Ind. man with 47 guns arrested after school threat
CEDAR LAKE, Ind. (AP) - A northern Indiana man who allegedly threatened to "kill as many people as he could" at an elementary school near his home was arrested by officers who later found 47 guns and ammunition hidden throughout his home.
Von. I. Meyer, 60, of Cedar Lake, was arrested Saturday after prosecutors filed formal charges of felony intimidation, domestic battery and resisting law enforcement against him. He was being held Sunday without bond at the Lake County Jail, pending an initial hearing on the charges, police said in a statement.
Cedar Lake Police officers were called to Meyer's home early Friday after he allegedly threatened to set his wife on fire once she fell asleep, the statement said.
Meyer also threatened to enter nearby Jane Ball Elementary School "and kill as many people as he could before police could stop him," the statement said. Meyer's home is less than 1,000 feet from the school and linked to it by trails and paths through a wooded area, police said.
Police said in the statement that they notified school officials and boosted security at all area schools Friday - the same day 26 people, including 20 students, were shot and killed at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
On Saturday, officers served warrants at Meyer's home and arrested him. The statement said police had learned that Meyer kept many weapons in his older, two-story home and "is a known member of the Invaders Motorcycle Gang."
Officers searched the home, finding 47 guns and ammunition worth more than $100,000 hidden throughout the home. Many of the weapons were collector's guns.
Cedar Lake is about 45 miles southeast of Chicago.
A dispatcher with Cedar Lake Police said that the police chief was not available for interviews until Monday.
Lake County police spokeswoman Patti Van Til said Sunday that a SWAT team from the department assisted in serving Saturday's warrants.
Von. I. Meyer, 60, of Cedar Lake, was arrested Saturday after prosecutors filed formal charges of felony intimidation, domestic battery and resisting law enforcement against him. He was being held Sunday without bond at the Lake County Jail, pending an initial hearing on the charges, police said in a statement.
Cedar Lake Police officers were called to Meyer's home early Friday after he allegedly threatened to set his wife on fire once she fell asleep, the statement said.
Meyer also threatened to enter nearby Jane Ball Elementary School "and kill as many people as he could before police could stop him," the statement said. Meyer's home is less than 1,000 feet from the school and linked to it by trails and paths through a wooded area, police said.
Police said in the statement that they notified school officials and boosted security at all area schools Friday - the same day 26 people, including 20 students, were shot and killed at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
On Saturday, officers served warrants at Meyer's home and arrested him. The statement said police had learned that Meyer kept many weapons in his older, two-story home and "is a known member of the Invaders Motorcycle Gang."
Officers searched the home, finding 47 guns and ammunition worth more than $100,000 hidden throughout the home. Many of the weapons were collector's guns.
Cedar Lake is about 45 miles southeast of Chicago.
A dispatcher with Cedar Lake Police said that the police chief was not available for interviews until Monday.
Lake County police spokeswoman Patti Van Til said Sunday that a SWAT team from the department assisted in serving Saturday's warrants.
Good get these Nut jobs off the streets.
And as a newly minted felon, he is no longer able to legally obtain/own firearms. He probably has one of the nicest gun collections he's never going to see again. Further, a felon in possession of a firearm usually carries a 5-10 year prison sentence under 18 USC § 922(g) & (n).
 @Dredd57 "is a known member of the Invaders Motorcycle Gang."He was already a criminal. If not directly then by association.
This man had no business with guns but had them anyhow. This is the typical scenario over and over. The good news is it's just as easy for us (sadly this now depends on where you live) to get guns. Of all gun related incidents i hear about 80% Â of those were used to stop crimes. Another interesting fact seems to be the accuracy rate differential between citizens and law enforcement. The number of bullets fired on avg to prevent crimes is profoundly lower in the civilian sector. This is to say that armed citizens are not stupid, incapable or irresponsible because Police are not stupid, incapable or irresponsible. I guess ultimately what i'm saying is you can't really think that this will stop the man from getting guns in the future, ignoring the fact he will most likely pass away from his age before getting out of prison, it is safe to say the only effective way to deal with a measure is a counter measure. Criminals with guns means more honorable people need to step forward and arm themselves. Besides the fact guns should never be banned, you couldn't physically ban it even if we all wanted to. If you ban something and people get it anyhow it's not a ban it's more of a restriction that only applies to good guys. We gotta step up and arm ourselves so that when these people slip off the deep end they don't drag us all down with them. It's been 13 years since I've even held a gun but i tell you now i will pick one up soon if i can because it's no longer about self defense, it's about protecting other people. The only responsible force that is everywhere all the time and capable of being armed to protect our peers from tyrants like this are the citizens of the United States of America. I just want to make it clear that i feel the police do excellent work and are more than capable of doing everything I've outlined with one exception, they simply cannot be everywhere all the time. The job they do is absolutely huge, huge.Â
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i am just praying that all copycats are as stupid, thanks for letting us know
 @Komo Dragon The difference here just might have been everyone taking him seriously. With all the whack jobs there are out there, I'd imagine a good amount of threats fall on deaf ears given 99.9% of them are just hot air.Â
 @Dredd57 agreed, but not on Fri, the 14th
Cue the "copycats" in 3.......2.......1.......... With media coverage like THIS......EVERY whackjob can get their 15 minutes of fame (or notoriety)
 @Wolfen http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c89_1355545067     Courtesy of Schramalot.....
 @Wolfen Yep, another garden variety sack of poo! Trying to intimidate a woman and threaten children etc.! Only one cure for a mad dog stricken with rabies.... put em' down.
The crime was the threat, not the number of guns or the value of the ammunition. You gotta love the sensationalism of the headline.
Last I checked, there was no constitutional limit on the number of guns one can own.
@Glassman - I didn't see anyone claiming that his number of guns was the problem.
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The number of guns simply goes to his ability to fulfill his threat.
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His massive quantity of guns shows he was more than perfectly capable of the deed.  (and yeah - for anyone one individual, 47 guns is a massive quantity).
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Anyone who's got that kind of stupidity + a horde of guns = a significant danger to the public.
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Change one of the two of those and you change resulting math.
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No, I'm not anti-gun. I own a few and I beleive in the 2nd amendment.
@FormerMarineSgt@Glassman
He's simply stating that the headline is bull to draw you in but detracts from the fact that it's the man's intent is the true problem. To demonstrate this let me quote off the article what the headline subject matter should have been.
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"Cedar Lake Police officers were called to Meyer's home early Friday after he allegedly threatened to set his wife on fire once she fell asleep, the statement said."
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BUUUUUT he had guns so.... you know.... lets put that.
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I sanitize nothing. I did not agree with selling the story as something else. In my opinion it's sensationalizing guns while removing the initial subject matter of the story. I am not against the title even having the that point guns were found, however, i cannot condone withholding information in a title when it is merely pandering.
@Glenn Gordon doesn't hide ) - If I were to ignore Glassman's last sentence ("Last I checked, there was no constitutional limit on the number of guns one can own"), you'd be right. However, because of that last sentence, I felt the need to make my comment.Â
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And when you threaten to -shoot- and -kill by using guns- the guns you own become an important part of the story.Â
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If I were to treat the example you raise the same way that you want this story treated, I'd have to write it this way:Â
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"Cedar Lake Police officers were called to Meyer's home early Friday after he allegedly threatened to injure or kill his wife once she fell asleep, the statement said."
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Sanitizing the story because you don't like the negative connotation that gets attached that the reader would connect to an important component of the story is alot like censoring the news, which I believe that you would be against.
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Yea, it sounds like the headline was sensationalistic if you want it to be - however, the story itself was not. No spin was given to the story, the simple facts were written. And when a story is about any claim of replicating a major tragedy using the specific weapons that he owned such an unusually large number of makes the quantity an important detail, and not just an attempt to disquise an anti-gun message.
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 @Glassman If our government gets it's way, our Constitution will become a thing of the past. "Amended" to a point where it is no longer a doctrine of the people and this country, but doctored to suit the needs and wants of the power elite.
 @Wolfen  @Glassman after you get certified as a nutjob, do you get a little trophy to put on your mantle?
Thank God this bufoon didn't carry out his plans. Good work Indiana PD
 @Vince what makes you think he really had plans? I doubt it. The witch hunt begins
@Northend @Vince you a whack job! any one crazy enough to make a threat like that needs his head examined! guns or no guns.
@Northend - so a 'witch hunt' includes those who make the claims that they're going to recreate a school massacre at thier local school...
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Interesting.
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You many need either english language class (specifically on definitions of words) or mental health assistance of you really think that.
 @Northend  @Vince "Witch hunt?"  Wow, I'd say that someone who makes a threat of violence and has the armament to carry it out actually does present a threat.  I wouldn't call this a witch hunt.