GUNS/BARMS

[Matey]

60 rounds, crowded mall, 1 nonfatal hit..

some "death ray, those "assault weaposn":

Friends of N.Y. mall suspect arrested

Associated Press
Feb. 16, 2005 12:00 AM

ALBANY, N.Y. - Two men were arrested after a videotape showing them detonating pipe bombs was found in the home of the man accused of opening fire at a shopping mall, officials said Tuesday.

The men are friends of shooting suspect Robert Bonelli Jr., held in Sunday's rampage at the Hudson Valley Mall that left two people wounded, one critically, authorities said.

But there was no indication that Bonelli, 25, intended to use an explosive device at the mall, and the two friends are not accused of any involvement in the shooting, Ulster Police Chief Paul Watzka said.

The friends, Kenneth Stine and Liborio Valguarnera, both 25, were arrested Monday on charges of violating federal explosive laws, according to federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials.

Nine long guns, a handgun, ammunition and a pipe-bomb fuse were found at Stine's house, the ATF said.

Valguarnera's lawyer said his client was shocked by the mall shooting and had nothing to do with it.

"This is not a premeditated scheme. This is nothing analogous to Columbine," attorney Edward Carroll said.

Stine ignored reporters' questions as he left court, but his girlfriend, Sarah Cobert, described the video as "like a little thing for fun."

Bonelli is accused of spraying assault-weapon fire through the mall Sunday afternoon, firing off about 60 rounds before surrendering.

Prosecutors say Bonelli was fascinated by the Columbine school massacre in Colorado and kept memorabilia about the 1999 killings.

Bonelli's father, Robert Bonelli Sr., told the Daily Freeman of Kingston that his son had had emotional problems ever since his mother left when he was a boy.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0216mallshooting16.html