04/18/24
May 05, 2008
Harrison asked about shooting: Indianapolis Colts star receiver Marvin Harrison was interviewed by police about a shooting near his North Philadelphia car wash this week.
He has always seemed like the stand up good guy. NOt anymore. NO no officer. It must have been another custom made .50 caliber belgium pistol used. Not mine. Huh? Prediction: this will end well.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:27 PM on May 05, 2008
Harrison has always been a little too quiet and reserved, in my opinion. I've heard rumors in the past about incidents that have been hushed up, but nothing involving guns. I'll wait and see how the investigation turns out before I care too much. Marvin is probably on the back burner now anyway.
posted by curlyelk at 01:31 PM on May 05, 2008
Here's more on the Belgian pistol that Harrison allegedly owns. Debo: You're willing to conclude that Harrison's not a good guy on the basis of what, exactly? He hasn't been charged with a crime.
posted by rcade at 01:59 PM on May 05, 2008
Damn Debo, don't get a traffic ticket or get pulled for being on your cell phone cause you'll no longer be a stand up guy either. Marvin Harrison hasn't even been charged with anything for anyone to come up with the conclusion that he's guilty so let's just let the proper authorities handle the situation and let's just relax a bit until further information is provided.
posted by BornIcon at 02:07 PM on May 05, 2008
Harrison has always been a little too quiet and reserved, in my opinion. Right, nothing says gangsta like being a little too quiet and reserved.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:59 PM on May 05, 2008
Well they do say you have to watch the quiet ones:)
posted by Drood at 03:32 PM on May 05, 2008
Here's more on the Belgian pistol that Harrison allegedly owns. Wow, I'm no Second Amendment absolutist, but the logic and tone of that piece leave a bit to be desired.
"In November (2005) the Homeland Security Department issued an 'Officer Safety Alert' regarding the (BFN 5.7) with the headline 'body armor defeating handgun,'" reported the Associated Press. "The alert said the Trumbull, Conn., police department had seized such a pistol and noted that its bullets were 'advertised as being able to penetrate 48 layers of Kevlar at 50 meters.'" Why exactly would a civilian need such a weapon?My guess is that a civilian (who in this case is super-rich) needs such a weapon for the same reason someone with money and a supersized ego living in the U.S. needs a Porsche G2 -- because it's the "best"/fastest/most powerful/etc. Americans, as a culture (at least in the higher reaches of the socioeconomic latter) buy stuff all the time with features and capabilities that they will never use or that would never be used in such a manner that the mid-range or lower priced model wouldn't have sufficed, from computers, to professional grade kitchens, to cars and, apparently, guns. Or maybe because criminals who might stick up a car wash or bar or try to rob an athlete's home might be wearing body armor themselves a la Omar Little.
posted by holden at 04:48 PM on May 05, 2008
I'm having kind of a hard time trying to figure out why, exactly, this is news at this point. The article says there are no suspects, they just wanted to interview Harrison because he owns, among other things, a car wash, a bar, and a handgun? And the extent of the crime was apparently the illegal discharge of a gun that evidently hit some glass, broke it, and got in a kid's eye? There was no attempt to shoot anyone as far as I can tell, unless I'm missing something glaring. Certainly not saying that Harrison isn't guilty of something (owning a questionable weapon, maybe a lapse of responsibility) but this sure doesn't strike me as warranting a media feeding frenzy. Shit, it's all over the ESPNNews ticker while there are NHL and NBA playoff games going on, but I guess that's the sensationalistic nature of the American news factory these days.
posted by tahoemoj at 04:52 PM on May 05, 2008
The Philadelphia Police Department just wanted a few photos with Marvin, that's all. The incident was their big chance to call and meet the guy.
posted by BoKnows at 05:04 PM on May 05, 2008
Update: they have matched shell casings from HIS gun to the shooting and found the gun in a bucket at the car wash he owns. Unless Marvin left his gun for his employees (a bonehead move in its own right) he's got some trouble headed his way.
posted by Tinman at 08:43 PM on May 05, 2008
but I guess that's the sensationalistic nature of the American news factory these days. How true, even I was a featured "sensational" story on ESPN. We don't know why the gun was even fired. So before people go making character judgements we should wait for the whole story, or at least a little more than we have thus far. Maybe.... it was a botched robbery attempt.
posted by brandy at 09:14 PM on May 05, 2008
Well they do say you have to watch the quiet ones:) Now, where is the logic in that? I bet if you are in a bar and there is a guy sitting by himself reading a book "being quiet" and there is a guy with a machette in his hand, banging it on the bar while yelling, "I'm going to kill the next mother****** that comes in here!" Who are you going to watch? You are God**** right.
posted by rototiller at 12:29 AM on May 06, 2008
Who are you going to watch? Well...that just might depend on the book that the guy is reading and better yet, if it's a John Grisham piece, then we have trouble a'brewing. As for the guy with the machette, if he's from Puerto Rico like I am, he probably just cut down a few sugar canes and had a little something-something to drink. There's nothing to worry about with that guy.
posted by BornIcon at 06:37 AM on May 06, 2008
How true, even I was a featured "sensational" story on ESPN. You were? Do tell.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:06 AM on May 06, 2008
Damn Debo, don't get a traffic ticket or get pulled for being on your cell phone cause you'll no longer be a stand up guy either. Wait a minute. I love all of you "hasn't been charged with anything yet people” He was in a shootout with basically an anti-aircraft gun. He didn’t get a traffic ticket and its not like this isn’t a easily traceable gun that was found later, hidden at his carwash. It wasn't a .22 folks. Then Marvin said and I quote “ I own a gun like that but it never left my house” So "Allegedly” someone must have broke in to his home, stole his gun, used it to shoot at someone, at Marvin’s bar, then hid it in Marvin's carwash. I want BI and LBB on my jury someday.
posted by Debo270 at 07:38 AM on May 06, 2008
Wait a minute. I love all of you "hasn't been charged with anything yet people” He was in a shootout with basically an anti-aircraft gun. Given that no one has yet posted a link to an article that says that "[h]e was in a shootout with basically an anti-aircraft gun", why is it an unreasonable to refuse to rush to judgment? If you've got the cite, post it, but until you do, don't get all snarky. Oh, and if you're stupid enough to need a jury some day, you could do a lot worse than having me on it, because I wouldn't be bellowing, "Guilty!" until I saw some pretty good evidence.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:50 AM on May 06, 2008
Some people in this country are guilty until proven innocent. That's just the way it is. Now if this had been debo's uncle jeb down south.....
posted by sportsblitz at 08:56 AM on May 06, 2008
LBB, i am serious, i would want you on my jury. My only problem here is the gun. This wasnt a .22 or a 9mm that there are thousands of. it was His special made imported gun from belguim. They matched the bullets already. Now no one was seriously hurt but I would think you keep pretty good track of a gun like that and know where it was. I would also think you dont lend it out very often.
posted by Debo270 at 09:05 AM on May 06, 2008
Leave Uncle Jeb out of this.
posted by Debo270 at 09:06 AM on May 06, 2008
They matched the bullets already. No, some unnamed source says they matched the bullets.
posted by bperk at 10:00 AM on May 06, 2008
Not a hard one to match.
posted by Debo270 at 10:03 AM on May 06, 2008
Right, nothing says gangsta like being a little too quiet and reserved. I didn't say he was a gangster. Harrison just seems like an odd guy. He's worth millions yet owns a bar and a car wash in North Philadelphia, which happens to be a very scary place. Maybe he is giving back to the community? He owns a custom made pistol with armor piercing bullets. I'm not a gun guy, but that seems excessive. Living and working in Indy, I've heard other stuff about the guy that seems strange. None of this means he has anything to do with the shooting or that he's a bad guy. It just doesn't pass the sniff test for me, but I'm curious to see how the investigation turns out.
posted by curlyelk at 10:52 AM on May 06, 2008
I may be way off base, and I don't me to be a rumor monger, but I thought that I had heard that Harrison had throttled a kid once who was asking for his autograph. I'll try to look it up to verify, but I was wondering if anyone else had heard of this? If so, it might say something about Marvin's squeaky clean public image. If the information that has been put forward by un-named sources is accurate about the gun, though, it would seem to be pretty obvious that he was involved. It's funny to me how we are always quick to vilify AND quick to vindicate based on public perception.
posted by THX-1138 at 12:59 PM on May 06, 2008
THX. I have seen that about him choking an autograph seeker, just dont remember where. O wait yes I do. At the end of this posted article that most people read before posting a comment. SNAP
posted by Debo270 at 01:05 PM on May 06, 2008
Debo, Sorry about not reading the entire article. I just forgot to scroll down the entire way. It also isn't like there are many articles in the paper, online, and in this very thread that are reporting the same thing. In my defense, I may have been mentally referring to something I read at home and not this particular article. Again, my apologies. And thanks for busting my balls about it. It's these little victories that must make your life full.
posted by THX-1138 at 01:18 PM on May 06, 2008
Sorry, Just felt like busting balls. Dont apologize to me. I feel much better about myself. I like to build myself up by putting others down. Thanks for letting me build some self esteem at your expense. You da man!
posted by Debo270 at 01:41 PM on May 06, 2008
I'm still not seeing anything regarding a shootout. From what I can infer, it was a discharge of a weapon, almost definitely illegal, but hardly constituting a shootout. Nothing says anything about the intent to hit someone with a bullet, only that a gun was fired, causing glass to hit someone in the eye. To refer to it as a shootout is irresponsible at the least.
posted by tahoemoj at 06:49 PM on May 06, 2008
He's worth millions yet owns a bar and a car wash in North Philadelphia, which happens to be a very scary place You're kidding right? I'm sure we could select 10 random people from north Philly, place them in your neighborhood and they would be twice as scared of your hood as you are of theirs. God forbid you go back to your neighborhood and open up businesses and provide jobs and such. On the contrary, why would a multi-millionaire need a gun in a scary neighborhood?
posted by sportsblitz at 07:54 PM on May 06, 2008
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Someone fired a gun in a city, another person was injured, some sort of charges will be filed. As to why Harrison would have a gun, come on. Gun ownership is legal, and the gun he owned is a legal weapon. If he obtained the proper licenses, then I do not have a single issue with him having it. Beyond that, don't get sucked up in all the hype about this particular handgun. This gun is capable of firing armour piercing bullets, those being the military SS-190's. Those bullets are not available for me, or Marvin to purchase. We can purchase the SS-196 ammunition, which is similar, but does not have the armour piercing ability. As to the authors making a big deal about the gun being certified by NATO, good grief, half the handguns made have been certified. Certainly the most popular handguns have. Glocks, Berretta's, and the FN's as well have all been used by various military and police organizations for years. Focus on the act, not on the gun, it's really not that unique of a weapon.
posted by dviking at 10:27 PM on May 06, 2008
He's worth millions yet owns a bar and a car wash in North Philadelphia, which happens to be a very scary place Said the guy '[l]iving and working in Indy'. I go to Philly and New York all the time since I live in the Tri-State area and there's nothing that's "very scary" about it except the damn traffic. That's just your opinion which doesn't make it true. Professional athletes are entitled to live & have businesses wherever they please and just because to some, it may not be the most cleanest or quietest part of town, that doesn't mean that he shouldn't be there.
posted by BornIcon at 09:14 AM on May 07, 2008
sportsblitz and BornIcon - I didn't intend for my "scary" comment to mean that North Philly is scary to me personally. Philadelphia, and particularly North Philadelphia, is a high crime rate area. Historically, North Philadelphia is a blighted area with drugs, violent crimes, slums, etc worse than the national average. I'm sure Harrison's businesses are an effort in revitalization and job growth. I'm also well aware that people have the right to live and work where they please, nowhere did I say otherwise. I just find the whole scenario bizarre.
posted by curlyelk at 03:08 PM on May 07, 2008
He has always seemed like the stand up good guy. NOt anymore. NO no officer. It must have been another custom made .50 caliber belgium pistol used. Not mine.