Roswell Daily Record
NYC police kill gunman
Vol. 121, No. 204 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economic recovery hasn’t felt much like one even for people who managed to find new jobs after being laid off. Most of them have had to settle for less pay. Only 56 percent of Americans laid off from January 2009 through December 2011 had found jobs ... - PAGE A2
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NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Johnson hid behind a car in his business suit and tie near the Empire State Building, waiting for the man he blamed for costing him his job. He put a gun to the executive’s head and fired five times, then walked off with his briefcase into the morning rush of midtown Manhattan.
NEW JOBS, LESS MONEY
August 25, 2012
Minutes later, Johnson was dead in front of the landmark skyscraper, killed by police Friday in a chaotic confrontation that sent bullets ricocheting, wounded nine other people and left sidewalks near one of the world’s best-known landmarks spattered with blood.
Police released dramatic surveillance video that showed the confrontation lasted only a few seconds. Johnson was walking rapidly down the street trailed by two police officers when he stopped, wheeled around and pulled out a
gun. About a dozen people ran for their lives, including two small children who were just feet away from Johnson. He pointed the gun at the officers, who quickly fired at him. Johnson dropped his briefcase, fell to his knees and then collapsed on the ground. The bystanders likely were hit by police officers’ stray gunfire, some of it bullets that rebounded off planters in front of the skyscraper and grazed pedestrians. The two officers fired 16 shots. The surveillance video shows Johnson pointing his weapon at police, but it’s likely he did not get a chance to fire, investigators said. Startled New Yorkers looked up from their morning routines in the crowded business district to see people sprawled in the streets bleeding and a tarp covering the
body in front of the tourist landmark. Johnson, who neighbors had seen leave his apartment in a suit every day since he was laid off a year ago, had worked for six years for Hazan Imports and was let go when the company downsized, police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. Police were looking into his relationship with the victim, Steven Ercolino, the company’s vice president of sales, who had traded accusations of harassment with Johnson when he worked there. Johnson, 58, also blamed Ercolino for his layoff, saying that he hadn’t aggressively marketed Johnson’s new T-shirt line, police spokesman Paul Browne said. A construction worker who saw the shooting followed Johnson and
It’s gonna be a dugout when it’s done
See NYC, Page A3
Police crime scene tape blocks 34th Street at Fifth Avenue after a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building, Friday.
WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Working Mother’s Nursery gives back ... • RPD arrests Chavez for kidnapping • Dem HQ opens on Main • Romney stumps in Hobbs • Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest ...
SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Louie Noriega of Waide Construction builds a dugout for a new baseball field across the street from Goddard High School, Friday morning. Construction has been ongoing for a baseball and soccer field complex.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford were college teammates at Oklahoma who have had some similarities in the NFL. Both had standout rookies seasons, though a year apart — running back Murray with the Dallas Cowboys last fall after St. Louis Rams quarterback Bradford’s impressive debut as the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year in 2010. There were also the ankle injuries that hampered both last season. They will play in the same game for the first time ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Daniel Jenks - PAGE A7
HIGH ...96˚ LOW ....68˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
RISD numbers drop JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
INSIDE
ST. LOUIS AT DALLAS TONIGHT
AP Photo
On the 10th day of school, Roswell Independent School District’s enrollment for the 2012-2013 school year is down from last year’s numbers. Superintendent Tom Burris said total enrollment for the district this year is 10,010. “Right now we do it so that we can look at staf fing,” Burris said. “We’ve moved people around and accommodated where we are growing ... So we’re making staffing decisions today.” He added that district officials are examining the number of teacher and instructional aids in each classroom.
J.O.Y. Centers help Romney touches ‘birther’ issue seniors stay healthy, active, independent
This article is one in a series of stories focusing on local agencies, which receive support from the United Way of Chaves County, which is currently conducting its annual fundraising campaign. CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
Chaves County J.O.Y. Centers Inc. is dedicated to helping the elderly members of the community maintain a healthy and independent lifestyle, a service that executive director Charlie Phillips feels is crucial in this area.
See RISD, Page A3
COMMERCE, Mich. (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney raised the discredited rumor that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States, jokingly declaring “no one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate” as he campaigned Friday near his own Michigan birthplace.
“We have a considerable population of senior citizens in Chaves County,” she said. “The programs that we provide are significant in assisting elders in the community to live alone and be independent for as long as possible.” The four locations in Dexter, Hagerman, Lake Arthur and of course Roswell, serve senior citi-
Romney later insisted the remark was just a joke and not meant to question Obama’s citizenship. But the comment risked creating an unwanted distraction for Romney in his last few days of campaigning before the Republican National Convention begins Monday. It came a day after Romney caused another stir by declaring that big business was “doing fine” in the current struggling economy in part because companies get advantages from offshore tax havens.
Romney made his birth certificate remark at a large outdoor rally in Michigan, where he grew up and where his See ROMNEY, Page A3
See UNITED, Page A3
AP Photo
Mitt Romney during a campaign rally in Commerce, Mich., Friday.
Bobby Goode: Welder, award-winning artist in metal, photographer JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 STATE ...................A7 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Julia Bergman Photo
Bobby Goode welds a piece of angle iron at his shop.
Bobby Goode’s calloused hands smeared with dirt and grime, revealing the wear of working for his family’s welding business since the fifth grade, may render him an unlikely candidate for producing art, but the nearly lifelong welder has earned several awards for his metal art and photography work, which hasve been featured at a number of area venues. Upon returning from his lunch break, Goode, 47, glimpsing at his already black palms and finger-
nails, said, “I did wash them before I went to lunch.” Goode first started producing metal art using the scraps he found around the shop at Goode’s Welding, 926 E. McGaffey St., first established by his grandfather in 1951. He remembers the first piece he made was a tiny metal flower, which he says is still somewhere in the shop. Since a young age, Goode
has taken pleasure from working with his hands. “I’m the type that can’t sit still for very long. I’ve got to be doing something,” he said. Around the age of nine, he built a 4½ by 8 foot trailer out of scrap metal, which he still uses today, with minimal help from his father, Billy. “He’d show me on one side and See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3