2005 Mall Shooting
On February 13, 2005, Robert Bonelli Jr. of Glasco, New York, entered the mall with a Hesse-47 and began firing his weapon inside the Best Buy located at the mall. Bonelli, age 24, caused a panic as employees and shoppers began to flee the mall. Bonelli moved into the mall corridor and continued firing his weapon until he ran out of ammunition. After running out of bullets, he dropped his gun. At that point one mall worker grabbed his gun, and another tackled Bonelli. The mall was evacuated and Bonelli was taken into custody. Amazingly, no one was killed in the shooting and only two people (a National Guard recruiter and a 56 year old man) were wounded with one making a full recovery and the other still facing limitations today.
In the wake of the incident, Ulster County investigators searched Bonelli's room at the home he shared with his father, and found what Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams described as "Columbine memorabilia". Officials described the young man as being fascinated by the Columbine High School massacre. Additional searches were conducted by police after videos seized at Bonelli's residence showed him exploding home-made pipe bombs with Kenneth Stine and another individual. Both individuals were later arrested and charged with violating federal explosives laws.
Bonelli was taken to the Ulster County jail; on March 15, 2006, Bonelli pleaded guilty and on May 20, 2006 was sentenced to 32 years in the state prison (the maximum allowed under the guilty plea). He will be eligible for parole in 26 years.
Read more about this topic: Hudson Valley Mall
Famous quotes containing the words mall and/or shooting:
“Finishing schools in the fifties were a good place to store girls for a few years before marrying them off, a satisfactory rest stop between college weekends spent husband hunting. It was a haven for those of us adept at styling each other’s hair, playing canasta, and chain smoking Pall Mall extra-long cigarettes.”
—Barbara Howar (b. 1934)
“Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee,
The shooting stars attend thee;”
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)