Shooting by Edward Jones Dome

[Yankeefan181]

Attention FIRST members:

Local news stations are currently reporting that there was a shooting right next to the Edward Jones Dome, where the FIRST Championship is currently being held:

http://www.ksdk.com/news/crime/artic...ard-Jones-Dome

This is scary news, and I hope that no FIRST members were affected by this. We're all here to have fun and experience the Championship for all its worth, but make sure you proceed with a little extra caution while you're here.

[Koko Ed]

Sounds like someone who had not previously benefited from being part of the FIRST program.

[qzrrbz]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Sounds like someone who had not previously benefited from being part of the FIRST program.

+1 !

[Koko Ed]

This also isn't the first time something like this has happened. Way back in 2009 a guy committed suicide by cop in Centennial Park during the Einstein Finals. Fortunately the incident occurred a couple of hours before the teams were let out to go to the afterparty.
Also in 2012 there was a mass shooting at a medical clinic across the street during the Pittsburgh regional (2 people shot dead) that caused a lock down on the event and an evacuation of the people in the clinic to the arena. They just did extra practice matches til the all clear was given.

[DELurker]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

This also isn't the first time something like this has happened. Way back in 2009 a guy committed suicide by cop in Centennial Park during the Einstein Finals. ... Also in 2012 there was a mass shooting at a medical clinic across the street during the Pittsburgh regional (2 people shot dead) that caused a lock down on the event and an evacuation of the people in the clinic to the arena.

Last year, there was a police action (their words) outside the MAR Championships at Temple University. It's a known risk of any urban (and many non-urban) area.

[coalhot]

Originally Posted by DELurker

Last year, there was a police action (their words) outside the MAR Championships at Temple University. It's a known risk of any urban (and many non-urban) area.

Yeah, though there is almost always police action in Philly around Temple. I don't think it's something that you'll ever be able to get rid of.

Hope everyone in St Louis is all right, and has a fun time at the Championships!

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by coalhot

Yeah, though there is almost always police action in Philly around Temple. I don't think it's something that you'll ever be able to get rid of.

Hope everyone in St Louis is all right, and has a fun time at the Championships!

Most of the Drexel/Temple/UPenn students actually find it odd if they don't get a few text alerts per week

[DELurker]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Most of the Drexel/Temple/UPenn students actually find it odd if they don't get a few text alerts per week

I think it says something sad that I actually laughed out loud at that ...

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by coalhot

Yeah, though there is almost always police action in Philly around Temple. I don't think it's something that you'll ever be able to get rid of.

Hope everyone in St Louis is all right, and has a fun time at the Championships!

Temple also isn't in the heart of downtown Philadelphia. It's a relatively nice area, but it's on the border of some less reputable neighborhoods. The Edwards Jones Dome is in a much nicer part of St. Louis.

[ablatner]

At least there hasn't been a tornado and thunderstorm to lock down the Edwards Jones Dome.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by ablatner

At least there hasn't been a tornado and thunderstorm to lock down the Edwards Jones Dome.

Coming soon.

[brightmidnight]

Have any of you suggesting Atlanta or Orlando instead of St. Louis due to perceived lack of crime actually been to the downtown areas of either of those two cities? I suspect not.

St. Louis gets a bad rap crime statistic-wise because the city limits are legally restricted to a small land area size - while other cities just expand and take in more suburban areas, the city of St. Louis legally cannot. Since FBI crime statistics are taken by total number of crimes divided by city area size, St. Louis comes out higher than it accurately should.

Atlanta is a sprawling city that gets to count its nice suburban areas in its crime statistics because it has annexed them as part of the city. It is 132 square miles, while St. Louis is 62 square miles. Believe me, if St. Louis could take 70 additional miles of suburban St. Louis County and divide its crime rate by that land size, there is absolutely no way Atlanta would have "less" crime than St. Louis. Orlando is 110 square miles, same phenomenon.

Bottom line - FIRST attendees are as safe as they would be in the downtown area of any city, if not safer. St. Louis does not have a history of violence at major events, like Cardinals games and that sort of thing, and its crime is generally confined to certain neighborhoods, not prime areas of downtown. That's why it is major news when anything happens downtown.

[ToddF]

Originally Posted by brightmidnight

St. Louis gets a bad rap crime statistic-wise because the city limits are legally restricted to a small land area size - while other cities just expand and take in more suburban areas, the city of St. Louis legally cannot. Since FBI crime statistics are taken by total number of crimes divided by city area size, St. Louis comes out higher than it accurately should.

Crime rate statistics are NOT given on a per land area basis. They are given on a per inhabitant basis.
http://www.cityrating.com/crime-stat...l#.UXqcMHdc2f0

From the Wikipedia entry: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_statistics)
"Because crime is a social issue, comparisons of crime between places or years are normally performed on some sort of population basis."

It can be argued that larger cities have lower crime rates because their populations include suburbanites who commit less crimes. But it is not true that their crime rates are smaller solely because their land area are larger.

For a more detailed discussion of crime rates and their limitations, see this document:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr...eir-proper-use

[Michael Hill]

Considering St. Louis is considered the second most dangerous city in the country (at least it was last year according to Forbes), I can't exactly say I'm surprised. FIRST really needs to stop picking cities on that list. (Atlanta was #6). I hear Detroit is nice this time of year!

[Basel A]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Considering St. Louis is considered the second most dangerous city in the country (at least it was last year according to Forbes), I can't exactly say I'm surprised. FIRST really needs to stop picking cities on that list. (Atlanta was #6). I hear Detroit is nice this time of year!

You heard wrong! It snowed yesterday.

In all seriousness, I'm guessing the CMP is given tons of extra protection, which could've been why there was a cop in the vicinity of the Dome at all. Being cautious is always a good idea, but I don't think this is a reason to feel threatened.