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Coatesville Roundtable is Back
Hi, I'm Dan Kristie, the Daily Local's new Coatesville reporter. I'll be taking over Coatesville Roundtable now that Jon Tuleya has moved on.
First topic I want to touch on is the Gun Amnesty event on Saturday.
The New Life in Christ Fellowship tried to hold an event at which people could turn in their guns in exchange for a $100 gift card. Half an hour into the event, someone tried to turn in a grenade. The plain clothes police officer who was overseeing the event told his superiors of this, and within minutes the event was cancelled. At 12:30 p.m. the entrance to the church was cordoned off with caution tape. Around 1:15 p.m.,the Montgomery County Bomb Squad showed up. By 2 p.m., Lincoln Highway was blocked off from 4th Avenue to 6th Avenue (the church is at 5th).
It's worth noting that a hand grenade cannot possibly blow up two city blocks.
Church officials said that they collected 14 guns before the event was shut down. They regretted that the event was not permitted to continue, because they believe they could have collected many, many more guns (the event was scheduled to run till 5 p.m.)
Coatesville Police Chief William Matthews said that with explosives, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Several of the event organizers said that the police response was so large because the police didn't want there to be a gun amnesty event in the first place.
But Matthews said he fully supports the church's effort to have a gun amnesty event and will work to have it rescheduled.
The grenade turned out to be inert. The pin was still in it when it was dropped off.
Was the police department's response excessive or warranted?
First topic I want to touch on is the Gun Amnesty event on Saturday.
The New Life in Christ Fellowship tried to hold an event at which people could turn in their guns in exchange for a $100 gift card. Half an hour into the event, someone tried to turn in a grenade. The plain clothes police officer who was overseeing the event told his superiors of this, and within minutes the event was cancelled. At 12:30 p.m. the entrance to the church was cordoned off with caution tape. Around 1:15 p.m.,the Montgomery County Bomb Squad showed up. By 2 p.m., Lincoln Highway was blocked off from 4th Avenue to 6th Avenue (the church is at 5th).
It's worth noting that a hand grenade cannot possibly blow up two city blocks.
Church officials said that they collected 14 guns before the event was shut down. They regretted that the event was not permitted to continue, because they believe they could have collected many, many more guns (the event was scheduled to run till 5 p.m.)
Coatesville Police Chief William Matthews said that with explosives, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Several of the event organizers said that the police response was so large because the police didn't want there to be a gun amnesty event in the first place.
But Matthews said he fully supports the church's effort to have a gun amnesty event and will work to have it rescheduled.
The grenade turned out to be inert. The pin was still in it when it was dropped off.
Was the police department's response excessive or warranted?
Labels: Gun Amnesty, New Life in Christ Fellowship
posted by Daily Local at
12:06 PM
3 Comments:
Hi, Nice to meet you Dan and thanks for bringing the forum back to life!
You hit the nail on the head. The Chief was against the event from the start and the granade was just what he needed to shut it down. I too hope it can be rescheduled, 14 guns in a half hour was a LOT to collect! I can only imagine how many people may have been shot down the road with those guns in the wrong hands. Glad they are off the streets.
Excessive. Aren't these people trained to handle this type of thing? Thank goodness the grenade was turned in and not found and detonated accidentally by a child or anyone else!
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