Speaker 1: We have an active shooter.
Speaker 2: We have an acre Shooting's go ahead of the quay
Speaker 2: with a mass casualty.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Active Shooter, a podcast that covers the whys,
Speaker 1: the hows, and the aftermath of active shooter and mass
Speaker 1: casualty events. I have an active shooter and a building
Speaker 1: a teching call. That's our big attack of the shots.
Speaker 1: We got chuck fire at four fifteen as broaching ninety one,
Speaker 1: so I'd like, oh, I'm at a fire, active shooter.
Speaker 2: It's of an active shooter, active shooter, active shooter.
Speaker 1: And mass casualty incidents. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 2: You are listening to Active Shooter, a podcast that may
Speaker 2: contain adult themes, explicit language, and graphic depictions of violence.
Speaker 2: Portions of this show may be traumatic for those under eighteen.
Speaker 2: Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1: His ay, it's Carlos A. Mesco was among the first
Speaker 1: reporters on the scene. He's been providing live reports for
Speaker 1: the past five and one half hours. We go to
Speaker 1: him now for his report on what happened.
Speaker 2: Carlos Marty.
Speaker 1: As we arrived shortly after the incident began, the scene
Speaker 1: was one of absolute confusion. Shots were ringing, out the
Speaker 1: nightmare was unfolding. Make sure you approach you from the
Speaker 1: south and the CP is at three hundred West.
Speaker 2: The shooting suspect is the inside of the McDonald He
Speaker 2: is contained moving around in there, still suing fired.
Speaker 1: The shooting at Sammy s Drew McDonald's was the deadliest
Speaker 1: shooting at the time and remain so until the shooting
Speaker 1: at Luby's Cafe, which we covered in episode number eight,
Speaker 1: and it remains the deadliest shooting in California's history. It
Speaker 1: was a highly traumatizing attack that survivors continue to grapple
Speaker 1: with to this very day. The shooting recently passed the
Speaker 1: fortieth anniversary, yet it is completely unknown to many and
Speaker 1: transpired during a time where these types of occurrences weren't
Speaker 1: covered incessantly on the news media. Few shooters committed these
Speaker 1: types of crimes for the fame or infamy that followed.
Speaker 1: Today's case is dedicated to the nineteen injured survivors and
Speaker 1: the twenty two deceased victims. Most news accounts of the
Speaker 1: shootings report twenty one deceased victims, but one victim was
Speaker 1: pregnant when she was murdered. It's for this reason that
Speaker 1: we are acknowledging all twenty two Active Shooter. The podcast
Speaker 1: is a High five Holly production, and I'm your host JT.
Speaker 1: If you've listened to our prior episodes, you know that
Speaker 1: the Active Shooter podcast team has taken the no notoriety
Speaker 1: pledge and we will not be sharing the real name
Speaker 1: of the shooters that we cover. We will be giving
Speaker 1: the shooters a pseudonym and refer to them by that
Speaker 1: name throughout the episode. This will help in clearing up
Speaker 1: any confusion in the story while remaining true to our
Speaker 1: pledge and not naming the shooter by their actual name.
Speaker 1: We will refer to today's shooter as How. On Sunday,
Speaker 1: July fifteenth, nineteen eighty four, Hal confided to his wife
Speaker 1: that he was worried he was suffering from a mental
Speaker 1: health break of sorts. Whatever conversation or action ensued isn't known.
Speaker 1: Two days later, on Tuesday, July seventeenth, How contacted a
Speaker 1: San Diego mental facility inquiring about help for himself. Hal
Speaker 1: spoke with a receptionist and asked for an appointment. He
Speaker 1: left contact information with the person he spoke with, and
Speaker 1: they responded that someone would contact Hal back within a
Speaker 1: few hours. His wife later reported that Hal sat next
Speaker 1: to the telephone for several hours, waiting and willing the
Speaker 1: phone to ring. It never did. The person How talked
Speaker 1: to would later report that How seemed calm when they spoke,
Speaker 1: and he indicated that he was never hospitalized for mental
Speaker 1: health issues in the past. As a result, the call
Speaker 1: was flagged as a non crisis inquiry, which was to
Speaker 1: be handled within forty eight hours, and not the several
Speaker 1: hours that How believed it would be. After staring blankly
Speaker 1: at the phone for a very long period, Hal got up,
Speaker 1: exasperated and walked out of the house. He hopped atop
Speaker 1: his motorcycle, rolling away. His family had no idea where
Speaker 1: he was going, but eventually he returned and things seemingly improved. Wednesday,
Speaker 1: July eighteenth, nineteen eighty four, was cloudy most of the day,
Speaker 1: although temperatures varied from the high seventies to the low eighties.
Speaker 1: The days started so normal and typical that the juxtaposition
Speaker 1: of how the day ended defies description. How his wife
Speaker 1: and their kids went to the San Diego Zoo. The
Speaker 1: couple talked about How's breakdown the previous day, and he
Speaker 1: told her that he thought his life was over. He
Speaker 1: was clearly depressed, so they left the zoo, stopping for
Speaker 1: a quick bite at a McDonald's in the Claremont neighborhood
Speaker 1: of San Diego. They drove home and after a bit,
Speaker 1: How went into his and his wife's bedroom, where she
Speaker 1: was sitting on the bed. Hal leaned down and kissed her,
Speaker 1: saying that he came in because he wanted to kiss
Speaker 1: her goodbye. She asked where he was going, saying that
Speaker 1: she was going to be preparing dinner soon. He looked
Speaker 1: at his wife and replied that he was quote going hunting,
Speaker 1: hunting for humans. How wore a maroon T shirt and
Speaker 1: camouflage pants and had a gun slung over his shoulder.
Speaker 1: He carried a box of ammunition in some sort of
Speaker 1: package that was wrapped in a checkered blanket. Exiting the bedroom,
Speaker 1: How was walking towards the front door when he caught
Speaker 1: sight of his daughter. He looked over and said, goodbye.
Speaker 1: I won't be back. Hal drove a Mercury Marquis carrying
Speaker 1: a nine millimeter Browning HP, a nine millimeter semi automatic
Speaker 1: long barrel Uzi, and a twelve gage Winchester twenty one
Speaker 1: hundred pump action shotgun. He was prepared for a one
Speaker 1: man war, and hunting humans is exactly what he was
Speaker 1: prepared to do. McDonald's, situated at five point twenty two
Speaker 1: Sanya Sidro Boulevard, was a busy franchise located in the
Speaker 1: Sanya Sidro neighborhood of San Diego. There were about forty
Speaker 1: five people inside of the restaurant eating. Hal entered and
Speaker 1: walked towards the counter. He was approximately fifteen feet from
Speaker 1: sixteen year old John Arnold, when, without hesitation, he aimed
Speaker 1: and fired, only nothing happened. Thinking this was some sort
Speaker 1: of sick joke, John started retreating back to the ca
Speaker 1: where twenty two year old store manager Neva Cain stood.
Speaker 1: Hal took out the ouzi and shot Neiva, hitting her
Speaker 1: in the face just below the left eye. She passed
Speaker 1: moments later. Hal then shot John, hitting him in the
Speaker 1: arm and chest. For nearly two full hours, John laid motionless,
Speaker 1: pretending to be dead until he could be saved. Initially,
Speaker 1: he thought they were merely being robbed and the shooter
Speaker 1: would leave. John never expected that the place he worked
Speaker 1: and felt pretty safe for the most part, would be
Speaker 1: under attack for nearly two hours. Besides initially hollering for
Speaker 1: everyone to get on the ground, how made many other comments,
Speaker 1: including racist epithets and yelling that he had quote killed
Speaker 1: a thousand and planned to kill quote one thousand more.
Speaker 1: A restaurant patron, twenty five year old Victor Rivera, tried
Speaker 1: to intervene, imploring how not to shoot any anyone else.
Speaker 1: His efforts were met with gunshots. Hal repeatedly uttered shut up,
Speaker 1: shut up, as he fired fourteen bullets into Victor. The
Speaker 1: initial nine to one one calls began streaming in only
Speaker 1: minutes after the first shots. Early reports indicated that there
Speaker 1: was a child shot, but the child was raced next
Speaker 1: door to the post office. The dispatcher accidentally sent officers
Speaker 1: to another McDonald's that was about two miles away from
Speaker 1: where the shooting actually was, thereby delaying the police response
Speaker 1: by several crucial minutes. Nearly ten minutes after the first
Speaker 1: nine to one to one call, police finally arrived. Officer
Speaker 1: Miguel Rosario cruised up to the restaurant and was immediately
Speaker 1: fired upon by hol On set for two forty five
Speaker 1: at four hundred question as he took four calls on
Speaker 1: it three reporter was two forty five, shooting a victim
Speaker 1: of small child, a little girl.
Speaker 2: Being taken into the first at the crush from McDonald's.
Speaker 1: At four forty were police locked down the area surrounding
Speaker 1: the McDonald spreading out about six blocks around the restaurant.
Speaker 1: In the beginning, police weren't sure how many shooters were inside,
Speaker 1: especially due to the rapid fire from different firearms that
Speaker 1: they could hear. Most of the windows had broken by
Speaker 1: that point, making it actually more difficult to see inside
Speaker 1: because of the way the light hit random shards of glass.
Speaker 1: A command post was set up about two blocks away,
Speaker 1: and overall police response was massive. A one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy five law enforcement officers were installed at various strategic locations.
Speaker 1: At one point, an employee from the restaurant was able
Speaker 1: to escape through the back door and managed to communicate
Speaker 1: to police that there was only one shooter. They were
Speaker 1: very well armed and shot with abandon. No one was safe,
Speaker 1: not children or elderly, or men or women. House shot
Speaker 1: anyone and everyone he could. And he was not holding hostages.
Speaker 1: This was not a robbery. This was a madman with
Speaker 1: a purpose, but plenty of determination. I'm taking around tanport.
Speaker 1: Where are you? I am a part McDonald shot Stampire
Speaker 1: now at.
Speaker 2: Banner.
Speaker 1: It was later reported that Hal brought a portable radio
Speaker 1: with him, which he set on the service counter. He
Speaker 1: turned the radio on at one point and fiddled with
Speaker 1: the tuner, seemingly looking for a news report of the shooting. Finally, instead,
Speaker 1: he chose a music station, and inexplicably, he began dancing
Speaker 1: around the store while simultaneously shooting at innocent petrified customers
Speaker 1: and employees. Periodically, How would shout about how he didn't
Speaker 1: deserve to live and how he served time in Vietnam,
Speaker 1: although it was later reported that he hadn't actually ever
Speaker 1: served in any branch of the military. It must have
Speaker 1: been so eerie seeing the psychotic man with several guns
Speaker 1: dancing around the McDonald's, shouting that he didn't deserve to live,
Speaker 1: all while shooting innocent people inside of the restaurant who
Speaker 1: did a little over an hour after the madness ensued,
Speaker 1: police were given authorization to take out the shooter if
Speaker 1: they were able to obtain an unobstructed shot. At approximately
Speaker 1: five seventeen pm, How walked from around the service counter
Speaker 1: towards the front door, entrance, which was near the drive
Speaker 1: through window. Outside, twenty seven year old SWAT team member
Speaker 1: Charles Foster managed to catch a clear sight of how
Speaker 1: firearm poised and ready to shoot. Foster peered into his
Speaker 1: scope and he could see Hal's neck and torso perched
Speaker 1: atop a post office next to the McDonald's, he drew
Speaker 1: a single, deep breath and fired a single round from
Speaker 1: about thirty five yards away. The bullet struck Hal in
Speaker 1: the chest, severing his order just below the heart before
Speaker 1: exiting out through his spine. It was a precisely executed,
Speaker 1: deadly shot. Moments later, a police sergeant entered the restaurant,
Speaker 1: his service weapon raised and pointed towards Hal. He glanced
Speaker 1: over seeing a female shooting victim who was alive, and
Speaker 1: asked her if Hal was the shooter. She simply nodded
Speaker 1: in the affirmative, and with that, seventy seven minutes of
Speaker 1: sheer terror was over. How fired at least two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty seven rounds, that is just over an average
Speaker 1: of three bullets per minute for seventy seven minutes. The
Speaker 1: shooting might have ended, but the trauma of surviving such
Speaker 1: an attack seems nothing short of insurmountable. There were only
Speaker 1: ten patrons inside who were left untouched by gunfire, six
Speaker 1: of which were hiding in the basement of the restaurant.
Speaker 1: Many of the injured victims were using McDonald's napkins to
Speaker 1: self treat their injuries. Seventeen people were murdered inside of
Speaker 1: the restaurant, including an unborn child, and four were murdered
Speaker 1: just outside of the restaurant near the entrance. Of the deaths.
Speaker 1: Thirteen were gunshot wounds to the head, seven were gunshot
Speaker 1: wounds to the chest, and one, eight month old, Carlos Reyes,
Speaker 1: was killed by a gunshot wound to his back. The
Speaker 1: scene looked like a war zone, and even the sight
Speaker 1: of it from outside witnesses was highly traumatizing. Twenty two
Speaker 1: year old Paulina Aquino was from Chula Vista, California. A
Speaker 1: native of Tijuana. She lived in the United States for
Speaker 1: about four years prior to the shooting and worked at
Speaker 1: McDonald's for about five months before she was murdered. Lawrence
Speaker 1: Hermann vs Leuis, nicknamed Captain, moved to Chula Vista from
Speaker 1: Iowa in the late nineteen forties. The sixty two year
Speaker 1: old was once stationed at Pearl Harbor during World War Two.
Speaker 1: Nineteen year old Elsa Borboa was from Sandy Sidro and
Speaker 1: a very recent graduate of Southwest High School. She was
Speaker 1: working at McDonald's to earn money for college. Twenty three
Speaker 1: year old Neva Cain was from San Diego and was
Speaker 1: the manager at McDonald's. She was married only one month
Speaker 1: before she was killed. Maria Alna Colmenero Silva was an
Speaker 1: eighteen year old eleventh grader. She was at McDonald's because
Speaker 1: it was her very favorite restaurant to d at. Eleven
Speaker 1: year old David Flores was a great student from Sandy
Speaker 1: Seidro who loved to play sports. He was at McDonald's
Speaker 1: with his friends Omar and Joshua. Joshua was injured, but
Speaker 1: Omar was also murdered along with his best friend. Eleven
Speaker 1: year old Omar Hernandez was fluent in both English and
Speaker 1: Spanish and was a fifth grader at Sunset Elementary School
Speaker 1: who was described as an outgoing, brilliant young boy. Thirty
Speaker 1: one year old Blythe Reagan Herrera was a housewife from Orange, California.
Speaker 1: She was at McDonald's with her husband, son, and son's friend.
Speaker 1: Her husband and son's friend were injured but survived. Her son, Matteo,
Speaker 1: was killed with his mother, six month old was left
Speaker 1: at home with her parents. Matteo Herrera was eleven years
Speaker 1: old born on June twenty sixth, nineteen seventy three in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles County. He was buried near his mother at
Speaker 1: Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cyprus, California. Twenty two year
Speaker 1: old Gloria Lopez Gonzalez was born on October eleventh, nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty one, and was from Rosato, Mexico. Jose Rubin Losano
Speaker 1: Perez was born on April third, nineteen sixty five, in California.
Speaker 1: The nineteen year old was buried in Tijuana, Mexico. Nine
Speaker 1: year old Claudia Perez was from Sandy Sidro and had
Speaker 1: recently completed the third grade at Willow Elementary School. She
Speaker 1: loved all sports, but most especially softball. Claudia was a happy,
Speaker 1: yet quiet young girl that was incredibly close to her
Speaker 1: fifteen year old sister, who was also shot but survived.
Speaker 1: Eighteen year old Jackie Wright Reyes was a housewife from
Speaker 1: San Ya Sidro who was the youngest of five sisters
Speaker 1: and a brother. Her little boy, Carlos was with her
Speaker 1: and he was also shot and killed. Jackie was pregnant
Speaker 1: at the time, and her unborn child was also killed.
Speaker 1: Nearly an entire family was taken from this world in
Speaker 1: the blink of an eye November fifteenth, nineteen eighty three
Speaker 1: in Chula Vista. The infant was buried with his mother
Speaker 1: and unborn sibling at La Vista Memorial Park. Twenty five
Speaker 1: year old Victor Maximilian Rivera was born in Mexico but
Speaker 1: raised in San Diego after moving to the United States
Speaker 1: when he was four. The young man loved playing softball
Speaker 1: and was at McDonald's with his wife and two daughters,
Speaker 1: who each survived the shooting. Margherita Padilla was from San
Speaker 1: Diego and a recent Sweetwater High School graduate who absolutely
Speaker 1: loved children. The eighteen year old was planning to attend
Speaker 1: Southwest College in the fall. Forty six year old Hugo
Speaker 1: l of Alasquez was from Mexico City and was serving
Speaker 1: as the supervisor of provincial banks for Banamex when he
Speaker 1: was killed. He was also a temporary manager of the
Speaker 1: Tijuana District Banks. Aida Velasquez Victoria was a sixty nine
Speaker 1: year old woman who was born on June twenty sixth,
Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, in Tijuana, Mexico. Seventy four year old Miguel
Speaker 1: Uloa Victoria was born on November sixteenth, nineteen o nine,
Speaker 1: and he was from Tijuana. He was married to Aida,
Speaker 1: who was also murdered, and the one comfort is that
Speaker 1: they were together, clutching on to each other into eternity.
Speaker 1: Thirty one year old arist Delci Vuelvas Vargas was from Tijuana.
Speaker 1: He survived the shooting for about twenty four hours after
Speaker 1: being rushed to the Universe of California Medical Center in
Speaker 1: San Diego. The family made Aristolcey's kidneys available for transplant,
Speaker 1: thus likely saving another life despite their own devastating loss.
Speaker 1: Michelle Dianne Carncross was born in Orange County, California, on
Speaker 1: April second, nineteen sixty six. She was buried at Magnolia
Speaker 1: Memorial Park in Garden Grove, California. Forty one year old
Speaker 1: Hal was born on October eleventh, nineteen forty two, in Canton, Ohio,
Speaker 1: the second of two children. His father was a quality
Speaker 1: inspector and his mother was a homemaker. Howe's folks were
Speaker 1: both quite religious, and the family regularly attended services at
Speaker 1: the local Methodist church. When he was three, Hal contracted polio,
Speaker 1: which caused him to have to wear steel and leather
Speaker 1: braces on each leg. While he eventually made a full recovery,
Speaker 1: How walked a slighth limp for the remainder of his life,
Speaker 1: a constant reminder of his childhood illness. In nineteen fifty,
Speaker 1: How's father purchased a one hundred and fifty five acre
Speaker 1: farm in Mount Eaton, Ohio, which is an extremely rural
Speaker 1: area that is mostly populated by the Amish and Mennonites.
Speaker 1: How's mother was incensed that her husband would make such
Speaker 1: a purchase. She wasn't at all interested in living that
Speaker 1: life and flatly refused to even visit the property, and
Speaker 1: she eventually abandoned her family altogether. She moved to Tucson, Arizona,
Speaker 1: where she performed sidewalk preaching as a Pentecostal missionary. As
Speaker 1: you can imagine, How was very negatively impacted by his
Speaker 1: mother's casting a side of her family. As a young boy,
Speaker 1: he couldn't understand how or why she would leave him.
Speaker 1: There was a time when How's father reported that he
Speaker 1: found How near the chicken coop sobbing hysterically. While his
Speaker 1: father eventually remarried, How really wasn't the same after she left.
Speaker 1: How wasn't known to have many friends, and indeed, during
Speaker 1: those times, he likely was outcast due to his own
Speaker 1: health issues, and his behavior was described as sullen. During
Speaker 1: the seventh grade, How was the only boy who didn't
Speaker 1: play for the school's football team, which was clearly due
Speaker 1: to his illness, but it was yet one more thing
Speaker 1: to cause the other children to view him as different.
Speaker 1: When he was in high school at Waynedale High, How
Speaker 1: was bullied and teased on a near daily basis. He
Speaker 1: was an easy target with his limp, his family's deep
Speaker 1: religious beliefs, and his lack of interest in sports, friends,
Speaker 1: or anything that other high schoolers of that era did.
Speaker 1: In fact, the only real interest Hal seemed to have
Speaker 1: was in target shooting. He loved target practice and it
Speaker 1: was the only thing that seemed to bring him joy.
Speaker 1: A family friend later said that Hal was a strange
Speaker 1: boy who could always be found practicing target shooting. When
Speaker 1: he was a teen, Hall was already something of a
Speaker 1: gunsmith because of how much time he spent with firearms.
Speaker 1: He graduated high school in nineteen sixty fifty first out
Speaker 1: of the seventy seven students in his class. In nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty two, Hal enrolled at Malone College intending to study sociology,
Speaker 1: but he changed course and enrolled at Pittsburgh Institute of
Speaker 1: Mortuary Science. How excelled there and graduated in nineteen sixty
Speaker 1: four with honors, earning himself a funeral director's license. The
Speaker 1: following year, he obtained an embalmer's license. How met a
Speaker 1: woman while he was attending classes at Malone College, and
Speaker 1: the two began dating. They married in nineteen sixty five,
Speaker 1: and not long after, Hal landed a job with a
Speaker 1: funeral home in Canton, Ohio. The job went not great.
Speaker 1: Hal didn't interact well with others. He was an introvert,
Speaker 1: which isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but
Speaker 1: Hal was very quiet and he really didn't like other people.
Speaker 1: He was an excellent embalmer, but he was a terrible director.
Speaker 1: As such, He encountered many meetings with his supervisor, meetings
Speaker 1: that weren't positive and never went well for Hal. He
Speaker 1: stuck it out for about two years before quitting and
Speaker 1: choosing a whole other profession entirely. He became a welder
Speaker 1: working for a local company before being hired by another
Speaker 1: company for a higher wage in June of nineteen sixty nine.
Speaker 1: Though his personality wasn't friendly, Hal was a good worker, reliable,
Speaker 1: and always working over time when asked. He earned several
Speaker 1: promotions and made about twenty five to thirty thousand dollars annually,
Speaker 1: which is about the equivalent of one hundred and forty
Speaker 1: two to one hundred and seventy thousand dollars annually in
Speaker 1: today's world. In other words, he was financially successful. Hal
Speaker 1: and his wife moved to a beautiful, threat three story
Speaker 1: home and a wealthy neighborhood of Masalon, Ohio. Hal and
Speaker 1: his wife moved to a beautiful three story home in
Speaker 1: a wealthy neighborhood of Massillon, Ohio. Their lovely home was
Speaker 1: destroyed by a fire on February first, nineteen seventy one.
Speaker 1: The fire originated in the ductwork of the kitchen stove,
Speaker 1: and it quickly spread. The couple loved the neighborhood so
Speaker 1: much that they ended up purchasing a new home on
Speaker 1: the exact same street. Hal enjoyed privacy buying a home
Speaker 1: that sat behind several very large trees. He installed heavy
Speaker 1: drapes on all of his windows and kept them shut,
Speaker 1: and even implemented a triple lock system on each of
Speaker 1: the heavy doors that went in and out of his home.
Speaker 1: The couple continued their success by later purchasing and renting
Speaker 1: out an entire complex of apartments. They managed the building,
Speaker 1: which seemed to do very well for them. In nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy two and nineteen seventy four, each of their two
Speaker 1: daughters was born. On the surface, he seemed to have
Speaker 1: everything going for him, but there was a dark side
Speaker 1: to hal. He had numerous domestic violence incidents with his
Speaker 1: family and was known to punch, slap, and threaten his
Speaker 1: daughters by holding a knife to their throat. The abuse
Speaker 1: was not limited to the children. He often hurt his wife,
Speaker 1: and one such incident caused her to file a police
Speaker 1: report with the Canton Police and Children and Family Services,
Speaker 1: claiming that how injured her jaw. She reported later that
Speaker 1: he only hit her once. We urged listeners not to
Speaker 1: blame her or question why she wouldn't just leave. Domestic
Speaker 1: abuse is a systematic breakdown of a person, and abusers
Speaker 1: typically gained power over their victims by means of controlling finances,
Speaker 1: the children, the home, everything, leaving victims and survivors with
Speaker 1: few resources or places to go but back. How's wife
Speaker 1: tried to get him into therapy or counseling, but he refused,
Speaker 1: so she did what most women do in her situation.
Speaker 1: She tried her best to never agitate him or make
Speaker 1: him angry. Brilliantly, she managed to convince How that she
Speaker 1: could tell his future by reading tarot cards, and somehow
Speaker 1: this seemed to calm Hell enough to follow her advice.
Speaker 1: How's criminal behavior was not limited to assaults against his family.
Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty, he was arrested her disorderly conduct, which
Speaker 1: coincidentally is the only actual conviction on his criminal record,
Speaker 1: despite his abhorrent behavior. The incident involved in argument with
Speaker 1: a gas station worker. He pleaded no contest on October fifteenth,
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty and was eventually found guilty in order to
Speaker 1: pay fines and costs. In November of nineteen eighty two,
Speaker 1: How was laid off from his job, causing him to
Speaker 1: become consumed with fear of his financial situation and the
Speaker 1: ability to provide for his family. His fear manifested an
Speaker 1: anger and self loathing and one coworker recalled Hal saying
Speaker 1: that if he couldn't take care of his family, he
Speaker 1: would kill himself and quote take everyone with him. How's
Speaker 1: wife later reported that after the layoff, he started hearing voices,
Speaker 1: and indeed, in nineteen eighty three, he took a loaded
Speaker 1: pistol and held it to his temple, threatening to commit suicide.
Speaker 1: His wife was able to talk him out of it,
Speaker 1: but there doesn't appear to be any effort to seek
Speaker 1: mental health treatment at this point. That same year, the
Speaker 1: couple sold the apartment building for one hundred and fifteen
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and that summer they applied for residency in Mexico,
Speaker 1: where How believed that the money from the apartment building
Speaker 1: sale would last his family longer. He intended to move
Speaker 1: to Tijuana, Mexico and search for employment opportunities there. In
Speaker 1: October of nineteen eighty three, the family picked up and
Speaker 1: moved as planned. The majority of their belongings were left
Speaker 1: in storage back in Ohio, most everything except How's firearms,
Speaker 1: AMMO and survival gear. They lasted all of three months
Speaker 1: in Tijuana. How wasn't able to find a job. They
Speaker 1: were all miserable and How deeply regretted his decision to
Speaker 1: move there. They moved back to the States, but this
Speaker 1: time they stayed on the West Coast and moved just
Speaker 1: across the border to the Sanya Sigro neighborhood of San Diego.
Speaker 1: At that time, Sanya Sidro was a mostly poverty stricken
Speaker 1: district of San Diego, with a population in nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: four of about thirteen thousand residents. The family rented a
Speaker 1: small apartment in the Cottonwood Apartments while Hal searched for employment.
Speaker 1: Neighbors at the apartment say that How was overtly rude
Speaker 1: to them and he didn't make a great impression. Halle
Speaker 1: responded to a newspaper advertisement that offered a security guard
Speaker 1: training course through a federally funded program. He completed the
Speaker 1: course on April twelfth, nineteen eighty four, and was immediately
Speaker 1: offered a job with a security firm out of Chula Vista,
Speaker 1: which he accepted, and he was assigned to a condominium complex.
Speaker 1: How worked hard enough that he was able to afford
Speaker 1: to have the family's belonging ship from Ohio. They moved
Speaker 1: once more to another apartment, a two bedroom on April Road.
Speaker 1: A week before the shooting on January tenth, Hall was
Speaker 1: fired from the security guard job due to poor work
Speaker 1: performance and physical instability. Those who knew how describe him
Speaker 1: as irrasable and almost paranoid. He was seemingly obsessed with
Speaker 1: guns and was a self described survivalist. He leaned towards
Speaker 1: conspiracy theories, believing that there would be an escalation of
Speaker 1: the Cold War and that the presidents Carter and Reagan,
Speaker 1: and the United States government were secretly conspiring against him.
Speaker 1: The reality was he was indeed a conspiracy theorist as
Speaker 1: well as what we'd call in modern times a prepper.
Speaker 1: He stocked his house with non perishable foods and stockpiled
Speaker 1: guns and other weapons, genuinely believing that the apocalypse was imminent.
Speaker 1: Hall owned so many firearms that one person claimed that
Speaker 1: no matter where house stood or sat in the home,
Speaker 1: he was within arm's reach of a gun, a gun
Speaker 1: that was loaded with the safety off. There is little
Speaker 1: else known about his wife and daughters after the shooting.
Speaker 1: Following the shooting, McDonald's temporarily suspended all radio and TV
Speaker 1: advertisements in a show of solidarity. Burger King also temporarily
Speaker 1: pulled all advertising. Within only two days, of the shooting,
Speaker 1: McDonald's was completely renovated and redecorated. However, on July twenty fourth,
Speaker 1: community leaders and executives with the McDonald's Corporation made the
Speaker 1: difficult decision that the store would be completely demolished and
Speaker 1: a new one rebuilt at another location. McDonald's rebuilt their
Speaker 1: new restaurant two blocks from the original location. On September
Speaker 1: twenty sixth, the closed restaurant was officially torn down. McDonald's
Speaker 1: donated the property to the City of San ya Sidro,
Speaker 1: with the only stipulation being that no other restaurant be
Speaker 1: allowed to be constructed on the site. The property was
Speaker 1: eventually sold to Southwestern College in February of nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: eight for one hundred and thirty six thousand dollars. The
Speaker 1: purchase agreement included a clause that a three hundred square
Speaker 1: foot area would be set aside as a permit memorial
Speaker 1: to the twenty one shooting victims. The memorial site was
Speaker 1: unveiled in nineteen ninety and it's made up of twenty
Speaker 1: one hexagonal pillars made of white marble, and each bore
Speaker 1: the name of a shooting victim. Over time, however, the
Speaker 1: memorial has become surrounded by the new School, and if
Speaker 1: you didn't know what the memorial was specifically for, or
Speaker 1: didn't take the time to stop and read the plaque,
Speaker 1: you might mistake the memorial as something different entirely. A
Speaker 1: documentary directed by Charlie Minn called seventy seven Minutes was
Speaker 1: filmed in twenty sixteen and offers in depth insight about
Speaker 1: the shooting and includes interviews with several of the survivors.
Speaker 1: We encourage our listeners to watch. The documentary can be
Speaker 1: found and streamed on most streaming services. You see, we
Speaker 1: all have the unique ability to help prevent such a
Speaker 1: catastrophic event from happening if we keep our eyes and
Speaker 1: ears open and never hesitate to report when something or
Speaker 1: someone just doesn't seem right. With the delicate balance of
Speaker 1: mental health reform, education, active shooter training, and common sense
Speaker 1: gun laws, we may one day realize the dream, the
Speaker 1: dream that there will be no more active shootings. We
Speaker 1: pray that love will prevail over hate. Too many have died,
Speaker 1: we should say to ourselves, not one more. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: we urge our listeners to stay aware of your surroundings
Speaker 1: and keep in touch with your loved ones. If you
Speaker 1: see something, say something, you never know how many lives
Speaker 1: you'll be saving. Thank you for listening to today's episode
Speaker 1: of Active Shooter the Podcast. Remember, if you see something,
Speaker 1: say something, there's no telling how many lives you may
Speaker 1: be saving. A big thank you to Darren Curtis, who
Speaker 1: composed some of the songs on our show. You can
Speaker 1: find him online at www dot Darrencurtis music dot com.
Speaker 1: Make sure to check us out on social media. You
Speaker 1: can find us on Facebook at Active Shooter the Podcast
Speaker 1: and on Twitter at podcast Active. Thank you and be safe.