Man kills himself in front of a City Council after a zoning vote against him

[Omega X]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/05/own....ap/index.html
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CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- A business owner shot and killed himself during a City Council meeting Thursday night after members voted against his request to rezone his property, witnesses said.
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Ronald "Bo" Ward, owner of Bo's Barber Shop, had told the council his business would go under if he couldn't get his home rezoned as commercial. After the 5-7 vote Thursday night, Ward stood and walked toward the council.

"Y'all have put me under. ... I'm out of here," he said before shooting himself in the head with a small handgun.

Fire and police officials attending the meeting immediately ushered the audience of about 50 into the hallway, where several people were sobbing.

At least one police officer is always on duty during council meetings, officials said. However, visitors are not required to go through a metal detector or any other screening.

"When a gun gets whipped out like that, someone is going to get shot, but I didn't know who," Councilman Bill Summers said. "You could've been right next to him, and I don't think you could have stopped that."

Mayor Johnny Piper said Thursday's council meeting would be the last held in that room.

Ward had said the rezoning would increase his property value, allowing him to secure a loan to offset debt he incurred when he expanded his shop.

Ward was well known for supporting soldiers from the nearby Fort Campbell Army post and was once recognized by its former commander, Gen. David Petraeus. His barber shop was often visited by media reporting on the local economic impact of thousands of soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division being deployed to Iraq.

"He treated soldiers like his own children," said George Heath, a longtime patron of Bo's Barber Shop and the Fort Campbell public affairs officer.

"If a soldier came in and said he needed a haircut but didn't have any money, Bo would cut his hair and tell him to pay him when he could."

In 2004, Petraeus, sent Ward a postcard during the division's first deployment to Iraq, thanking him for keeping his shop open during the deployment and "giving haircuts to children of our families."
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What a damn shame.

[Mr Jones]

Sorry, what is 'rezoning' and why would you cap yourself over it?

[ujay]

Seems to be the same sort of thing as 'planning permission' and commercial use classification I think Mr Jones.

What a waste.

UJ

[ElChevelle]

That'll teach the council members.

[swingdjted]

I don't mean to sound cold, but this guy killed himself. No one else in the room or anywhere else killed him, they just shit on him. He was probably treated unfairly, but I have some news - sometimes life really sucks and you get shit on. For me it was getting involuntarily laid off of two damn good professional careers, and when I finally got a good third, I lost it because my new wife had nowhere to work and I had to move 1800 miles to where we could both work. Now I'm in a 4th job, and probably not my last. For you I'm sure whatever shit was thrown at you was as bad or worse, and you're all still alive reading this, right?

He was probably a damn good barber and a hell of a nice guy, but there can be more to life than that, and he robbed his community of their ability to help him find a new way. It happened so fast that they had no time to stop him or even notice what was going on until it was too late. Suicide is selfish - I only feel sorry for those left alive.

[Omega X]

Yes, Suicide is selfish. But it often takes shock and awe inorder to get the attention of bureaucrats. One thing that they will learn beyond putting in metal detectors is that they really don't know how much they can affect people they claim to work for by making even simple decisions like this.

[General Geoff]

If you're gonna commit suicide anyway, at least do it in front of a bunch of politicians who need to have their little protective bubble burst.

[swingdjted]

I suppose it could be a nice form of poetic justice.

[swingdjted]

He likely was in some form of depression of other condition that had him down; otherwise there is a lower chance that he would have had a gun on him. This was likely planned. I just wish he would have tried to find some help, but instead didn't. He probably saw himself as the helper, considering the work he did, sometimes without pay. Asking for help would 'sink him lower', and maybe he was too proud for that.

[ElChevelle]

Why not take a few with you?

[shakey_snake]

If there was a bulldozer in front of my place, I'd go off into space or something.