur," according to a sworn statement in the warrant from a police officer. "Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen."
According to search warrants from a Cobb County magistrate court, investigators seized a number of items from the father's home: An iPhone 5, Hyundai car, home laptop computer, computer tower, a Google Chromecast Internet searcher and other electronic devices.

On Sunday, June 29th, CNN noted:

Leanna Harris, the mother of a Georgia toddler who died locked in a hot car, has told authorities that she previously researched such deaths and how they occur, according to a police affidavit.

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In a followup on another earlier report, "Solstice Missing Teen Found Dead in Maine," details have emerged about his slaying:

Three young men, one of them from Sanford, Maine, face the possibility of life in prison after being charged Thursday [June 26, 2014] with the premeditated stabbing death of a teenager whose body was dumped last weekend in Lebanon, Maine.
Zachary Pinette, 18, of Sanford appeared Thursday in Dover District Court to be formally charged with the first-degree murder of Aaron Wilkinson.
His co-defendants, Michael Tatum, 21, of Barrington, New Hampshire, and Tristan Wolusky, 18, of Rochester, New Hampshire, appeared from the Strafford County Jail through a video link.
The three are charged with killing Wilkinson outside his house in Madbury, a small town next to Dover. Pinette drove them there from Maine after midnight on Saturday, and held a machete as the other two stabbed Wilkinson with knives and then the machete, according to documents filed by prosecutors.
The documents say that at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Pinette aided Wolusky and Tatum in committing first-degree murder. The documents also say that Tatum stabbed Wilkinson with a knife, and that Wolusky used a “knife and/or machete.” Source.

It may not be a coincidence that this killing took place a few hours before the Solstice.

See also, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."

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Friday the 13th At Waffle House

Police say a Waffle House cook shot and killed a customer after an argument the morning of Friday, June 13th, 2014.

As you will recall, I was drawn to Eric Frank Russell's quote on June 12th, about death from the Martin Building.

It appears the suspect in the Waffle House shooting is a Martin. His name is Quintavius (which means "the fifth born") Martin (derived from Martis, the genitive case of the name of the Roman god of war, Mars).

  
Officers said they were called to the Waffle House, outside Atlanta, Georgia, on Fulton Industrial Boulevard and Shirley Drive, south of I-20, right after 4:30 a.m.

"Three people came in and they were being unruly,” said witness Ontray Haley. “The female that was with them they asked her to leave so she left, but the two guys hung around and one of them got into it with the cook and the security guard. Next this I know shots rang out and it was a chaotic scene. Everybody was running and ducking.”

Fulton County police detectives said the customer, identified as 33-year-old Adrian Mosley, may have thrown water into 25-year-old Quintavius Martin’s face before Martin, the Waffle House cook, pulled a gun.

“The guy was threatening the cook saying he's from this side of town and (Martin) said you can take it outside because I’m going to fire you up, which I guess he meant he wanted to shoot him or whatever,” Haley said. “I didn’t know the cook had a weapon on him because I thought the security guard shot him.”

When the gunfire stopped, Mosley was dead, police said.

“I hit the floor, got out of the way of gunfire,” said Haley. “It was crowded. People were just coming from the club up the street.”

Martin is charged with murder, among other charges, according to police.

Police said they are reviewing surveillance video from the restaurant.

The Waffle House was open for business by Friday afternoon of the same day.

Waffle Houses seem to attract such events....

In the early morning hours of Saturday, May 31, 2014, Kevin Jordan, a 43-year-old Griffin police officer and father of seven was shot and killed outside of the Waffle House at 1702 North Expressway, in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He was working as an off-duty security officer, in full uniform.

Griffin police said three drunken white individuals accosted Jordan, an African-American, with racial slurs before one of them, Michael D. Bowman, 30, shot Officer Jordan multiple times in the back.

A rather infamous multiple killing occurred at a Waffle House that is east of Interstate 75 in Davie, Florida, about 10 miles southwest of Fort Lauderdale.

On March 11, 2002, robbers left two employees dead and one injured. The victims, one man and one woman, were found in a freezer area of the Waffle House. Gerhard "Chip" Hojan, 28, and Jimmy Mickel, 34, had robbed the Waffle House of $1,888, and did not wish to leave any eyewitnesses. They did shoot Christina Delarosa, 17, a waitress, Willy Absolu, 29, the cook, and Barbara Nunn, 38, also a waitress. Nunn, however, survived the bullet to the back of her head, and identified the killers.

One site says that due to these "Waffle House Murders," this location is now haunted.

There is something a little bizarre about Waffle Houses, perhaps.

See also, the 2012 article, "15 Strange Crimes That Took Place At A Waffle House."

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D-Day: War at Georgia Courthouse & Stabbing at Navy Exchange

A man dressed in paramilitary gear, armed with explosives and an assault rifle tried to enter the Forsyth County, Georgia courthouse on June 6, 2014 - on D-Day. The suspect began a "frontal assault" on the building by driving up, throwing out "homemade spike strips" to delay any police response, and trying to run over a deputy. The gunman was wearing a gas mask and a bulletproof vest, when he shot a sheriff's deputy in the leg.

Law enforcement authorities killed Dennis Marx outside the courthouse, after a 90-second shootout.

"Mr. Marx's intention was to get in that front door and take hostages," law enforcement authorities said.

Marx then began firing through his windshield, hitting the deputy in the leg. He also threw gas grenades -- perhaps pepper grenades -- during the attack and had flex ties and water in his possession, according to the sheriff.

The wounded deputy, who has not been identified, was shot while stopping Marx before he could get inside. The deputy is fine, the sheriff said.

A bomb squad was sweeping a Georgia courthouse, and investigators believed Marx's home was possibly booby-trapped and were trying to get in.

Clerk of Court Greg Allen said Marx had a plea hearing scheduled.

Ann Shafer, who identified herself as Marx's attorney, said her client always dressed in paramilitary clothing whenever she met with him and said that he had made "veiled threats" recently.

"Our relationship deteriorated," she said.

The name Dennis is Greek, and the meaning of the name Dennis is "follower of Dionysius (Greek god of wine)."

The name Marx is German, and the meaning of Marx is "of Mars (the god of war)."

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Meanwhile, also on D-Day, June 6, 2014...

The U.S. Navy was in the midst of a massive manhunt Friday for a sailor, Petty Officer 3rd Class Wilbur Harwell, that officials said stabbed another service member near the Navy Exchange at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Portsmouth Annex, Virginia. It appears to have happened during an argument between two sailors. The installation is home to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth and sits near a residential area on the Elizabeth River, where thousands of people had gathered across the river in downtown Norfolk to watch a parade of ships as part of the annual Harborfest festival.
The victim hasn't been identified.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Wilbur Harwell

The name Wilbur is German, and the meaning of Wilbur is "resolute or brilliant."

Harwell, also written as Hardwell and Horwell, originates from either the village of Hardwell in the county of Royal Berkshire or the better known town of Harwell, in the same county. The first village has the meaning of the "treasure spring," and relates to a pagan place of worship where people came to throw coins in for good luck. The derivation is from the Olde English pre-7th century horde waella, with waella meaning a "spring," and only later in medival times, a "well" in the conventional sense. Harwell has a rather different interpretation being the "spring on the grey hill," from the early recording in 936 a.d of Haranwhylle. "Grey" is probably not the actual translation, and it may be that the reference is to the "grey/white chalk hills in the vicinity."

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Rambo-Style Shooter Goes Postal at FedEx

The name Kennesaw is derived from the Cherokee Indian word gah-nee-sah meaning cemetery or burial ground. The name hit home on April 29, 2014.

At least six victims have been taken to a hospital after a shooting this morning at a FedEx facility in Kennesaw, Georgia, Cobb County police say. The shooting happened at a Fed-Ex facility at 1675 Airport Road in Kennesaw.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are on the scene of the suspected workplace shooting.

Officials from WellStar Kennestone Hospital say they've received six patients from the shooting, hospital spokesman Tyler Pearson said. One of the six was in surgery, he said. Injuries range from minor to serious. Kennestone is a Level II Trauma Center.

A witness stated the FedEx 19-year-old shooter, dressed all in black, had an assault rifle, a knife and bullets strapped across his chest, "like Rambo."

Rambo is a film series based on the David Morrell novel First Blood and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former Green Beret who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand to hand combat and guerrilla warfare. The series consists of the films First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), and Rambo (2008).

FedEx is "aware of the situation," company spokesman Scott Fielder said when asked about reports of a shooting.

Officials say the lone suspected gunman was found dead, likely from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. The gunman is described as a "package handler," an employee of the facility.

The gunman has been identified as Geddy Kramer. Kramer was a 2013 graduate of North Cobb High School.
Kennesaw is about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta.

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On Friday, March 28, 2014, a FedEx employee, a 48-year-old female, making deliveries was shot and wounded in Chicago. The company confirmed the victim is an employee. Police say the Friday night shooting occurred in the Oakland neighborhood on the city's South Side.

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While "going postal," as a phrase, has come into usage, due to the workplace violence incidents at the United States Postal Services, there appears to be more silence regarding any kind of similar phenomenon occurring at FedEx centers and workplaces. Before this one.

But buried deep in workplace violence documents, there are hints of a greater problem.

The following incident of April 7, 1994, is mentioned in a workplace violence white paper:
"A Federal Express pilot took a claw hammer and attacked three others in the cockpit, forcing one of them to put the fully loaded DC-10 cargo plane through a series of violent rolls and nose dive that brought the whole crew back bleeding....The case of Auburn R. Calloway, on the other hand, who attacked three of his fellow Federal Express pilots, was unpredictable. Calloway had organized his Neighborhood Watch Program and was an ex-Navy pilot. However, he was scheduled to appear the next day before a disciplinary hearing at Federal Express to face charges that he had lied about his military and work experience."

The official FedEx employee manual states:

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

FedEx has zero tolerance for workplace violence and has established clear standards of behavior in our policies. Conflicts must always be resolved in a peaceful, professional and respectful manner. The FedEx Workplace Violence Prevention Program helps to provide team members and vendors with a safe and secure work environment. Our mission is to increase awareness of developing situations and other indicators of workplace violence. Unauthorized firearms or weapons are strictly prohibited on company-leased or -owned property and in buildings, aircraft or vehicles. Possession of firearms or weapons on company property may be grounds for immediate dismissal.

All FedEx employees are responsible for reporting potential or actual situations of workplace violence either through a special web-based reporting system, contacting a member of FedEx Management, Security or Human Resources, or calling the FedEx Alert Line in their respective countries.

All reported instances of workplace violence are investigated by a Workplace Violence Response Team, which is a group established to help maintain a safe and secure workplace. The team is made up of members from the following areas: Security, Legal, Human Resources, Benefits, Safety, Contract Relations and the Employee Assistance Program. When the Response Team receives a report of potential workplace violence, they properly investigate and make a recommendation of action to be taken.

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Kroger Shooting

SM Smithfield recently left a comment tied to a January 27th school shooting near the Phoenix High School: "The Phoenix is the city symbol for Atlanta. And Lawrenceville is very much part of Atlanta."

Today, February 10, 2014, a new incident occurred in Lawrenceville:

Police are investigating a reported shooting inside a Gwinnett County Kroger, authorities said.
Witnesses told Channel 2 Gwinnett Bureau Chief Tony Thomas they heard gunshots inside the store on Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville.
Lawrenceville Police said two people have been transported to the hospital and two people have been taken into custody.
A police spokesman said there may have been an altercation before the shooting.
News Chopper 2 showed a large police presence and crime tape in the parking lot in front of the store entrance.
Kroger issued a statement on Monday afternoon.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. No Kroger associates were injured. We are working closely with the Lawrenceville police department and providing information to assist with their investigation. Our store has been evacuated and will reopen at a later date." Source.

This appears to not be a shooting spree or mass shooting, but the result of a fight between two groups of people. Details will be forthcoming.

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Decatur Again: School Shooting Season Begins

Decatur, Georgia, was in the news a week ago. A school shooting nearly became deadly, and, I speculate because of the publicity about it, a workplace shooting occurred over the weekend.

Mass shootings follow a known pattern - another form of school, business-related, or mass violence usually comes within days of a well-publicized event - then more routinely another shooting happens in a week, two weeks, a month, and a year. It doesn't always take place with such regularity, but it often does.

The other predictor of future shootings is the copycat effect that comes into play after an end of the school year outburst. It feels like a Newtown bounce this fall may happen; I hope not but such a possibility is worthy of being on our radar.

Awareness is a key. People protecting others in schools, colleges, malls, churches, workplaces, and similar locations need to be alert. We are entering a dangerous "red zone" time of year. 

The Rebirth of Pan (1st edition, Firebird Press, 1983)

Mysterious America (1st edition cover, Faber & Faber, 1983)

Decatur again. Yes. We are use to Decatur in the weird news. Jim Brandon pointed out "Decatur" as a "power name" in his The Rebirth of Pan in 1983, and I wrote about it as part of the "Name Game" in Mysterious America, also first in 1983.

First described as "Atlanta-area," the "almost deadly" school shooting happening last Tuesday, August 20, 2013, occurred at Decatur, Georgia's Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy. The elementary school was named for the second AfricanAmerican astronaut, who died aboard the Challenger, the space shuttle that exploded after takeoff on January 28, 1986.

Michael Brandon Hill, 20, opened fire in the school, using an AK-47, to six bullets in the floor of the office. But as he was calmed down by school bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff, who spoke to Hill while on the phone with the 911 operator. She talked him into surrendering, and the publicity was heightened when President Obama called her a "hero."

Investigator T.L. Wortham of the DeKalb County Sheriff Department's Fugitive Unit told the media that as officers were apprehending the suspect, Hill said, "I'm sorry, I'm off my meds." Several weapons were seized, Wortham said.

Hill took a photo of himself (a "selfie") with an AK 47-style rifle and packed up nearly 500 rounds of ammunition — enough to shoot more than half the school's students - police later said.

After the Decatur incident, another shooting - with six shot - occurred on Saturday, August 25, 2013, in Lake Butler, Florida. The alleged shooter, Hubert Allen Jr., 72, was reported dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a “complete shooting rampage” at Pritchett Trucking. The owner of Pritchett Trucking and the farm, Rolling Oaks, Marvin Pritchett, 80, was first killed. Allen then drove to a local bar where he shot and killed Romando Gonzales Delgado, 28, and then killed himself. The gunman was identified as the step-grandfather of Buffalo Bills running back C.J. Spiller.

Decatur, Georgia, has had its brushes with infamy in the recent past.

In June 5, 2012, a fight lead to a stabbing Decatur’s Columbia High School. Two days later, on Thursday, June 7, 2012, a gun was brought to the DeKalb County school after stabbing incident. And then on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, loaded guns were seized at two area high schools.

Mark David Chapman, the assassin of Beatle John Lennon, attended Decatur, Georgia's Columbia High School from 1971-1975. (His high school photograph is at top.)

Decatur, Illinois's old Transfer Station use to be located near Lincoln Square, named after the assassinated Illinois president.

My old hometown’s name, Decatur, (of Decatur, Illinois) has a Fortean mystique and synchromysticism about it that has created all kinds of mojo.

Several locations are named "Decatur" across the United States of America.

Such sites are named after the War of 1812′s Navy hero, Stephen Decatur, who fought against the Barbary pirates. Decatur at one time conducted tests in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in 1804, and fired on the Jersey Devil. The records say that Stephen Decatur identified the winged creature as a “devil” – pale in color, with leathery bat-like wings. Decatur perforated one of the thing’s wings with a fired cannonball, but it seemed unfazed, which disturbed everybody who was there at the time. It flew off.

The word decatur (French in origin) is loosely translated as “dweller at the sign of the cat,” and Native Americans who lived in the area that is now Central Illinois had numerous stories of encounters with large dark predatory cats, which are still sighted in the area to this very day.

Stephen Decatur, a Masonic figure of some noteworthiness, is responsible, as well, for the Stephen Decatur House in Washington D.C., which is located on Lafayette Square.

Should we be surprised if an outburst of new violence occurs in the wake of the copycat effect recoil from Newtown? Will it "pick" a location with a "power name"?

How can the next wave be prevented? Certainly, ignoring the patterns of the past is not wise.

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Coastal Empire Fair Shooting

In Alabama, the shooter had on a devil's mask. A few days later, a Georgia gunman wore a mask and a black jumpsuit.

Police are searching for at least one gunman who opened fire last night, wounding seven, at a crowded fair in Savannah.

A large crowd had gathered at the Coastal Empire Fair, located on Chatham County's Savannah, Georgia's suburban south side, when witnesses heard gunshots about an hour before the fair's 11:30 p.m. closing time.

No one was killed during the late-night shooting at the Coastal Empire Fair on Saturday, November 3, 2012, but seven people have been treated for gunshot wounds at area hospitals. All victims are expected to survive, and none of the injuries were considered life-threatening.

Six of the victims were teenagers between the ages of 14 and 19, said police. The seventh victim was identified as a 36-year-old woman.

The fair was reopened on Sunday. The shooter remained at large in Georgia.

About two weeks earlier, on Friday, October 19, 2012, in Jefferson County, Alabama, a lone gunman wearing a devil's mask was the problem.

A masked man armed with a rifle -- possibly a shotgun -- robbed Rogers convenience store in 6700 block of Old Springville Road at about 11:22 p.m. A Winn Dixie at 2402 Old Springville Road was robbed about 10:45 p.m. by a man armed with a rifle and wearing a devil mask. Armed with a rifle, he burst into the store, went to a cashier and demanded money. He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.

A 53-year-old Jefferson County man, a customer at the Rogers convenience store on Old Springville Road, was shot in the stomach or chest area Friday night when he tried to chase down the gunman in a devil's mask who had just robbed the store. He has undergone two surgeries at UAB Hospital since the shooting.

The gunman, Jefferson County sheriff's officials said today, remains at large.

"This is obviously a very dangerous suspect,'' said Chief Deputy Randy Christian. " We are working diligently to ensure he is found and arrested."

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