On Friday we spread the link of our two year old pre-Mardi Gras coverage entitled: “Dos and Don’ts for you Mardi Gras Weekend” It’s a classic, which is kinda why we stopped covering Mardi Gras, but this year we slipped up. While we thought somethings were obvious, we should have added a new “Don’t”. Specifically: “Don’t: Point Your Gun at Police Officers.”
“I was never scared, but I was just shocked that I had just seen that, with as many shots and as much blood as there was,” he said. “At that time of day in that part of Soulard in the middle of Mardi Gras, that was the last thing I thought I was going to see.”
Police said the uniformed officers were working part-time jobs for Mardi Gras Inc. and responded to a report of gunfire about 2:30 p.m. near Ninth and Barton streets, just south of the main Mardi Gras activity.
Otis Roberson, 32, was brandishing a weapon in a crowded Soulard when two off duty police officers who were working security for Mardi Gras Inc (Yes, everything you love has a secret “inc” behind it. Such is the world today.), rode up on a golf cart and ordered Roberson to drop the weapon. When he instead pointed it at them, they fired bringing him down. Robinson later died at the hospital.
No word on Roberson’s intoxication level that we’ve been able to find, but STLToday is reporting that he did get off three rounds before the cops took him down. Pretty scary, and here you were thinking that the worst thing a fellow drunk could hit you with was a stream of urine or a beer bottle. You thought wrong! This is St. Louis!
Don’t worry though, because the guy that does PR for the people that run Mardi Gras Inc said it’s cool. Just keep drinking and everything will be fine.
Mack Bradley, a spokesman for Mardi Gras Inc. that runs the Soulard festival, said Saturday’s shooting may be the first such incident in the history of the event.
That kinda depends on where you draw that borders of “the event”.
He said he thinks the fact that most people who attended had fun and went home safely demonstrates that Soulard’s Mardi Gras is a largely safe celebration.
By that standard every day is a great day in St. Louis because, unless 500,000 people died that day, most people got home just fine. Also people must really overrate the violence in World War II, because we’re all here right? So that means most of the people survived that too! “The Greatest Generation” my ass, right Mack? That guy…that guy right there, the one simultaneously puking and peeing after drunkenly throwing a rock through that building’s window…he’s the real hero. He sorta survived Mardi Gras.
via STLToday
photo via KMOV