When I was younger I used to think people who didn’t want homeless shelters in their area were stuck up yuppies who didn’t want to come into contact with the unwashed masses. That was before i realized that most homeless people were homeless due to drug or alcohol abuse and were often times mentally ill. Here’s an illustrative example:

West Bloomfield, MO (AHN) – A homeless man was arrested after allegedly attacking four people with a chainsaw. The incident was said to have taken place at a local homeless shelter near the Jefferson City area.

The suspect was Matthew Watkins, 28, who was said to have injured the victims Saturday, while he was participating in a training program being offered at the Rev. Larry Rice’s Mid-American Care Center.

Workers at the shelter were reportedly getting ready for an anniversary dinner to be held at the shelter when Watkins, who had been continually complaining about his problems with his mother, suddenly took a chainsaw from a workshop, and began to threaten people with it. Watkins was also said to have brandished a knife at one point, although authorities did not know exactly when.

The attack was apparently premeditated and racially motivated:

I think there was some premeditation to this,” Rev. Larry Rice told the group of journalists gathered at the New Life’s Mid-America Care Center. “After talking to some of the staff I feel like it could have been a possibility.”

One of the reasons Rice cited for this belief was the timing of the attack. Although he was running late because of problems at another site, Rice said he and a few other senior New Life staff members were scheduled to arrive in New Bloomfield at 2 p.m. Saturday – the same time trainee Matthew Watkins, 28, of St. Clair began his assault.

Rice also noted that the chain saw Watkins used to attack New Life employees Bruce Caulkins and Harvey Gaddy was at the back door rather than in the workroom as originally thought.

He said Watkins’ mother has contacted him since the incident and told him Watkins has problems with authority. He also noted that racial slurs directed at some of his victims and the carving of the initials KKK on a car hood indicated another motivating factor.

“This man was lashing out at authority figures, and at African Americans,” Rice said. “He’s just a very troubled person.”

Watkins’ supervisor, James Chapman, whom he attacked with a knife, said that Watkins said ‘Die n- – – -r,’ as he charged at him.

Chapman was Watkins’ second victim after slicing open the throat of KLNG-FM 90.3 DJ trainee Maurice Thomas. He described Watkins’ manner Saturday as “absolutely crazy.”

“It seemed like he was so blinded by hate, fact or fiction he didn’t know the difference,” Chapman said. “There is no doubt in my mind he wanted to kill as many people as he could get his hands on.

The mother of the maniac later told people her son was schizophrenic, had been making derogatory racial comments about the victims and had carved “KKK” into someones car hood. Being a fabulous mother she didn’t tell anyone about these warning signs before her son tried to murder a bunch of people, but after the fact took the time to blame the mental health services in Missouri which hadn’t bothered to clean up the mess she made of her son.

Halfway houses and homeless shelters are a good thing obviously, and helping people get on their feet is a noble goal for any church or non-profit. But high risk offenders and dangerous individuals should be screened out by some process so that those who want to make use of these services can do so without risking their lives. I don’t know how you could make that happen, but maybe this is an instance where the government should be doing more than they are.

They were running a sting to try to catch copper thieves, which is apparently a thriving new business for criminals, when they found a bomb maker among the many other criminals selling their wares on the black market. From SF Gate:

Steven Edward Gilbuena, 45, of Fremont allegedly brought in seven homemade bombs of varying sophistication, several of which were designed to be detonated remotely via a cell phone, Santa Clara police Lt. Mike Sellers said. The bombs were gunpowder-based, and one was configured to fit inside a toy, Sellers said.

Gilbuena and his girlfriend were arrested in October, and investigators found two more bombs in his home, which were detonated there, police said.

The article seems to gloss over the man who makes Improvised Explosive Devices suspiciously similar to the ones used in Iraq and makes no effort to ascertain whether or not there is a thriving market for bombs in San Francisco, information I’d assume the public would like to know.

This Oakland Tribune story from October of last year, detailing the arrest this investigation led to, contains more information which is deeply disturbing. All evidence points to Gilbeuna being a bomb maker by profession with a dangerous clientèle:

“This destructive device appeared to have been designed for remote activation by dialing the number of the cell phone … and initiating an explosion,” a San Jose police sergeant wrote in his report. “This type of IED is intended to be command detonated at a moment of opportunity when a victim is within range.”

Such improvised devices, he added, are not manufactured to any standard, and in Gilbuena’s case there allegedly were no safety precautions taken for even simple transportation. Transporting them was highly dangerous, the sergeant said in the report.

Police noted in the documents that because of the extensive explosives found, Gilbuena is probably “actively involved in bomb making” and authorities expect to find other devices in their ongoing investigation of the couple.

Gilbuena told police he did not know what was in the containers they found in his car.

Also in the car, police found a grocery sack with receipts detailing other components purchased in recent months from Fry’s Electronics, Orchard Supply Hardware and Radio Shack that are commonly associated with bomb building. The bag was mysteriously labeled: “Receipts Reg. The Boys.” Authorities did not elaborate.

Officials also cannot say what Gilbuena was allegedly building the devices for.

So are “The Boys” a local gang out to out gun some rivals or do they have a more worrisome motive in mind? Street gangs have been able to paralyze Latin American cities in recent years with a combination of firepower and savagery, it’s only a matter of time before the gangs here try their hand at taking over urban centers through force.