EDEN -- A prominent Eden surgeon's Hummer, parked in his driveway Friday night, caught fire after a small, homemade bomb exploded underneath the vehicle. Police cordoned off part of the neighborhood during the night while explosives experts from Greensboro used a remote-controlled robot to examine the exploded bomb and the Hummer. A bomb-sniffing dog searched the house and grounds for more explosives. None were found and no one was injured at the home of Dr. Marc DeMason, a general surgeon at Morehead Memorial Hospital for more than 20 years. After calling in an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Saturday, Eden police acknowledged that an "improvised explosive device" had been placed inside the vehicle's left front wheel. No information was available on what materials were used in making the bomb. Eden police Detective Ritchie Jeffries declined to say if the DeMasons had received any threats prior to the fire. DeMason, who is in his early 50s, and his wife, Catherine, were inside their home Friday evening at 520 Southwood Drive. The neighborhood, which abuts the Meadow Greens Golf Course, is only a few blocks east of the hospital. Shortly before 9 p.m., they noticed smoke billowing from under the doctor's gray Hummer, parked in the driveway. They called for help, and the Eden Fire Department was dispatched, Jeffries said. While putting out the fire, firefighters noticed "an object that was out of place" underneath the Hummer, Jeffries said. Firefighters called police, who called in the Greensboro Police Department's Hazardous Devices Team. By 2:30 a.m., Jeffries said police determined the house and grounds were secure, reopened the street and told the DeMasons they could go back inside their home. The house was guarded by police during the night. On Saturday, the Hummer remained in the driveway. The underside of the car was moderately burned, with some parts melted, but the passenger compartment appeared undamaged. Jeffries said he was unsure of the extent of the damages. The house was not damaged by the fire. An ATF agent arrived at the home at 12:30 p.m. Saturday to examine the car and the bomb. Both had been left in a roped-off section of the driveway. A State Bureau of Investigation crime scene investigator and the Rockingham County Sheriff's Mobile Crime Scene Unit also were at the DeMason home Saturday, processing evidence. "We're going to take everything slow and make sure we don't miss anything," Jeffries said. The DeMasons were not home on Saturday and could not be reached by the News & Record for comment on the fire. Police said extra patrols have been assigned to their area. In the more than 12 years he's been with the department, Jeffries said he's never seen anything like this. The DeMasons moved to Eden in the early 1980s. Besides being a general surgeon at Morehead Memorial, Marc DeMason practices with Piedmont Surgical Associates on Thompson Street in Eden. Catherine DeMason is director of the county's Student Health Centers, which are miniature clinics in the county's high schools. Original Article
Don't shoot the wrong party Not that I am implying the above was done by eco-terrorists but very soon, eco-terrorists will need to do a lot of homework before they attack SUV. As you know, more & more SUV models are going to be hybrids and if one needs to transport lots of merchandise + passengers, SUV is a just choice. For every person who loves the Prius, there must be another who hates gas guzzler.
I believe this is Eden, North Carolina. It's a small town north of Greensboro, which is pretty close to the middle of the state. Sounds like that area, anyway. Dave (native North Carolinian)
Thanks, I do hope this was not eco-terrorism. Of course, any "reason" for such an occurence would be pretty horrible regardless, but eco-terrorism is so counterproductive. Not only do you do the damage with the bomb, you also do damage to the cause.
10 years ago, in my former neighborhood, 3 cars were torched... for fun. It was just some kid starving for attention. Hummer could be considered the biggest prize, simply because it is the biggest vehicle. That could have been the reason it was chosen. The motive may not have been any deeper than that. Just burn a big vehicle.
Now now. You might not agree with the car but you can't go blowing them up. Did you all hear the one about gangters driving with their lights turned off looking for the first person to flash their lights at them: that person would be chased and killed. The story I heard was that this is how new members were initiated into gangs. Might be all false, but maybe John's right in that this was done just as a mindless thing to do. This was in North Carolina as Dave indicated. I googled the doc and got hits about NC doctors.
While bombing someone's car because you don't like them (or their car?) is extreme, the only casualty was the H2, and I don't find myself all that upset about the loss of the vehicle. I don't feel bad about the battered H2, but the assault on the family that owned it is unacceptable. Nate
Actually, I believe that the energy that goes into producing the H2 is greater than the energy that it will use in it's lifetime, so destroying one is really a waste of energy and natural resources. It will be repaired or replaced. I doubt that they will run out and buy a Prius, but even if they did, it is still a waste of energy in the long run. I used to dream about shooting out mercury vapor lights. Those lights are brightest when they are new, so the replacement would have been even worse than the one that would have been destroyed. The mercury that would have been released is another reason not to do it. In the end, terrorism at any level is usually counter productive. Peace
Even though it may be a waste of energy destroying an already manufactured Hummer, if it discourages a few people from buying one, it is worthwhile. If the good doctor is advised anonymously that the attack was because of it being an SUV, he and others, might have second thoughts about buying one. Ofcourse, it will require many such frequent incidents to really get people's attention. Another, milder way would be if a lot of people expressed displeasure to SUVs everywhere by honking, giving thumbs down, placing stickers, flyers etc and telling the driver when he/she is out of the vehicle about their irresponsible behaviour. I, ofcourse favor the later option though sometimes...
I have a bumper sticker on my Prius: 50+ MPG Is Patriotic With an American Flag in the corner. I'm expressing pride in my car, pride in what my car does, and maybe it gets others to think. Blowing up an H2 is terrorism, pure and simple. There can be no justification in a civilized society.
Check out this site. They have thousands of pictures of various people giving a Hummer a salute. http://www.fuh2.com/index.php
I dispute that a big SUV is a reasonable choice of vehicle for anything. If you have a large family, you are much better off buying a minivan. A minivan will carry more cargo, is safer, is more economical, and is more comfortable too. SUVs are basically for people who don't want to admit that they need a minivan, and are prepared to put their kids (and other people) in unnecessary danger for the sake of their own vanity. If you need to go off-road, well, most SUVs aren't a good choice for that either. You need a pickup, a Jeep or a Land Rover with real off-road suspension, not some overweight luxury SUV with 6" of ground clearance. Furthermore, I see no reason why a family with 2 kids or fewer couldn't survive quite happily with a Prius. You can comfortably seat two adults in the back, so two kids is no problem. The trunk is plenty big enough for sports bags, groceries, and so on. Hell, I had two brothers and we had to sit in the back of a sedan, and somehow we managed not to be traumatized by it...
Meatmatic, I completly agree with you. Also, "need" to go off road needs to be be carefully looked at. You have no right ot waste valuable, irreplacable and limited resources, endanger others, create traffic problems(visibilyt, larger size, parking etc) just so you can play macho once evry two years. Why should that right be more important than safety and good energy policy? And, yes, 4 people can comfortably fit in the Prius and even 5 ( inc children) for short trips.
