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 Duluth, MN --- Soldier, carrying, alcohol, somebody dies 
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 Post subject: Duluth, MN --- Soldier, carrying, alcohol, somebody dies
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:50 am 
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He survived Iraq, met death in Duluth
Alcohol and a gun proved a deadly combination in a fight between men described as "good people."

By Larry Oakes, Star Tribune

July 05, 2007 – 9:54 PM

DULUTH - While serving an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Adam Sheda started a MySpace page that revealed interests from the unusual -- Russian language and literature -- to the more typical daydreams of a young, homesick soldier: women, cars and beer.
"All my friends better throw me one hell of a party when I get home," wrote Sheda, 26, of Cloquet, Minn. "My plans when I get back are to drink until my heart stops."

Early Saturday, less than a week after returning from Iraq, Sheda was fatally shot with his own pistol in Duluth after he crashed a backyard party of strangers while apparently intoxicated, according to court papers filed Thursday.

Police said that Sheda's unwanted presence at the drinking party escalated to a fight, a struggle for the gun he was carrying and his death from a single shot to the head.

"We're devastated," said his father, Tony Sheda, of Wrenshall, Minn., where Adam grew up, the youngest of six children. He said that while his son was "no saint," he was gregarious and big-hearted, which showed when he arranged for his siblings to send toys and candy for him to distribute to poor Iraqi children.

While Sheda's family held a large funeral with military honors for him Thursday morning at a church in Duluth, authorities at the St. Louis County Courthouse filed second-degree murder charges against 25-year-old Luis Mark Hogan.

The complaint alleges that Hogan, a lumberyard laborer from Duluth who has no serious criminal record, severely beat Sheda, wrestled away his pistol, and shot him in the head while yelling "187" followed by an expletive.

He later told police that the number 187 is a reference in certain rap music to the California penal-code number for murder, the complaint said.

A handcuffed and shackled Hogan appeared to be choking back tears during his brief court appearance, at which District Judge Gerald Martin ordered Hogan held in lieu of $300,000 bail. A large contingent of Hogan's family members tearfully watched the hearing and afterward hugged and consoled one another.

Duluth Police Sgt. Bob Shene, the lead investigator of what is Duluth's first homicide this year, called it a senseless death "involving good people who got wrapped-up in something that got out of hand."

Of Hogan, Shene said: "This isn't a hardened criminal."

Shene said he won't comment on what role alcohol might have played until toxicology test results are available from samples taken during Sheda's autopsy. Hogan wasn't tested because he wasn't immediately identified as a suspect and wasn't under arrest after the shooting, Shene said.

"It took some time to sort out the stories of the people who were there," Shene said.

A pistol and a wad of cash

According to a criminal complaint citing Hogan's eventual confession and witness accounts: Carrying a pistol and about $2,000, Sheda took a cab last Friday from his home in Cloquet to the nearby Black Bear Casino, then to a bar in Duluth.

His dad speculated that his son went out alone because a friend who normally would have gone wasn't available. He said he didn't know beforehand that his son was carrying a gun or why he would do so.

Tony Sheda said that since returning from Iraq his son had seemed "happy-go-lucky" and was looking forward to another trip to Russia and to continue adding to his collection of World War II memorabilia.

According to the complaint: At about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, Adam Sheda left the Duluth bar and tried to enter Fond du Luth Casino in downtown Duluth but was turned away, apparently because he was obviously intoxicated.

At 3:30 a.m., Sheda asked a group of strangers several blocks from the casino if he could join their backyard drinking party. Hogan, who lived in the upper duplex there, told him no and asked him to leave.

Sheda pulled out a $100 bill and said he had money. When another man at the party snatched it ---jokingly, he said later -- Sheda punched a third party guest in the nose.

Hogan knocked Sheda down and beat him, the complaint stated. Hogan later resumed the beating when Sheda complained that his wallet containing $1,600 was gone, and he wasn't leaving until it was returned.

Fight continues, gun pulled

The wallet was later found and returned to Sheda, but he made a derogatory comment and scuffled with Hogan's brother, prompting Hogan to attack Sheda again.

According to the complaint, Hogan was straddling Sheda on the ground when Sheda apparently pulled out the pistol. Hogan wrestled it away, put the barrel under Sheda's chin and shot him while yelling the rap-slang epithet.

"[Hogan] admitted to [having] the better of Sheda and that Sheda was intoxicated and probably took out his pistol because [Hogan] was hurting him," the complaint said.

Judge Martin scheduled a pre-trial hearing for 1:30 p.m. on July 23.

One of Sheda's brothers used Adam's MySpace page to tell friends about his death, and to tell them of a celebration of his life Sunday at the Tap Room in Duluth.

Tony Sheda said the family will honor his son's wishes, recorded in the will he was required to arrange before leaving for Iraq: "He left a large amount from his life insurance to some orphanages, including one in Russia."


Larry Oakes • 1-218-727-7344 • loakes@startribune.com


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:57 am 
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I was going to post this story last night but forgot.

It's a terrible thing, but every time I see one of these stories I cross my fingers and start chanting "Please don't have a permit, please don't have a permit" while I read the story.

I thought about it some more this morning and was thinking about trying to count the number gun-carrying/tactical/general personal safety errors that were made by all of the participants in the story. It's a litany of a tragedy of errors. It would be almost comedic if someone hadn't died and someone ended up in the clink.

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:07 am 
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A waste of two lives ............the impact on the families will be forever.
Senseless from the start........both parties :(

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:04 am 
A tragedy for sure

:(

Booze + firearm = Really bad things.


  
 
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:38 pm 
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Agreed, I wish we could ban alcohol. It serves no useful purpose when consumed. What a waste of life


Stradawhovious wrote:
A tragedy for sure

:(

Booze + firearm = Really bad things.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:39 pm 
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He said he didn't know beforehand that his son was carrying a gun or why he would do so.

I can tell you why he was carrying a gun... He probably slept with one in Iraq. I don't even carry mine everyday and I feel naked without it.

BTW- A blackberry is a poor substitute.

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:14 pm 
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I haven't had a drink for close to 14 years but I don't think banning alcohol would do any good. (They tried that once) This is a tragedy that comes down to youth, booze, and guns. You can't ban youth. Banning alcohol doesn't work. And I think I know how we all feel about banning guns.

What needs to be banned is "stupid." Unfortunately you can neither ban nor fix stupid. I don't mean to sound cold here, I truly don't. But the whole damn thing is just stupid. Two lives ruined and two families devastated because of young, drunken ego's and firearms. Unfortunately this will happen again, and again.

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:47 pm 
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Pakrat wrote:
Quote:
He said he didn't know beforehand that his son was carrying a gun or why he would do so.

I can tell you why he was carrying a gun... He probably slept with one in Iraq. I don't even carry mine everyday and I feel naked without it.

BTW- A blackberry is a poor substitute.


+10 or so................ :shock:


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:14 pm 
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There were multiple opportunities to avoid this incident that both parties did not do. Sad for sure to mix large amounts of beer, testosterone and a gun. :cry:

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:19 pm 
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This also shows why you have to back down and get out of the situation even if you don't initially intend to go to guns. Nothing is simple anymore since there's always the possibility of it escalating to gunshots.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:24 pm 
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Returning from a war zone, this guy should have gotten some screening and support. Wonder where that failed?


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:25 pm 
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DeanC wrote:
I was going to post this story last night but forgot.

It's a terrible thing, but every time I see one of these stories I cross my fingers and start chanting "Please don't have a permit, please don't have a permit" while I read the story.
So I'm not the only one who does that? :)

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:14 am 
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gunflint wrote:
Unfortunately you can neither ban nor fix stupid.

I not sure I completely agree with this. I think "stupid" can be fixed or at least significantly reduced. "Stupid" is usually embedded bad habits and/or a set of beliefs that don't work well in the real world (ie. taking $3k and a gun to the bar to get plastered). Fix the habits and belief system and much of "stupid" goes away.

Not saying that it would be easy..... just possible.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:35 am 
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ironbear wrote:
gunflint wrote:
Unfortunately you can neither ban nor fix stupid.

I not sure I completely agree with this. I think "stupid" can be fixed or at least significantly reduced. "Stupid" is usually embedded bad habits and/or a set of beliefs that don't work well in the real world (ie. taking $3k and a gun to the bar to get plastered). Fix the habits and belief system and much of "stupid" goes away.

Not saying that it would be easy..... just possible.


>rant on<

Sure it is....lets start with cars. They've taken all the natural selection out of it!

Air Bags
ABS
The dang things will park themselves!

It's called learning how to drive. Drive to the vehicle you are in. You can't take a 54 Chevy Bel-air, all origional, 75mph and expect the drum brakes on all 4 corners to stop you on a dime. You can't expect those brakes to Not lock up as your trying to stop. When you get to the end of that stop, if you hit something now there is a pillow that pops out to save your stupid butt.

Where was the problem. Driver Error.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is not enough Chlorine in the gene pool anymore. Think about it, years ago, stupid people just couldn't survive.

Welfare? Governement programs? HA! You come to this country and work to live. You don't expect hand outs. You don't get yourself knocked up 8 times so you can have enough food stamps and welfare to live. Years ago the only reason familys were so big was so that they could work on the farm! Again the stupid ones died young. Tragic? Yes. Would some people that don't deserve it die too? Yup, it's unfortunate, but it's going to happen.

Quite franlkly I'm tired of dealing with stupid people. Mostly the stupid people that seem to get elected and know what is better for me.

>Rant Off<


Anyway, Back to the real subject at hand....
It's unfortunate what happened to this Soldier. The wanna be gangster in this should be put in solitary confinement for the rest of his life with that particular song playing on repeat.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:39 am 
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joelr wrote:
DeanC wrote:
I was going to post this story last night but forgot.

It's a terrible thing, but every time I see one of these stories I cross my fingers and start chanting "Please don't have a permit, please don't have a permit" while I read the story.
So I'm not the only one who does that? :)


Most definitely not, I think the same thing every time I see a subject line remotely similar to "Soldier, carrying, alcohol, somebody dies".

On topic: this tragedy is littered with errors on both sides, eliminating one or two from either side could have resulted in nothing more than a hangover the next morning (not that that's a great result, but compared to...), instead we have two lives ruined...tragic.


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