Requiem News

[Chelle]

I'm creating this thread as a way for players to track what's going on in news that generates from the Requiem venue. I will eventually put in "old news" that is of importance on here as well.

[Chelle]

Housefire Kills Four, Three in Critical Condition (OWH 4/14/07 Edition)

A three-alarm house fire was called in from Oakland, Nebraska at 1:10 a.m. Saturday morning. Firefighters responded quickly but the were unable to save four victims sleeping on the third floor of the three-story house. The three other individuals were taken to Oakland Memorial Hospital for second and third degree burns and smoke inhalation and were reported to be in critical condition at admittance. No suspects at this time but foul play is suspected and names of the victims and survivors are currently being held but will be forthcoming.

[Chelle]

TWO MASKED MEN OPEN FIRE, KILL OFFICER AND KIDNAP EMT AT CLARKSON HOSPITAL (Sunday OWH 4/22/07)

Approximately 12:30 a.m. Sunday April 22nd two men wearing black ski masks and black raincoats approached a parked ambulance bringing an injured man to Clarkson Hospital, demanding they release him into their care. When EMT's and paramedics refused, one of the two assailants pulled out a gun and aimed at one of the attending EMT's while the other brought out a knife and a stand-off ensued until less than two minutes later hospital security officers arrived on the scene.

The gunman was witnessed to have yelled "I'm on PCP" after the officer told him to drop his weapon. The masked duo started to make for the injured man when one of the officers was forced to shoot as the only alternative. The assailant took a bullet square to the chest and kept going, returned fire and fatally wounded the officer while the other knifed an EMT. The officers' partner, according to her statement, fired three shots, two that hit their mark and still he kept going, only minor limping as the two dragged off the injured man and kidnapping an attending EMT at gunpoint into an unmarked blue 89 Tempo. The kidnapped man is 31 year old Juan Martinez, 6'1" shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes last seen wearing his EMT uniform.

The car was recovered later at a gas station about a mile away from the hospital, abandoned. Closed-circuit surveillance later determined they hijacked a vehicle driven by a young woman and police are searching for a 2001 red Focus license PJQ-793 the driver is presumed to be 23 year old Caucasian Rebecca Marxs last wearing denim shorts and a light colored t-shirt. Any information into these two incidences can be called into the police hot-line at 555-STOP.

(ooc-I did pulls and no media influences from PC's could have stopped or altered this printing. The article gives sketches of the two men and photo's of the two kidnapped victims. If your characters are doing anything to follow up on this through appropriate allies/contacts/retainers please let me know through PM here or at my e-mail at [e-mail] and I will have a response within 48 hours)

[Chelle]

Deadly Housefire Kills Three OWH Sunrise Edition 5/10/2007

Just after three a.m. local volunteer firefighters of the Fremont Fire Department responded to a three-alarm blaze at 457 Birch Street on the northside of Fremont. By the time firefighters arrived witnesses could see the glow from the flames 3/4 mile away. After battling heat from the flames and the wind gusts of up to 20 mph firefighters were able to walk through what was left of the structure and found the bodies of three adults inside believed to be homeowner Richard Brownstone, his girlfriend Gertrude Slaughter and her brother Thomas Slaughter; however autopsy results should be available by the end of the week to confirm. The cause of the fire is believed to be faulty electrical wiring in the 54 year old house somewhere in the kitchen area.

[Chelle]

Falconer Finds Dead Transient OWH Sunrise Friday 5/11/07 edition

Tony Gwynn, a trained falconer and member of the Rapture Rescue and Recovery Assn. found the body of an unknown transient lying in a ditch off of a country road just North of Yutan, Nebraska Monday.

"I was out flying Diana, my newest falcon on Monday afternoon when she started circling an area but wouldn't dive to get whatever caught her attention and she refused to fly back to me when called so I tracked her and that's when I found the body and called the sheriff.

That man was attacked by something big but I checked and there have not been any bear, puma or wolf sightings lately so I'm just as puzzled as the next guy."

Preliminary autopsy report reveals the death was approximately two weeks ago and the victim is a Caucasian male age 35-40 years of age, brown eyes, long brown hair going just below the ears and a tattoo of a naval ship on his right forearm. He had no photo identification with him but any information leading to his identity or the cause of death can call 402.557.3346

[Chelle]

Lincoln 10/11 Morning Newscast-Tuesday Morning Edition 5/15/2007

A special news report opens up with the reporter standing in front of the Lincoln Saltdogs Stadium in the parking lot during the pre-dawn hours Tuesday morning. The wind blows gently and rain drizzles as lights from parked police cars flash off to the side.

"A grizzly sight was reported this morning as the body of UNL Senior Vanessa Smoak, 23 of Lincoln, was found raped and brutally murdered in a maintenance shed just behind the baseball stadium (camera shifts to the gurney holding a body bag being lifted by two coroners across the lawn to a waiting ambulance) shortly after 5 a.m. by senior stadium grounds-keeper Ernest Zielke. Ms. Smoak was last seen alive leaving Buffalo Wild Wings just after midnight where she worked as a waitress. No arrests have been made at this time and any information aiding into the investigation to her death can be called in at 402.555.7867

[Chelle]

Man Kills One Officer, Injures Four Others then Perishes (O.W.H. 6/1/2007 Sunrise Edition and live media coverage on all of the local channels started around 2 a.m.)

In a bazaar twist of events a man, who was believed to be part of the militia group recently arrested in the Regency area, killed one officer and injured four others before expiring in a gas stove fire. (there is a sketch and it looks alot like the Gangrel, James Michaels)

It started when he managed to climb onto the roof of a nearby house and attacked a uniformed officer surveying the house of those arrested in Sunday mornings raid. He used some sort of unidentified weapon that pierced his armor to create deep gouges into the flesh where he shortly died from severe internal injuries. According to police eyewitnesses he held the man in his arms and was attempting to use him as a shield after gunshots failed to disable him then jumped the 1.5 story to the yard below after police identified themselves and ask that they release the injured man and kicked the door into an occupied home of a husband, his wife and three year old son. Two officers standing by on the ground rushed after him into the home while another team of five officers entered through the front door, calling alarm to the sleeping innocents above. In desperation, this crazed gunman shot the gas line that injured four officers with third-degree burns and killed himself instantly. The homeowners and their child were shaken but otherwise unharmed while firefighters responded to the 1 alarm blaze in the kitchen

***ST Notice-For the Record, Media and Police Influence softened the content of this article before it hit the press. Contact me at pre-game if you want further details and have allies/retainers/contacts in Police or Media that you re using***

[Chelle]

***Yes this happened in real life and I have received permission from the DST to use it in Requiem. For those characters that have been in Lincoln for more than 50-75 years (if any) would know that an influential LS back then helped support the building of the church before moving on to other projects and eventually leaving the city all together ***

Fire destroys church
By MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Jun 09, 2007

An early Saturday morning blaze gutted Zion Church, a landmark at Ninth and D streets built 80 years ago by German Russian immigrants.

The huge brick building was little more than a shell once the flames subsided, and firefighters decided to stay there until at least this morning to make sure the ashes don’t reignite and that no one goes inside, said Chief Fire Inspector Bill Moody.

Only one lane of Ninth Street will remain open, possibly until Monday. Damage estimates are still very preliminary but will likely be well over $2 million, Moody said.

Fire inspectors won’t go inside until today, after some of the freestanding walls that are unsafe can be demolished, he said.

On Saturday morning, church members stood outside the shell of the once-imposing brick building, watching fire hoses pump hundreds of gallons of water through windows once adorned with stained glass.

“There was a lot of love and bonding, commitment, that’s been in this building,” said Sara Mann. “God’s been at work.”

The church was built in the historic South Bottoms neighborhood in 1927 by German Russian immigrants who lived in the neighborhood.

By the 1990s, it was the home of Zion Congregational Church, which at that time had an older and dwindling congregation.

Covenant Presbyterian Church, then at 40th Street and Sheridan Boulevard, was looking for more space, and the pastor at Ninth and D streets offered his building.

In 1997, the two congregations combined to create Zion Church (Presbyterian Church in America). The merger brought young families into the church, some of whom moved to the area.

“It brought a lot of people into the neighborhood,” said Zion children’s Pastor Keith Ghormley.

The church had planned to break ground this morning for a $1.1 million educational wing to go up on the west side of the building, where a small white house now sits.

But firefighters dispatched to Ninth and D about 5 a.m. saw flames shooting 5 to 20 feet out from the north basement windows of the church as they arrived.

When they went in to make sure no one was trapped, they were met with intense heat and black smoke, said Deputy Fire Chief Pat Borer.

The fire had broken through the floor of the first level as most of the 30 to 40 firefighters at the scene made their way through the heat and smoke.

Eventually, convinced the building was empty, they decided the fire had spread too far and went into a defensive mode to keep it contained to the building.

Three hours later, they had the blaze under control, but parts of the building continued to burn after 8 a.m., Borer said.

Inspectors don’t know yet how the fire started, but congregation members said the initial flames came from a kitchen area in the basement, right below a storage area.

Ghormley said he and his wife attended a wedding at the church on Friday evening.

“I was at the wedding and I said to my wife how beautiful that sanctuary looked at that time of day,” said Ghormley.

Congregation member Rob Hotz said pictures of confirmation classes that once lined the church walls chronicled the history of the church.

The pictures are gone now, as are hymnals, prayers books and Sunday School materials, but luckily, Ghormley said, the church offices are in another building so records are safe.

Church members will hold a service at St. Paul Methodist Church, 1144 M St., at noon Sunday, after the church’s regular services.

“We don’t know from there, but that takes care of tomorrow,” Ghormley said Saturday.

They’ll have to find a temporary place to worship, but eventually, it would be nice to rebuild on the same spot, he said.

“It’s really sad. That building’s been there for 80 years. It’s just been a landmark, It’s a neighborhood icon,” he said. “So we’ll have to find something (to replace it).”

But hours earlier, all congregation members could do was watch as firefighters snuffed out remaining flames in the old church.

Linda Siedell’s grandfather was pastor there for a year in 1957 and performed services in both German and English.

“I’m one of the originals that goes way back,” she said, standing on a corner across the street.

She ran through the halls of the church as a child, was confirmed there, then married there. She left for a few years, but recently returned with her husband, Barry.

“It was so neat to come back,” she said.

Now, she said, they’ll just have to look forward.

“We’ll just see what God’s plan is,” she said. “I’ll wait and see what amazing things we do.”

[Chelle]

Pawn Shop Robbed *Saturday Morning OWH Edition 6/23/2007*

Local police responded to a break-in at Sol's Jewelry and Loan early Saturday morning. The video surveillance equipment was tampered with and the combined loss of property damage and stolen merchandise is estimated to be around $40,000.00.

Local authorities are following possible leads but any information leading to the arrests of the individuals can be called in to 444-7867

[Chelle]

Missing EMT Recovered, Seven Arrests Total *OWH Morning Ed. Thursday June 27, 2007*

Local law enforcement agents received an anonymous tip Wednesday morning that led to the recovery of missing EMT Juan Martinez. Mr. Martinez was kidnapped at gunpoint during a standoff at Clarkson Hospital April 22nd.

"I am lucky to be alive, I never stopped praying to God that someone would find me" said Martinez.

The conditions of his capture are not being disclosed at this time. Two arrests have been made on charges of assault, kidnapping, and use of an illegal weapon to commit a crime.

In a related case, five men were arrested for the rape and detainment of Miss Rebecca Marxs, in addition to multiple counts of illegal drug and weapon possession.