Last Sunday the headlines on the paper in Cleveland, Ohio home of Case Western Reserve University read "SEVEN HOURS OF TERROR", and went on to talk about the school shooting and stand off that took place that Friday.
The suspect is a 62-year-old man native to Calcutta, India whose name is Biswanath Halder, a man who went to school at Case and leeched off of the CWRU computer lab. So what possessed this man to stalk the school's newest building in full body armor, a wig, and army helmet, two semiautomatic weapons, and carrying hundreds of bullets? It is believed that Halder was looking for a man named Shawn Miller. Miller who was a computer lab assistant was blamed by Halder to have hacked into a website database he was creating, and destroyed everything. Halder tried to take the case to court, to the FBI and Capitol Hill, and when nothing prevailed Halder turned to violence.
Biswanath Halder immigrated from India in 1969, and became a US citizen 11 years later. He lived in various cities including New York, Boston, and Maryland before moving to Cleveland in 1996. Halder who had not had a real job since the late 1980's filed many lawsuits against big name companies claiming they wouldn’t hire him because of discrimination, and when he lost his cases he claimed that the judges had been paid off. This man claimed many disabilities and used the money he was getting from Social Security to live since he had no work. Halder received a master's degree in business administration from CWRU in 1999, but continued to take a few classes to keep his access to the computer lab. Halder is described as a classic loner, never talking to anyone he didn’t have to, in fact he creeped many people out. Miller's lawyer claims that Halder had no evidence that Miller erased his database/website in fact the only reason he suspected Miller is the fact that he told Halder that his lab privileges were suspended.
In the year after the disappearance of Halder's website, the man obsessed over rebuilding it, finding a lawyer, and even vowed revenge against Miller the man he thought hacked his site. In a letter Halder wrote to the then mayor of Cleveland Michael White, Halder said "If the unholy trio of an incompetent police department, a perfect idiot mayor, and a felon clerk of the council continue to rule Cleveland, very dark days are ahead for Clevelanders." As time pressed on Halder's anger and need for revenge grew greater, in a letter to the Cuyahoga County Pleas Judge John Sutula, Halder said "The end result of all of these outright evil actions will be that society will end up paying a severe price."
Halder had always creeped people out and in the month before the disappearance of his website, someone posted a note to him saying "Bizzy Halder is a moron. This guy makes a living out of creeping people out. From his fake hair, to his fake teeth, his whitey tighty shorts and pants, … this guy is LOON." Loon or no all of Halder's plans for great personal wealth came to a halt when he decided to stalk the school in search of Miller to take revenge in his own hands. At the end of the seven-hour standoff, one was dead and two were injuried; Miller remained unharmed. Norman E. Wallace, 30, was found dead on the scene and was believed to have been shot as Halder entered the building. Susan Helper, 46, is a CWRU professor and was hit in the chest by a bullet which had lost it's momentum after going through a door which she had closed seconds before after seeing the gunman. Argun Saatcioglu, 32, and a graduate student was shot in the buttock he is expected to make full recovery. Halder himself has been released from the hospital after minor injuries were sustained during the standoff, he is being held in the city jail and as of this writing has not been charged with a crime yet.
Moral of the story, always back up your work.
Infromation gleaned from the Cleveland Plain Dealer