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Dorchester man ensures bears will avoid the Red Line, police say
By adamg on Wed, 08/14/2019 - 9:51am
Transit Police report arresting a Dorchester man they say sprayed "a large can" of bear repellent inside an inbound Red Line train as it hurtled underground near Andrew station yesterday evening.
EMTs treated three passengers, but no bears, at the scene for eye irritation, police say.
Gregory Gomes, 34, of Dorchester, was arrested at Andrew station where, police say, he was sprawled on the platform:
Officers approached Gomes who blurted out " I accidently Blew it up". At this time Gomes revealed a Bear Repellant Spray in his open backpack.
According to police, around 6:40 p.m.,
Gomes, for an unknown reason, removed a large can and dispensed it's contents for a "few seconds". This caused people in close proximity to suffer discomfort about the eyes.
Gomes was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - and resisting arrest - police say.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Scary situation
For first responders and passengers to respond to a report of a chemical attack on a train.For the police and Emt's to rush in to assist passengers without knowing what the chemical is a example of Boston's finest in action.
Once more: Mental Healthcare reform
Needs to be addressed by lical, state, and federal authorities. SCOTUS needs to re-address that late late 1970s era decision that resulted in the mass closure of mental hospitals.
Should be a top priority among presidential contenders. All the mass shooters are also intimately connected to this issue.
whatever
From a recent globe article: "Studies of mass shooters tell the true story: Only between 20 and 25 percent of mass shooters have a diagnosed mental illness. The data simply do not back up the new twist on the NRA’s old cliché: “Guns don’t kill people; crazy people kill people.” And falling for this narrative is deadly."
Links from the above:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/08/13/mass-shootings-and-the-me...
https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/pre-attack-behaviors-of-active-shoot...
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vio.2015.0006
How is a mass shooter relevant to this story?
There were no guns or even machetes involved in this incident -- yet it is an example of the larger problem facing society.
This is clearly a story about a person with some sort of wiring defect and a weapon [not necessarily of a serious nature].
We don't need to ban bear repellent -- as there are increasing numbers of more than casual interactions between people [in our element] and bears.
We need to make sure that individuals such as the dispenser of the bear repellent only do the dispensing in their own imaginations -- not in public -- not on the T, not in the Public Garden, not in the Back Bay Fens, etc. In a nicely designed, properly operated by well trained personnel -- but inside of a barrier isolating the individuals from contact with the public.
We need to admit the that the Dukakean Dream of curing these people and enabling them to exist in the midst of the general public -- was all Hubris -- we don't know how to do that -- and the more the mentally irrational are in our midst the more trouble of all manner they make for civil society and themselves.
The 75% of mass shooters that
The 75% of mass shooters that aren't mentally ill tend to be gang members shooting other large groups of gang members. Chicago and Baltimore have "mass shootings" every week without much national coverage because a gang war in those cities isn't considered different from the norm and "newsworthy".
This country has a problem with over-incarcerating people that shouldn't be locked up and under-incarcerating the violent criminals and dangerously mentally ill which should be.
Right away he knew between
Right away he knew between right and wrong. "I accidentally blew it up" . Therefore, he needs to be locked up in a reformed Mental Healthcare facility for people incapable of being reformed. WTF is he doing with bear repellant, anyway? Was he planning on spraying his poor pit bull locked up in his basement?
Some people really do need to be institutionalized, but
one also has to bear in mind that the reason that many, if not most of the mental hospitals closed and that the de-institutionalization took place is because most of the state hospitals were extremely archaic--and brutal. It was a wonder that anybody survived some of them.
It should be a top priority among presidential contenders, but to say that all of the mass shooters are intimately connected only to the mental illness/de-institutionalization issue is to omit another important issue: That firearms are far too accessible here in the United States, and they need to be more regulated than they are.
More extensive and intensive background checks should also be implemented, gun dealers should not sell to anybody with anger management issues, substance and alcohol abuse problems, or any kind of emotional instability if and when their names come up on their computer. Rogue gun dealers who violate these laws should be forced out of business altogether.
Also, Congress should completely close the loophole that allows illegal gun sales to take place at gun shows, or wherever, as well.
If there is a bear.
If there is a bear.
From Home Depot?
I wonder if there's a record of this guy buying it there right before he went on his mission to wipe out bears on the T.
Apparently they don't have it.
So, where does one get bear spray in Boston? The next time I see a bear here I want to be prepared!
No, what you need around here
No, what you need around here is turkey repellent.
You don't get that from the hardware stores - but you can find it at any grocery store. Look for the can from Ocean Spray.
We fear not the cranberry and
We fear not the cranberry and the bottomless bogs from which it spawns. Nay, tis the devil's handiwork in Bell's Seasoning that gives us pause. The chaff of nightmares and a true test of a Tom's courage.
The only other alternative is
The only other alternative is sage incense - it'll scare the stuffing out of them.
amazon sells it:https://www
amazon sells it:
https://www.eteknix.com/robot-puts-24-amazon-workers-hospital/
Bear repellent
I had no idea there was such a thing as bear repellent. I have a few questions.
1. Does it contain DEET? I hate DEET.
2. Does it just prevent biting, or does it also prevent them from hovering around making annoying humming sounds?
3. Is it more effective than a camera? I have always found that the best way of getting rid of a bear is to attempt to take its picture.
4. Have The Authorities considered the possible damage to our folk-tale heritage if little golden-haired girls go wandering in the woods armed with bear repellent?
It's pepper spray
If you applied it to yourself like insect repellent, you'd hate it more than DEET.
Baloo Sez
It’s the bare necessities that matter. Baloo.
New MBTA announcement
For the safety and comfort of your fellow riders, please do not board with full picnic baskets. The T's new Bear Patrol thanks you for your cooperation.
I'll leave this here.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYWycl8vR5c
Where it's always bear week
My SIL in Canada has a bearspray fetish, I swear. She must buy the stuff by the case! She always insists I bring it if I go for a hike or when I crashed in campgrounds when I drove across Canada.
It comes in a big canister like nonstick cooking spray. It has a huge trigger mechanism and sends out a big fountain of pepper spray.
It was a good thing that she made me take some when I went for a 120km bike ride ... if only because somebody's free range dog attacked me and got a facefull. It was super effective. I felt bad, but I could see why the owner seemed almost appreciative when SIL told me that the RCMP would have taken and destroyed the dog had I not hosed it (his dogs had already bit a friend of her daughter's).
I didn't know if I could take it across the border, though, so I ditched it at the last rest stop before crossing onto I-89. There are times that I wished I had it given the evolving wildlife situation in the Fells.
I'll wait for the jury
Speaking as one who once managed to (stupidly, but not insanely or criminally) set off an orange smoke grenade (in a suburban driveway, not in the subway) by tugging on the safety cap to be sure it was firmly attached, I'm willing to give this guy some kind of benefit of the doubt until the particulars of this incident are resolved.
(It was one of those smoke grenades that are used for maritime search and rescue. They make you highly visible to aircraft, and they also let the pilots judge the wind so they can drop emergency supplies to you. It was in with some backcountry hiking supplies in the garage. I was fiddling with it to be sure it appeared to be intact and in good order...)