Financial crises for Ga. man who held firefighters

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By KATE BRUMBACK and RAY HENRY

SUWANEE, Ga. (AP) - A gunman who lured firefighters to his Georgia home with an emergency call, then held four of them hostage for hours before being shot to death faced a series of personal and financial calamities before he lashed out.

Lauren Brown's life apparently reached a crisis this spring. With his power, cable and other utilities cut off because of nonpayment, the 55-year-old had half a dozen guns in his house and spent weeks planning the kidnapping, targeting firefighters rather than police Wednesday so he wouldn't be shot, authorities said Thursday.

"We knew he wasn't quite normal, but this is a real shock," said David Books, a former colleague of Brown's and a friend until they had a falling out years ago. He said he never noticed any signs that Brown could be violent.

The specific reasons that Brown chose to lash out aren't known, but Brown experienced personal and financial difficulties. He had separated from his wife years earlier, though he still lived across the street from her, her new husband and his two children, according to neighbors and people who knew the family. The living arrangement had long caused tension, said Books, who helped Brown move.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130412/DA5JNL8G1.html

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A group of people huddle together after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostages suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

[Loudly]

1. The guns helped him think things through.

[Deep13]

2. Obviously a reprehensible thing to do, but...

...people do crazy things when they are desperate. This is as much a failure of social and economic policy as it is a problem with firearm accessibility.

[bhikkhu]

3. Everybody goes through hard times

...not everybody puts together an arsenal and takes hostages.

[Deep13]

5. No, it's a question of odds.

Throw the dice enough times and the unlikely becomes inevitable. How many tens of thousands of people are there in that exact situation? We never hear about them, because they have not done anything so drastic. Many will kill themselves without getting much more than a blurb n the obituaries.

[PADemD]

4. He had enough money to buy guns, but not pay his utilities?

[Mr.Pain]

6. Excellent point

and he could have sold a couple of guns to pay his bills also.

[Omaha Steve]

7. Welcome to the DU

Hope you like the place.

[marshall]

8. He probably bought them some time ago

Back when he had enough money to buy a house and pay for the utilities that had been turned off.

I suppose he could have sold the guns, but that is probably a complicated process.