Comprehensive update on yesterday's quadruple murder/cop massacre by Hank Earl Carr,in FL
Joe1orbit
Hello,
I must begin by offering profound PRAISE to the online version of the Tampa
Tribune newspaper. They have assembled a TREMENDOUS collection of news
articles, along with audio AND video clips, of yesterday's quadruple massacre
of 4 people, including 3 cops, by 30 year old Hank Earl Carr. I urge everyone
interested in this most impressive killing rampage to go to the following URL:
http://www.tampatrib.com/carr.htm
From the above URL you will be able to link to 8 or more news articles,
covering all aspects of the incident. Be advised that if you do go to the above
URL you will be rewarded with AUDIO coverage of Hank's telephone call to the
radio station, made AFTER he had killed all 3 cops, a VIDEO coverage of the
SWAT team rushing into the gas station only to find Hank dead of a
self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Obviously your computer must be equipped
for audio and video, in order to hear and see these images. There are also
NUMEROUS online photos of the incident, scattered throughout all of the news
articles. The BEST and clearest photo of Hank's face can be found at the
following URL:
http://www.tampatrib.com/suspect.htm
Below I am reprinting 3 or 4 of the best articles, but they do not fully
cover the spectrum of material that the Tampa Tribune has posted on their site.
I HIGHLY recommend that you visit the above URL, to gain a full flavor of the
tremendous local media attention that Hank's cop massacre has garnered.
Just a few details here, that grabbed my attention. Police and SWAT teams DID
force Hank's hand, by throwing tear gas and explosive diversion devices into
the gas station, after Hank had released his only hostage. They chose to FORCE
Hank to surrender, even though he had released his only hostage and posed no
direct threat to anyone. IMO, that is outrageous. The SWAT team should simply
have done nothing and WAITED, once Hand did release his only hostage. There was
no excuse for them to lob tear gas into the gas station, and their actions are
RESPONSIBLE for causing Hank to shoot himself to death.
The two dead detectives who were driving hank to the police station for
questioning were both in their 40's. The third cop killed, the Highway Patrol
Trooper, was a 23 year old rookie.
We get some beautiful detailed facts about exactly how this scene played
itself out yesterday, beginning just before 10 AM when Hank and his wife ran
into a fire station carrying their 4 year old son, who was already dead from a
gunshot wound to his head. We also get a detailed portrait of Hank, and his
past history & crimes. Hank apparently loved his guns, and carried them around
with him often. He does have a 5 year old daughter, as well as the now-dead 4
year old son.
Guess what? Child welfare authorities WERE notified by neighbors that Hank &
his wife were leaving guns around the house, endangering the welfare of their
children, and actively ABUSING their 2 slaves as well. CPS caseworkers visited
the house, but could not "substantiate the allegations:, and so Daddy Hank and
Mommy Bernice Bowen, aged 24, were allowed to KEEP possession of their 2
slaves. And the result is that four year old Joey is DEAD today. Your society
chose to allow Joey to be murdered, and it therefore has NO right to judge Hank
negatively for having later killed 3 cops, that same day.
Hank used a RIFLE to kill the final cop, the 23 year old rookie. So it
appears clear that the two detectives left AMMUNITION INSIDE of the trunk as
well. The 23 year old rookie trooper was shot in the fact, at point-blank
range, by Hank. He was dead at the scene, as were the 2 detectives.
We learn that a police HELICOPTER pursued Hank after he had killed the THIRD
cop. Hank SHOT AT the police helicopter, and actually HIT the helicopter,
narrowly missing the pilot! That is damn impressive!
His female hostage inside the gas station where he holed up was 27 years old.
He holed up with her for about 4-5 hours, firing no shots, and spoke to a radio
station reporter who had CALLED HIM on the phone. Yes, contrary to initial
reports, Hank did NOT call the radio station, the radio station got the phone
number of this gas station, and called him. He also spoke to his wife on the
phone. At about 7:30 in the evening he released his only hostage, the 27 year
old female. Only MINUTES later, police chose to initiate a totally UNPROVOKED
attack upon the gas station, firing tear gas into the building. The bomb squad
set off 2 bombs as well, to provide access points to the SWAT teams. When the
gas had cleared, SWAT teams went in and found Hank dead of a self-inflicted
gunshot wound. He had one semi automatic rifle and two handguns with him. The
rifle was likely his own, taken from the trunk of the police car after he shot
the first 2 detectived to death, and the 2 handguns likely belonged to the 2
detectives. What the cops chose to do is UNFORGIVABLE, IMO. Hank had just
RELEASED his only hostage. There was no sign that he intended to initiate a gun
battle with cops. And yet they chose to INITIATE an attack against him, by
shooting tear gas into the building and setting off explosives. They had no
right to do this, and IMO, Hank should have kept his hostage until the very
end. His CHOICE to let the hostage go was his DOWNFALL, and he teaches us a
VALUABLE tactical lesson. NEVER give up ANY human hostages you might have, for
any reason. NEVER do that, because there are no tactical advantages to doing
so.
30 year old Hank did have an extensive criminal history. He had been accused
in the past of STOMPING a PUPPY to death, as well as biting off a man's ear
during a bar fight. He was also questioned about the MURDER of an 18 year old
girl in 1992, but no charges were filed in connection with that death, as
police didn't have enough evidence to charge Hank. In that incident, Rhonda
Manley, age 18, was found dumped inside of a cemetary about two miles from
where Hank was then living, in Ohio. She had been sexually assaulted, themn
stabbed repeatedly, to death. Nobody has ever been charged with that killing,
but Hank was a very serious suspect. He was first arrested in 1986, when he was
only 18 years old, and spent 2 years in prison. Immediately after his release
in 1988, he began committing numerous crimes, of all sorts, including ASSAULT
upon a police officer, which he committed in October of 1988.
It is NOT clear whether Hank is the biological father of the 4 and 5 year old
slaves of the 24 year old gal, Bernice Bowen, that he was living with. But
neighbors tell us that he was verbally abusive to both children, and displayed
violent tendencies.
We get facinating details on how the local Tampa media provided non-stop
coverage of the incident, for hours, and we even get a little bit of a debate
about the ethics of the radio station having chosenb to call up Hank on the
phone, while he was holed up in the gas station. I am certainly GLAD they did
call him, since this gives up a UNIQUE opportunity to hear and to analyze
Hank's words and feelings, on the same day that he likely shot his 4 year old
son to death and DEFINATELY killed, in a deliberate fashion, three cops.
Well, if you want more fascinating details, just read the below articles,
and visit the URL I gave above. This is a FASCINATING TC incident and case!
Take care, JOE
The following four news articles all appear courtesy of the 5/20/98 online
edition of The Tampa Tribune newspaper:
5/20/98
Suspect `fought all the time,' cops say
By SARAH HUNTLEY of The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Known as a gun lover with a violent temper, Hank Earl Carr had a
lengthy record. One friend said he ``plays for keeps.''
Hank Earl Carr, 30, confessed in an on-air interview to killing two detectives
after they called him a liar. Holed up in a Hernando County gasoline station,
Hank Earl Carr painted himself as a loving father wrongfully accused of
intentionally shooting his 4-year-old ``son.''
``It was a terrible accident, and I don't even think I deserve to live,'' he
said in a radio interview Tuesday.
But those who knew Carr, and his history, say he was anything but a victim.
The 30-year-old ex-convict was accused in separate incidents of stomping a
puppy to death and biting off part of a man's ear during a barroom brawl. He
also was questioned in the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old girl.
``The guy's a real sweetheart,'' said Lt. Jeff Seevers of the Washington County
Sheriff's Office in Ohio, where he was wanted for trafficking in marijuana and
failure to appear in court. ``He fought all the time. He enjoyed the reputation
that he had, that he was crazy and capable of doing just about anything.''
Seevers said Carr, better known as ``Boo,'' was questioned in the murder of an
18-year-old girl.
In the case of Rhonda Manley - repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted before
her body was discovered in September 1992 in a cemetery about two miles from
Carr's home in Marietta, Ohio - detectives interviewed Carr and took blood
samples from him, Seevers said. They were working to link him to evidence at
the crime scene, but there wasn't a match.
Despite a lengthy investigation, no one ever was charged.
``He denied having anything to do with it,'' Seevers said. ``But we never
ruled him out.''
According to Washington County sheriff's records, a grand jury indicted Carr on
three counts of aggravated trafficking in marijuana after he sold drugs to an
undercover police officer. His record also included domestic violence,
telephone harassment, assault and theft.
Carr's criminal history wasn't limited to Ohio, though. Florida Department of
Corrections records show he was sentenced to prison time in 1986, 1988 and 1989
for 16 offenses, including burglary, forgery, grand theft, cocaine possession
and battery on a law enforcement officer.
Carr was sentenced to two years as a youthful offender in March 1986 for
burglary, larceny and forgery in Sarasota County. After his release, he was
charged with violating community control.
In October 1988, the Sarasota Police Department charged him with aggravated
assault of a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, possession of cocaine
and drug equipment.
One of Carr's other burglary charges stemmed from the theft of two VCRs, a gun
and jewelry worth $3,800 from a home in Pinellas Park. Pinellas County records
show he was arrested Oct. 11, 1988, pleaded guilty in 1989 and was sentenced to
four years in prison.
But Carr later was arrested in Hillsborough County for aggravated assault,
battery and forgery. He was sentenced to house arrest, court records show, and
later accused of violating the terms of his sentence.
Carr hadn't changed much, his acquaintances said.
``He was a hard man, let's put it that way. He plays for keeps,'' said a friend
who identified himself as Shawn, refusing to give his last name. ``I know he
has this [expletive] thing about guns - he loves them - but this is a trip.''
Carr, who lately lived with Bernice Bowen and her two children, Joey and Kayla
Bennett, was known for his temper, two former neighbors said.
``He's an odd person. He was always verbally mistreating the kids and her. You
could hear it from downstairs,'' said Charles Campbell, who grew so concerned
he reported the behavior to the state Department of Children and Families.
``One time he threw the television down the stairs,'' Campbell said. ``It
sounded like he was going off like all holy hell.''
Catherine Phillips, who lived in one of the other apartments, said Bowen, 24,
told her she wanted to leave Carr but was too afraid.
Once, Phillips said, Bowen told her Carr picked up Joey, 4, by the ankles and
dropped him on his head because he wet his pants. Joey was shot and killed
early Tuesday.
Carr, who used a number of aliases including James Earl Reed and Mark Blanepti,
worked briefly for Tampa Tent several months ago, but he stopped showing up to
work after two days.
Although Carr told neighbors he was unemployed, Campbell and Phillips said he
earned some money dealing firearms from his home. They said he often carried a
weapon in his waistband and he didn't hesitate to use it.
``There was always gunfire over there. He'd go outside and pop off a few
rounds,'' Campbell said. ``I don't believe he was playing with a full deck.''
Sarah Huntley covers law enforcement in Tampa and can be reached at (813)
259-7616. Staff writers Rob Shaw and Paulo Lima contributed to this report.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Tragic, violent day
By SARAH HUNTLEY, SEAN LENGELL, ACE ATKINS and BILL THOMPSON
of The Tampa Tribune
Five people are dead, including three officers, in a three-county spree of
violence that started with a child's death.
It started with the fatal shooting of a 4-year-old boy and exploded into a
multicounty spree of violence that left two veteran police detectives, a rookie
state trooper and the suspected triggerman dead Tuesday.
Almost 10 hours after the boy's death, police said the man suspected of the
murderous rampage died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after officers
bombarded a gasoline station he was holed up in with tear gas and explosive
devices.
In a disturbing radio interview, suspected triggerman Hank Earl Carr claimed he
shot the Tampa detectives after wriggling free from handcuffs. The trooper was
shot to death after stopping a truck Carr had stolen after shooting the
officers, police said.
Killed were Detectives Randy Bell, 44, and Rick Childers, 46, and Florida
Highway Patrol Trooper James B. Crooks, 23, who had been on the job only since
August.
Carr, 30, claimed in the radio interview that he was angered when police called
him a liar after questioning him about the shooting death of the boy, Joey
Bennett, in his home.
Carr claimed the boy was his son and also told police he was Joseph Lee
Bennett. Neither was true.
Bennett is a 33-year-old roofer who lives in Watertown, Ohio. Reached by
telephone at his home, he said he saw his children, including Joey, at
Thanksgiving, when they came to visit their maternal grandmother in Marietta,
Ohio.
``That was the last time I heard from them,'' he said, his voice breaking. ``I
still have their Christmas presents.''
The incredible tale of violence began with Joey's death.
Police began questioning Carr Tuesday morning after he and the boy's mother
brought Joey to a fire station at the corner of Nebraska Avenue and Hanna
Street.
The couple pulled up to the station at 9:50 a.m. and carried in the child, who
had been shot once in the head, according to Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade.
The boy's mother, later identified as Bernice Bowen, 24, pleaded with
firefighters to help him.
But Joey wasn't breathing and had no pulse, Wade said. Firefighters tried to
resuscitate him; paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead.
``They hooked him up to the monitor, but there was nothing they could do,''
Wade said.
Hearing of the boy's death, Carr jumped into his car and raced back to his
apartment at 709 1/2 E. Crenshaw St. Officers caught up with him there.
He and Bowen told police the child had been dragging a loaded, high-powered
rifle behind him when it discharged. The account raised suspicions because Joey
was shot in the head. But then something happened that made detectives even
more wary.
About 10:30 a.m., while detectives were talking to him, Carr bolted. With
officers on his tail, he ran through several yards that border Nebraska Avenue.
A few minutes into the pursuit, Cpl. Brian O'Connor spotted feet poking out
from a clump of bushes along Norfolk Street, less than a quarter-mile from the
couple's apartment.
Police arrested Carr there and took him to headquarters for questioning.
``We were treating this as an accidental shooting, but then all of a sudden the
guy just took off,'' said police spokesman Steve Cole. ``That put a whole new
perspective on our investigation. That's a little bit squirrelly.''
Cole said Carr provided different accounts of how the shooting occurred. In
Carr's radio interview, he said he may have hit the butt of the rifle against
the wall, causing it to discharge accidentally.
Neighbors said the apartment, one of four in a white, two-story building behind
709 E. Crenshaw St., was a constant source of loud music, gunfire and police
activity.
``There was always noise over there,'' said Letha Elder, who lives across the
street. ``You can imagine, but it's not for us to say.''
As she held her 5-month-old granddaughter, Elder said her heart went out to the
dead child.
``I can't even feel sorry for the parents right now. I feel for that little
boy,'' she said.
Former neighbors Charles Campbell and Catherine Phillips said Carr, known to
them as Earl and ``Boo,'' was armed nearly all the time.
``It was like a constant thing,'' Phillips said. ``He'd carry the guns around
in his pants and sit out there shooting squirrels.``
In January, they said, Carr dropped a pistol on the floor of the apartment. The
gun went off, sending a bullet through the floor to a room below, but no one
was injured.
Concerned about the weapons and possible abuse to Joey and his 5-year-old
sister, Kayla, Campbell called the state Department of Children and Families.
Agency spokesman Tom Jones confirmed the department received two reports of
problems at the household. Caseworkers visited but could not substantiate the
allegations, he said.
Earlier this month, Joey's mother agreed to accept help from the department,
but the agency had not finished putting the services in place, Jones said.
After questioning Carr at headquarters, the detectives took him back to his
home to ``walk through'' the shooting scene. He then was placed back in the
detectives' car, where - Carr said later on the radio - he wriggled free of one
handcuff and grabbed a detective's gun.
He said he shot the detective who was driving and then shot the other as the
man tried to dive over the front seat to grab him.
The commotion caught the attention of neighbors in Tampa Heights. Thomas
Wilson, 60, ran to the front of his home as his girlfriend pointed to the Ford
sedan in the middle of the Floribraska Avenue exit ramp from Interstate 275.
When Wilson reached the car, the sight behind the blood-splattered glass made
him turn away. Two men lay slouched in the front seat.
``The driver was leaning against the door and the other was lying across his
seat like he was reaching into the back,'' Wilson said. He knew both officers
were dead.
Authorities say the triggerman then carjacked a white, 1997 Ford Ranger and
headed north on I-275 toward Pasco County.
Tim Bain, a 20-year-old college student from Tampa, was on the interstate en
route to his valet job at Saddlebrook resort when he saw the white truck and a
state trooper whiz by about 2:30 p.m. Just south of State Road 54, he saw the
trooper stop the truck at the Wesley Chapel exit.
Bain said his car and others traveling onto the exit ramp stopped as the
showdown took place in front of them.
A man with a rifle jumped out of the truck and walked to the cruiser, Bain
said. Sitting in his parked car, Bain didn't see the shooting but heard a
gunshot and glass shattering. A moment passed. Another gunshot, more splintered
glass.
Then, strangely, another white pickup truck came flying past Bain onto the exit
ramp and apparently tried to run down the gunman - actually clipping the
gunman's truck, Bain said.
As the gunman got back in his truck and sped off, Bain jumped out of his own
car and noticed the trooper's cruiser, with the passenger window shot out,
rolling down the ramp.
Bain said he managed to reach into the cruiser and put it in park. But it kept
moving, so he had to jump inside to slam on the brakes.
``I'll always remember his face,`` he said of Crooks, a rookie trooper. ``It
was like he was looking back at me. When I had that car stopped and I looked at
him, I couldn't believe it. It was like something you see in the movies.''
Bain said the trooper had been shot in the head.
``I tried to talk to him,'' Bain said. ``I said, `Sir, you OK?' But there was
no motion, nothing.''
As the chase headed north, Hernando County sheriff's deputies were waiting when
Carr crossed the county line about 3 p.m. Officers placed a device used to
puncture tires, a Stinger, across the highway. Carr ran over it.
Carr shot at and hit the sheriff's helicopter. The bullet went through the
floorboard near the pilot, who wasn't injured.
It was unclear why he turned into the Shell station on State Road 50 just off
I-75. But witnesses said his truck came barreling off the exit ramp and
screeched to a halt in a drainage ditch beside the building.
He popped off a couple of shots as he ran into the station, witnesses said,
where he took 27-year-old Stephanie Diane Kramer of Dade City hostage.
For the next 4 1/2 hours, no shots were fired. Hernando deputies negotiated
with Carr. Tampa police brought Bowen, the woman he called his wife, and she
spoke to him by telephone.
About 7:30 p.m., Carr released Kramer by the front door. Crouching, she ran to
a line of police cruisers and was whisked away by officers.
Minutes later, Hernando sheriff's deputies fired five canisters of tear gas at
the building. The Tampa police bomb squad set off two breach charges
simultaneously, one against the back wall of the station and one against the
side wall. The triangular-shaped charge, designed to blow holes in walls, tore
a hole in the rear wall.
When the gas had cleared, officers approached. They said they found Carr's body
against the back of the building where the explosives went off. He had shot
himself in the head, they said, though they weren't certain exactly when he
died.
Carr was armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle and two handguns.
One other casualty of the day's terror was a truck driver who got caught in the
fray along I-75. Christopher Espinosa, 56, of Brooksville took a bullet in the
shoulder while behind the wheel of a J & L Trucking Co. tractor-trailer.
Pasco County sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said Espinosa was one of two
truckers fired upon by Carr, who was trying to get around them on I-75.
Espinosa was admitted to Oak Hill Hospital in Spring Hill. By 10:15 p.m., he
was out of surgery and in stable condition, a nursing supervisor said. Further
surgery, scheduled for later this week, is needed for a complete recovery.
Staff writers Neil Johnson, Ken Koehn, Paulo Lima, Keith Morelli, Jim Sloan and
Jeff Stidham contributed to this report. Sarah Huntley, Ace Atkins, Sean
Lengell and Bill Thompson report from various offices in the region
---------------------------------------------------------
5/20/98
Crime spree dominates local TVs
By WALT BELCHER of The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Television coverage of Tuesday's crimes ranged from on-scene reporting
to poorly timed commercials.
The Hank Earl Carr shooting spree dominated Tampa Bay area television for more
than six hours Tuesday, even knocking Dan Rather's newscast off CBS affiliate
WTSP, Channel 10.
Five TV news staffs in the region scrambled with mixed results to cover the
crimes.
Time Warner's Bay News 9, hampered most of the day by a shortage of live camera
shots, wound up with the most dramatic view of the final moments when a SWAT
team swarmed into the gasoline station where the gunman had holed up.
The fledgling all-news channel, which has no helicopter, got the angle because
it shared a feed with a crew from Central Florida Network, Time Warner's
all-news channel in Orlando.
While Tampa Bay area crews were gridlocked south of the site, CFN approached
from the north and had a clearer view.
But Bay News 9 didn't show the SWAT assault live.
``We opted to tape-delay it for a minute or two because we had no idea if Carr
was alive and watching TV,'' said cable news director Melissa Klinzing.
The cautious approach trailed other stations in providing information during
some of the ordeal.
Meanwhile, WTVT, Channel 13, had great footage of the gas station hostage being
released.
WFLA, Channel 8, which appeared ahead of the pack with its coverage early,
dropped the ball at the end, jumping to network promotions while rivals
reported Carr apparently had killed himself.
Channel 8 had been among the first stations to go to live coverage in the early
afternoon and had some impressive moments. Those included a live interview with
a witness, Art Woodworth, who told of seeing an officer fire from a bridge into
Carr's speeding auto as it raced past Woodworth on Interstate 75.
Channel 8 also had some impressive shots and reporting from its helicopter,
piloted by Judd Chapin, and reporter Mark Douglas uncovered a witness who had
been riding with a man wounded by Carr.
Between 2 and 4 p.m., Bay area stations seemed torn over whether to stick with
the story, dropping in and out of soap operas and talk shows.
It was a jolt to go from a crime scene to a soap opera star in bed.
By 4 p.m., wall-to-wall coverage began. Channel 13 and Channel 10 kept the
images on the longest, with Channel 10 even skipping ``CBS Evening News.''
All stations aired the audio from a WFLA radio interview with Carr, although
profanity could be heard in Channel 8's first airing.
-----------------------------------------------------
5/20/98
Radio talk with suspect gets airplay, raises questions
By KEVIN WALKER and JENNIFER BARRS of The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Ethical watchdogs wonder about the propriety of a Tampa radio station's
talk with Hank Earl Carr.
The idea came to Sue Treccase, program director at radio station WFLA, 970 AM,
as she coordinated coverage of a string of shootings Tuesday.
Suspect Hank Earl Carr was holed up in a gasoline station in Hernando County.
Why not look up the number and try to call him on the telephone?
The decision resulted in dramatic radio - and some questions about the ethics
and wisdom of giving a criminal a live audience.
For six and a half minutes, WFLA News Director Don Richards spoke to Carr on
the air. Carr, holding a woman hostage, spent most of the call trying to
explain how a young boy's death in Tampa was an accident. But he also admitted
shooting two city police detectives.
He never mentioned another fatal shooting, of a state trooper.
TV stations repeatedly played the interview during the afternoon.
It started with a radio reporter repeatedly calling the gas station until a man
answered. After getting information from the person who answered, the reporter
hung up. Treccase then called again.
``We didn't even know if we had the right guy,'' she said. ``I talked to him
and asked, `Is there anything you can tell me so that I could know it's really
you?' ''
He described the shooting with ``enough details'' to convince Treccase he was
the suspect. He also allowed the hostage to speak on the phone.
``She wasn't crying, but her voice was trembling,'' Treccase said.
Treccase immediately moved to put Carr on the air with Richards. She said she
never doubted her decision, and she added that police even ``congratulated''
WFLA for keeping Carr talking.
``Don is one of the best in the business,'' Treccase said. ``I knew we were in
good hands.''
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office negotiating team also tried to call the
gas station during the hostage situation but got a busy signal. Sheriff's
officials weren't sure later whether it was the radio station tying up the
line. Some media watchers questioned WFLA's actions.
``The views of a gunman who has taken a hostage are not necessarily relevant to
any kind of public debate. It's just more interesting from a sensational
perspective,'' said Jim Naureckas of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a New
York media watchdog group.
Comparing WFLA's broadcast to the infamous car chase involving O.J. Simpson in
the summer of 1994, Naureckas said: ``It's kind of exciting radio, but are you
justifying playing with people's lives?''
Similar concerns were expressed by Felix Gutierrez of The Freedom Forum's
Pacific Coast Center in San Francisco.
``Any time a reporter goes into a story in a role beyond their immediate
expertise, the journalist runs the risk of affecting the outcome of the story.
It could be a happy ending - and it could also go the other way,'' said
Gutierrez, whose organization tries to foster understanding between the media
and the public.
``The gunman could say, `I want to go on `Larry King Live' or NBC News,' '' he
suggested, ``or gunmen in other places could say, `I can get my story across by
putting someone else's life at risk.' ''
Nonetheless, Gutierrez said WFLA may have calmed the situation - ``bought some
time'' - by putting Carr on the air.
``I don't see a hard line,'' he concluded.
Others saw a line more simply.
``I don't necessarily know I would call it unethical in today's news gathering
environment,'' said Al Peterson, news talk editor of the major industry weekly
Radio & Records. ``And you have to admire WFLA's tenacity.''
``There is no one in radio who would not want that interview.''
Kevin Walker and Jennifer Barrs report from Tampa.
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Here is a partial transcript of the latter half of Hank Earl Carr's interview
with a local radio station in Florida, just a few hours after he had killed
three cops. To listen to the first part of the interview, via streaming audio,
which allows you to hear HANK'S VOICE, simply go to the following URL:
http://tampabayonline.net/reports/shoot.htm
Obviously this is a fascinating interview, made all the more poignant and
profound by the fact that Hank killed himself just a few hours after granting
this FINAL record and explanation of his True Reality.
I must say that Hank comes across as VERY articulate and thoughtful,
especially considering the fact that he is a career criminal, and had just
experienced the MOST traumatic day of his life, with his son getting shot in
the head, and he himself slaughtering three cops.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of the 5/20/98 online edition of The Tampa
Tribune newspaper:
The suspect details a day of shootings
May 20, 1998
In the middle of a long day of fleeing and shooting, Hank Earl Carr took time
to tell a radio station his version of what was happening.
The transcript below picks up where Carr is attempting to explain what happened
when his 4-year-old son was shot at the family home. Carr said he was taking
the gun away from the child, who had picked it up.
Hank Carr: I turned around to put it up, and I guess the butt hit the side of
the wall and it went off. It discharged a round right through my son's face. I
didn't know what to do. I was scared, I panicked, I flipped out. I knew he was
still alive. I tried to get him medical attention. We threw him the car, we
took him up, I seen a cop on the side of the road. I stopped him, he was acting
like, he was just moving too slow for the emergency situation. I told him,
``Look, I can't wait, my son's been shot, I got to go.'' He hollered out, ``Go
to the fire department down the street.'' I pulled into the fire department
down the street. All this was an accident.
Well, when I pulled him out of the car and gave him to the paramedics, I felt
his pulse again. It was gone. I knew at that time my son was dead.
We had left our little girl there with the neighbors, because my wife, Bernice,
didn't want Kayla in the car with Joey, with him bleeding, because it would
have freaked her out. So, I took off in the car again, I wasn't under arrest.
So, I left and went back to get my daughter and to get the rifle for the cops,
to show them. Well, while I was there, the cops showed up, and one of the cops
grabbed his gun and said, ``Don't move.'' So, I didn't move. They were sitting
there talking to me. I said, ``Am I under arrest?'' They said, ``No.'' I wanted
to go be with my wife and see if my daughter was all right.
So, I took off to be with my wife. I hurt my leg, the cops surrounded me, they
threw me in the back of the car, they took me downtown, they asked me a bunch
of questions, they called me a liar. I tried to tell them it was an accident.
They took me back to the scene, which was bad enough. My son's blood was all
over the floor and the walls. And I tried to explain to them exactly what
happened, they started calling me a liar, and this and that, and I was going to
jail and prison, and blah blah blah.
They put me back in the cop car, and I asked them, you know, ``Am I going to
prison?'' They said, ``Yes.'' I got one of the handcuffs off. I reached up
front and got the pistol away from the officer that was driving. The other one
jumped in the back seat trying to get it away. I shot them both. I got in the
truck that was parked behind me and made the guy get out. I opened up the back
of the cop car and grabbed my rifle that they had took. Then I took off up
north. I was heading north when the cops started chasing me. They were shooting
at me, every underpass I went under they would shoot at the truck. They were
shooting at me. They blowed my tires out. Ninty mile an hour, I almost wrecked
twice. I finally got the car on the road. They were shooting at me, they shot
me through the truck. I was hit in the ass, it's a big hole, I think it's a 45,
I'm bleeding bad.
They've surrounded this place, now. I fell off into this gas station, running
for my fucking life, and here I am.
And, that's my story. What happened to my son was an accident. It was a
terrible accident, and I don't even think I deserve to live. It's unlikely that
I'll come out of this alive. I can't see giving myself up to fry in the
electric chair. I know I'll fry for the cops.
Don Richards: Who's in the Shell Station with you?
Carr: Um, the lady that works here. No harm will come to her, she's been very
nice, very cooperative. If anything, I'll shoot myself. But my wife is supposed
to be on the way. They're going to let me talk to her, hopefully she can talk
me into making the right decision. Basically, I want to tell her that I'm
sorry, and that it was an accident. She was there, she knows it was an
accident. And I'm waiting on them.
Richards: Joseph, could you let that lady out?
Carr: Not at this time. Not until I hear from my wife. Which may be time to
call now, I don't know what's going on.
Richards: Joseph, what is preventing you from putting down that weapon and just
walking out?
Carr: I don't have the weapon, the weapon is laying right here beside me. I
haven't had the weapon in my hand for over 15, 20 minutes, now. I'm not in no
way threatening this lady. She's visibly upset, but she knows she's going to
live. She will live.
Richards: Why don't you just open that door and walk out very slowly?
Carr: Well, there's snipe shooters ... and they're all laying under their cars
and all. The police have surrounded ... there's cops everywhere. I'm not going
out there. They done shot at me all day. They've been shooting at me for the
last 30 miles, you know?
Richards: But if you are not a threat to them, then you should be able to get
out OK. Isn't that sort of logical?
Carr: Well, I'm already shot. Logically, I don't want to fry in the electric
chair. I don't want to go to prison. I don't want to have to eat the food. I
don't want to have to live with people. I just ... I don't want to go to
prison. I don't want to go.
Richards: The best advice I can give you would be to let that lady, who has
nothing to do with any of this, out of that store. And, you know, and to follow
her yourself.
Carr: Do me a favor. My real name isn't Joseph Lee Bennett.
Richards: What is it?
Carr: Hank Earl Carr.
Richards: Hank Carr?
Carr: Yep.
Richards: How do you spell that?
Carr: C-A-R-R. H-A-N-K.
Richards: Can we call your wife, Hank?
Carr: I'm trying to get them to get a hold of her, so I can talk to her now.
That's why I'm fixin' to get off the phone, in case she calls. In case they're
bringing her in to try to talk me out of this. She's the only one that can. I
know you're trying, I appreciate that.
Richards: That lady has nothing to do with any of this, and, you know, she's
treated you well.
Carr: She's only served her purpose. She's just keeping me alive long to where
I can see my wife.
Richards: Well, again, let her out and ...
Carr: I just wanted to tell my story. My son was an accident. We don't keep
loaded guns around the kids. That gun was supposed to be empty. I don't
understand what happened.
Richards: A lot of people are going to be asking a lot of questions for a long
time about this particular day in the history of Tampa Bay. Hank, let that lady
out and then follow her with your hands up. What's your wife's name, Hank?
Carr: Bernice Marie Bowen
Richards: Bernice. Let that lady out and then follow her with your hands up and
the situation probably can come to a ...
Carr: Right after I talk to Bernice, I'll probably give her the guns and let
her go out and then I'll just lay on the floor here and they can come and get
me. But for right now, I want to talk to my wife before I do anything.
Richards: This situation could end peacefully, Hank. Please. Please. OK?
Carr: Ya'll got the story?
Richards: I think we do.
Carr: Thanks, buddy.
Richards: OK.
Carr: Bye.
Joe1orbit
I'm not going to post a bunch of additional articles on Hank Earl Carr's
Florida massacre, but I do want to post two new items below, and to let you
folks know that the St. Petersburg Times newspaper, just like the Tampa Tribune
newspaper, is providing us with VERY comprehensive and detailed coverage of the
entire homicidal rampage of Hank's. You can read these 2 articles, and link to
an archive of NINE additional articles, including NEW photos that are NOT at
the Tampa Tribune URL that I gave in my initial post to this thread, by going
to:
http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/52098/A_child__3_officers_a.html
I am only posting two of the articles, although many of the others do contain
additional and new info. The below item focuses upon the child welfare aspects
of this case, and the fact that your society chose to allow 4 year old Joseph
to have his life ended, by leaving this helpless boy in the possession of a man
with an incredibly extensive criminal record, who left guns lying all over the
house.
The new details below simply point out the undeniable fact that all children
are seen and treated as being worthless, subhuman pieces of owned property, by
their parents/legal owners, AND much more importantly, by society as a whole.
Hank Earl Carr had been accused in recent months of abusing both 4 year old
Joseph and his 5 year old sister. This accusation was made to State Child
Welfare authorities. They were SUPPOSED to supervise the home, but because of a
"staffing change", no type of supervision was ever done. CPS workers visited
the home twice, in February and in March. They visited the home with police,
both times. And yet they couldn't find enough PROOF that the 2 helpless slaves
were being abused or were in immediate danger, for them to JUSTIFY seizing the
children. So they left the 2 helpless slaves to their fate, and 4 year old
Joseph paid with his LIFE.
Our dead Joseph's sister, aged 5, has NOW been seized by the State, which
says it will put Kayla in a foster home. Yup, it takes the MURDER of her
brother for Kayla to finally be seized by the State. That is how LITTLE the
suffering, trauma, or danger that a child is facing, means to society itself.
Guess what? The Mommy of these 2 children, the woman that Hank Carr was
living with, did NOT even have legal custody of the 2 children! Instead, the
maternal grandmother of the 2 kids, who lives in Ohio, had some type of
agreement made with her daughter and the biological father of the 2 kids, that
SHE would have legal custody. This grandmother, having legal custody, chose to
ALLOW her daughter to keep her 2 biological creations. The daughter then chose
to fornicate with Hank Carr and have him be her live-in lover. And that is how
4 year old Joseph wound up dead of a rifle shot to his head. His maternal
grandmother, having legal custody, chose to HAND HIM OVER, as a SLAVE, to his
biological mother. IMO, if the grandmother truly had LEGAL custody, she should
be CRIMINALLY charged with manslaughter, for not keeping possession of the
slave that she had legal custody of, and allowing that child to live in a
distant state, with her inferior daughter and the criminal man that she chose
as her fornication partner/live-in lover.
Instead, believe it or not, this maternal grandmother is now VOWING to GET
BACK possession of her surviving granddaughter, 5 year old Kayla, from the
State of FL. She declared the following in an interview yesterday: "I've got
full custody of them kids, and I plan on bringing them back to me." Yup, the
CHILD SLAVERY aspect of your PATHETIC society is in full bloom. This woman, who
is DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for CAUSING 4 year old Joseph's death, by literally
GIVING the 2 children entrusted into her care by the legal system, AWAY to her
inferior daughter, who had LOST custody, and her criminal live-in lover, is now
VOWING to REGAIN possession of the surviving 5 year old girl/slave. And you
know what? The odds are VERY good that she will regain possession. Such is the
level of perverse insanity upon which your society operates with in regard to
the Sacred Blood Blond/child slavery LAWS and rules and cultural mores.
We also learn that Hank Carr had given child welfare workers a FAKE NAME when
they visited the home in February & March. Even though POLICE visited the home
TOGETHER with the CPS workers, nobody performed a proper ID check on Hank, and
so CPS did a background check on the FALSE name that Hank had given them, and
thus believed that he had NO criminal record, when in fact he had an EXTENSIVE
criminal record including the fatal stomping of a puppy in front of a GROUP of
children.
So there you have it, the full story of how a helpless little boy is left to
die, in the possession of a biological Mommy who did NOT have legal custody,
and a live-in lover who has an extensive criminal record and was accused of
abusing both children TWICE, just a few months ago.
Remember, to read 8 or 9 detailed NEW articles on this case, simply launch
your web browser to the URL given above. I have spent too much time online
today, and will sign off now, so even though there are several breaking news
stories of interest, you folks will have to find and post them yourselves, if
you are so inclined.
Take care, JOE
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of the 5/20/98 online
edition of The St. Petersburg Times newspaper:
Caseworkers received allegations of abuse
By AMY HERDY
Published May 20, 1998
TAMPA -- To investigators with the state Department of Children and Families,
the name Joseph Bennett Jr. was a familiar one.
Officials at the agency said they recently had ordered a caseworker to
supervise the 4-year-old boy's home after allegations that he and his sister
had been abused by Hank Earl Carr, their mother's live-in boyfriend.
But because of a staffing change, that never happened.
The next word the agency received about the family was from police, who called
Tuesday morning to say Joseph had been shot to death inside the home, said
Children and Families spokesman Tom Jones.
Jones said the tragedy stunned the agency.
"It's like most of the stuff we deal with: There's no way you can predict this
type of incident," Jones said.
Joseph's 5-year-old sister, Kayla, is now in protective custody, Jones said,
and will be placed in a foster home.
The agency received two complaints that Carr had abused the children, Jones
said, one in February, the other in March.
Both times investigators visited the home with police. Both times they left
without removing the children, satisfied that they were not in any danger.
And since the family voluntarily agreed to let protective services supervise
the home, there was no need for court-mandated visits, Jones said.
Shelba Bennett, the children's paternal grandmother, said the children should
not have been in Florida at all.
The children's parents, Bernice "Denise" Bowen and Joseph Lee Bennett, had
agreed to let Bowen's mother, Connie Bowen, of Marietta, Ohio, have custody of
the children, Shelba Bennett said.
Connie Bowen confirmed the custody arrangement in a brief interview Tuesday
night.
"I've got full custody of them kids, and I plan on bringing them back to me,"
she said.
Shelba Bennett said if she had known the children were in Florida with Carr,
she would have stepped in.
After checking on the abuse allegations, the caseworker planned to make
supervisory visits to the home, but never got the chance, Jones said.
"We were about to place protective services when the caseworker assigned quit,
and the new caseworker assigned had not yet had a chance to get out there," he
said.
Jones said staff members at the agency also were surprised to learn of Carr's
real name. He had told them his name was James Earl Reed. Jones said the agency
had checked and had not found a criminal background on anyone by that name.
Jones said that the agency's records would not be released until the
investigation on the child's shooting was over but that he did not believe
Carr's explanation that the boy's death was an accident.
"Anyone who would point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at a child does not have
good intentions."
--------------------------------------------------------
Deadly Rampage
Carr lived as he died: in violence
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, JO BECKER
and GEOFF DOUGHERTY
St. Petersburg Times, published May 20, 1998
TAMPA -- Everyone who knew Hank Earl Carr could hear the time bomb ticking.
He bit ears during barfights and liked to talk about guns and running from the
law. He was accused of stomping puppies to death and shooting neighbors' dogs.
He had a lengthy rap sheet in two states.
And recently, authorities had investigated two complaints that he abused his
girlfriend's 4-year-old son -- the boy who became the first casualty in a
violent day that also saw three police officers killed and Carr himself end up
dead.
Carr was a 30-year-old martial arts expert who couldn't keep a job or stay out
of trouble, those who knew him said. Born in Atlanta, he shifted from place to
place and woman to woman, often using different names and offering different
stories about his background.
Though Tampa is still in shock from Carr's rage, people in Marietta, Ohio, the
quiet community where his record mushroomed in the few years he lived there,
said they saw it coming.
"We were surprised that we hadn't heard something about him lately," said Jeff
Seevers, a detective with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. "Something
violent."
Signs of Carr's anger date back to the mid-1980s, when his name started to pop
up with increasingly frequency on jail logs in Sarasota County.
In 1986, just two months after his 18th birthday, Carr was sentenced in
Sarasota to state prison on charges of burglary, assault and grand theft. Carr
earned an early release but was back in prison less than a year later for
violating the terms of his probation, said Department of Corrections
spokeswoman Ginny Maddox.
Carr was back behind bars again in April 1989, this time for 41/2 years on
charges of cocaine possession, resisting a police officer with violence and
battery on a law enforcement officer. In 1990, Maddox said, Carr was set free
as part of the state's provisional release program.
Later that year, Carr, who was then living in East Tampa, attacked a man in his
house and threatened "to gut" him with a dagger. He was charged with his most
violent crime yet: aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. That
offense was his 22nd arrest in the past five years. He was sentenced to two
years of community control.
It was while serving that sentence, Maddox said, that Carr disappeared.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on Feb. 25, 1992.
Florida officials lost contact with him, but Carr soon surfaced, violently, in
Marietta, an industrial town in southeastern Ohio.
"Apparently he had stomped a puppy to death in front of some kids," Seevers
said. "That information was so unusual that it was given to one of our
detectives."
Because of that, detectives decided to find out more about Carr. They did a
background check and spoke with Sarasota County authorities.
"They said he was also a suspect in one of their homicides down there," Seevers
said.
An 18-year-old girl had just been stabbed to death, her body found in a
cemetery. Carr had moved in the same circles, and detectives identified him as
a suspect, Seevers said.
In Ohio, it wasn't just authorities who noticed Carr's behavior.
William Carpenter, 63, who lived next door to Carr in 1992, said he was crazy.
"He had a ponytail and an attitude," Carpenter said. "I just stayed away from
him."
About this time, Carr met Bernice "Denise" Bowen, a married woman with two
young children. Bowen had been married to Joseph Bennett, a dishwasher in a
town near Marietta, for several years.
The two divorced and Bernice Bowen started seeing Carr about the same time she
came into a large amount of money, a settlement from a hospital that allegedly
had misdiagnosed her father, said Bowen's mother, Shelba Jean Bennett.
"Joey said it wasn't no use trying to hold her because she told him that she
didn't love him no more, that she loved that other man," Mrs. Bennett said.
Carr made sure Joseph Bennett didn't try to reconcile with his wife. "That man
threatened my son, threatened to kill him because he wanted Bernice," Mrs.
Bennett said.
The threat was taken seriously; Shelba Bennett said Carr was known around town
as a man with a "famous punch," a man who broke people's ribs.
Carr and Bernice Bowen moved to Tampa with her two children, Kayla and little
Joe. But Shelba Bennett said Bernice Bowen had agreed to give custody of her
children to her mother, Connie Bowen.
"That way the kids would be happy. They'd see their two grandmothers and their
father and there'd be no trouble," Mrs. Bennett said, crying. "Looks like we
was wrong."
According to authorities, Carr had been living in Tampa for about a year on
Crenshaw Street.
Neighbors reported behavior similar to what had been observed in Ohio. Neighbor
Mike Foy said another resident told him Carr shot a neighbor's dog. Another
remembered him showing off his expansive collection of pistols and rifles and
talking about outrunning the cops.
"He'd go off on a story ... about running from the cops ... having shootouts
with the cops in different states," said Patricia Mercer, 22, who lives on
Crenshaw. "He's a control freak ... mental ... crazy."
On Tuesday, Carr and Bernice Bowen brought 4-year-old Joe, wounded from a
gunshot to the head, to a Tampa fire station. Later, when police handcuffed
Carr for questioning in the boy's death, he already was facing four warrants:
three from Ohio and one from Tampa for violating parole. TV cameras captured
him being tucked into a squad car.
And of all the violence that erupted in the moments that followed, people who
knew Carr still couldn't believe the event that began it.
"I can't see him up and shooting that little boy," said Shelba Jean Bennett,
the boy's grandmother. "Even as mean as he was, I don't think he'd kill a
little kid."
-- Times staff writers Jeff Testerman and Larry Dougherty contributed to this
report, as did Roger Kalter of the Marietta (Ohio) Times.