Seraphim
11-01-2003, 01:39 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20031101/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_motorcade
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031101/capt.cdh10611011729.bush_motorcade_cdh106.jpg
Police officers secure the area during a security scare outside of the arena where President Bush (news - web sites) was speaking in Southaven, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2003. A car penetrated the security perimeter around the DeSoto Civic Center where President Bush was speaking Saturday and rammed the building. Fewer than five minutes after the car crashed at a slow speed into a loading dock area at the arena, Bush's motorcade left for his next stop, in Paducah, Ky. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - A car penetrated the security perimeter around the arena where President Bush (news - web sites) was speaking Saturday and rammed the building. Authorities swarmed the car with weapons drawn and took away the driver, a woman, and three children who were with her.
Bush was inside the building when the incident happened and was not hurt. He left the arena shortly afterward from an exit about 40 yards from the car.
No shots were fired from or at the car, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. "There was a vehicle that did crash into the side of the building," Duffy said, although it was "not close" to the president's car. Bush was kept a room inside the center until the situation was brought under control, Secret Service spokesman Ann Roman said in Washington.
"The president was never in any danger and is keeping with his schedule," Duffy later told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew to Paducah, Ky.
He would not say whether Bush saw what happened or say what the president's reaction was.
Roman said the driver failed to obey police commands to stop approaching the building.
The woman was not immediately identified. A witness, Linda Neeley, 40, a teacher from Horn Lake, Miss., said the woman was white, 35-40 years old, with blonde hair. She said the children, all boys, were about 10 years old.
Neeley and other witnesses said the woman drove a gray Toyota Camry through a parking lot on the same side of the DeSoto Civic Center as the president's exit. The car jumped the curb, drove through a gate where press buses had just left and into the side of the building near a loading dock.
"They got her out of the car and put the handcuffs on, and she was fighting them," Neeley said. "The police officer was lying on top of her."
Neeley, who was standing at the press gate to take photographs of the exiting buses, said she was unsure of the car's speed, but "she was going pretty fast."
Police rushed the car immediately and dragged out the woman and children. She was subdued and handcuffed, and all three were taken away. Local law enforcement officials detained the suspect, Duffy said.
The loading dock where the car hit was about 40 yards away and up a hill from the exit where Bush's limousine left. Police kept away onlookers, but damage to the front of the car indicated it hit the building at 5-10 miles per hour.
"Apparently she took her foot off the gas pedal and just kind of coasted," said witness Don Prather, 45, a parking supervisor at the Memphis Pyramid arena in nearby Memphis, Tenn., who was working a parking detail at the DeSoto center.
The president's motorcade was still parked at the center, where Bush had given the first of four campaign speeches scheduled for Saturday.
Fewer than five minutes after the incident, Bush's motorcade left for his next stop, in Paducah.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031101/capt.cdh10611011729.bush_motorcade_cdh106.jpg
Police officers secure the area during a security scare outside of the arena where President Bush (news - web sites) was speaking in Southaven, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2003. A car penetrated the security perimeter around the DeSoto Civic Center where President Bush was speaking Saturday and rammed the building. Fewer than five minutes after the car crashed at a slow speed into a loading dock area at the arena, Bush's motorcade left for his next stop, in Paducah, Ky. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - A car penetrated the security perimeter around the arena where President Bush (news - web sites) was speaking Saturday and rammed the building. Authorities swarmed the car with weapons drawn and took away the driver, a woman, and three children who were with her.
Bush was inside the building when the incident happened and was not hurt. He left the arena shortly afterward from an exit about 40 yards from the car.
No shots were fired from or at the car, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. "There was a vehicle that did crash into the side of the building," Duffy said, although it was "not close" to the president's car. Bush was kept a room inside the center until the situation was brought under control, Secret Service spokesman Ann Roman said in Washington.
"The president was never in any danger and is keeping with his schedule," Duffy later told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew to Paducah, Ky.
He would not say whether Bush saw what happened or say what the president's reaction was.
Roman said the driver failed to obey police commands to stop approaching the building.
The woman was not immediately identified. A witness, Linda Neeley, 40, a teacher from Horn Lake, Miss., said the woman was white, 35-40 years old, with blonde hair. She said the children, all boys, were about 10 years old.
Neeley and other witnesses said the woman drove a gray Toyota Camry through a parking lot on the same side of the DeSoto Civic Center as the president's exit. The car jumped the curb, drove through a gate where press buses had just left and into the side of the building near a loading dock.
"They got her out of the car and put the handcuffs on, and she was fighting them," Neeley said. "The police officer was lying on top of her."
Neeley, who was standing at the press gate to take photographs of the exiting buses, said she was unsure of the car's speed, but "she was going pretty fast."
Police rushed the car immediately and dragged out the woman and children. She was subdued and handcuffed, and all three were taken away. Local law enforcement officials detained the suspect, Duffy said.
The loading dock where the car hit was about 40 yards away and up a hill from the exit where Bush's limousine left. Police kept away onlookers, but damage to the front of the car indicated it hit the building at 5-10 miles per hour.
"Apparently she took her foot off the gas pedal and just kind of coasted," said witness Don Prather, 45, a parking supervisor at the Memphis Pyramid arena in nearby Memphis, Tenn., who was working a parking detail at the DeSoto center.
The president's motorcade was still parked at the center, where Bush had given the first of four campaign speeches scheduled for Saturday.
Fewer than five minutes after the incident, Bush's motorcade left for his next stop, in Paducah.