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Questions Over Firearm in Chicago Rampage
Aired August 28, 2003 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Salvador Tapia was a convicted felon, prohibited from owning a firearm. So police want to know how he got the gun that killed six people in a Chicago warehouse, shootings followed by Tapia's own death in a gunfight with police.
Our Chicago bureau chief, Jeff Flock, is live with more -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Kyra.
We've been looking into this man's background. And he didn't have a license to carry a gun. He didn't have a license even to drive himself to the scene of this shooting.
I want to show you Salvador Tapia, 36 years old, a man who, six months ago, was fired from that location and yesterday returned there, returned there with a .22 -- I should say it's a Walther P-380 semiautomatic handgun. That was recovered at the scene. As you report, authorities are trying to do their best to try and figure out how he got that gun. What he did is, at about 8:45 local time in Chicago yesterday morning, showed up at the scene and began essentially executing his former co-workers.
Now, there you see the hostage barricade team, Chicago Police Department, headed inside to the scene there. Sharpshooters took to the roof. They attempted to negotiate him out. But Mr. Tapia would have none of it. He had already killed apparently all six co-workers inside, only two survivors. One of them was apparently a man who was tied up. He had apparently been kind to Tapia there in the past. And another man was late for work yesterday, good news for him.
There, you see some of the bodies being brought out, most of the people pronounced dead at the scene. Three people were taken to hospitals before being pronounced dead, including Tapia himself, who was taken to the hospital in handcuffs. There you see the latest picture from out at the scene today.
Those are, Kyra, seven crosses, one for each of the victims, and one also for Mr. Tapia, again, 36 years old, arrested a dozen times, we are told, by police over the course of the last -- oh, I guess it's 10 or 12 years. I think 1989 may have been his first arrest for things like handgun possession, assault, domestic battery, drunken driving, a man who didn't have a lot of respect for authority apparently and perhaps showing that in the ultimate way yesterday here in Chicago.
That's the latest on this sad story from Chicago -- Kyra, back to you. PHILLIPS: Jeff, you mentioned quite a bit about Tapia's background. Was he married? Did he have kids?
FLOCK: Apparently, he had a girlfriend who he had been accused of battering several times. She was interviewed by "The Chicago Tribune" yesterday and said that he was a man who had a lot of anger. He seemed to be angry at everyone.
And she said, of course, in hindsight, she thought it was always possible he would snap at some point -- but, no, to our knowledge, no children.
PHILLIPS: Jeff Flock, from Chicago, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 28, 2003 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Salvador Tapia was a convicted felon, prohibited from owning a firearm. So police want to know how he got the gun that killed six people in a Chicago warehouse, shootings followed by Tapia's own death in a gunfight with police.
Our Chicago bureau chief, Jeff Flock, is live with more -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Kyra.
We've been looking into this man's background. And he didn't have a license to carry a gun. He didn't have a license even to drive himself to the scene of this shooting.
I want to show you Salvador Tapia, 36 years old, a man who, six months ago, was fired from that location and yesterday returned there, returned there with a .22 -- I should say it's a Walther P-380 semiautomatic handgun. That was recovered at the scene. As you report, authorities are trying to do their best to try and figure out how he got that gun. What he did is, at about 8:45 local time in Chicago yesterday morning, showed up at the scene and began essentially executing his former co-workers.
Now, there you see the hostage barricade team, Chicago Police Department, headed inside to the scene there. Sharpshooters took to the roof. They attempted to negotiate him out. But Mr. Tapia would have none of it. He had already killed apparently all six co-workers inside, only two survivors. One of them was apparently a man who was tied up. He had apparently been kind to Tapia there in the past. And another man was late for work yesterday, good news for him.
There, you see some of the bodies being brought out, most of the people pronounced dead at the scene. Three people were taken to hospitals before being pronounced dead, including Tapia himself, who was taken to the hospital in handcuffs. There you see the latest picture from out at the scene today.
Those are, Kyra, seven crosses, one for each of the victims, and one also for Mr. Tapia, again, 36 years old, arrested a dozen times, we are told, by police over the course of the last -- oh, I guess it's 10 or 12 years. I think 1989 may have been his first arrest for things like handgun possession, assault, domestic battery, drunken driving, a man who didn't have a lot of respect for authority apparently and perhaps showing that in the ultimate way yesterday here in Chicago.
That's the latest on this sad story from Chicago -- Kyra, back to you. PHILLIPS: Jeff, you mentioned quite a bit about Tapia's background. Was he married? Did he have kids?
FLOCK: Apparently, he had a girlfriend who he had been accused of battering several times. She was interviewed by "The Chicago Tribune" yesterday and said that he was a man who had a lot of anger. He seemed to be angry at everyone.
And she said, of course, in hindsight, she thought it was always possible he would snap at some point -- but, no, to our knowledge, no children.
PHILLIPS: Jeff Flock, from Chicago, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
