Local and national media outlets have swarmed to Hollister in
light of Thursday’s shooting involving native John Patrick Bedell,
36, who opened fire on two officers at the screening area of the
Pentagon before being shot and killed himself on Thursday
evening.
Local and national media outlets have swarmed to Hollister in light of Thursday’s shooting involving Hollister’s John Patrick Bedell, 36, who opened fire on two officers at the screening area of the Pentagon before being shot and killed himself on Thursday evening.
One almost immediate sign of the media’s presence was a reported slew of news trucks Thursday night getting turned away in front of the security gates at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club’s housing community, where Bedell’s family lives.
On Friday, media were focused downtown near the courthouse – CNN was parked at Fourth and Monterey streets part of the day – and also at Ridgemark.
Media attention Friday at Ridgemark dwindled some – the public course is separated from a private subdivision with a security gate – although news trucks camped out in a nearby parking lot, nonetheless. Media outlets were told “this is as close as you can get” by security officials after setting up cameras in the parking lot at Ridgemark.”
Other than at Ridgemark, media members physically gathered at the County Administration Building for press conferences put on by San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill.
Some local officials received a deluge of calls – probably none more than Supervisor Reb Monaco, who is close friends with the Bedell family and has acted as a spokesman of sorts since the shootings.
Monaco noted how he is an “easy person to contact” because he is visible as a public official but that he “certainly wanted to protect the family.”
He received so many phone calls from the press that he did not even get a chance to return some of them.
“I told wife this morning,” Monaco said Saturday, “there’s got to be an end to this. I’m tired of answering the same questions over and over.”
The Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Bay Area media – along with a multitude of other news organizations – all have shown attention to Hollister with stories on their respective Web sites regarding the Pentagon shooting.
Doing a Google News search of “Hollister” on Saturday called up more than 4,200 links to media stories on Bedell.
The public golf course otherwise operated as usual on Friday. However, few golfers were willing to discuss the matter. Without providing a name, one golfer even said, “They have enough going on in their life right now.”
Kollin Kosmicki, a South Valley Newspapers editor, contributed to this report.
Related stories:
Media puts spotlight on Hollister after shooting
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Childhood peer recalls gatherings with suspect and family
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Bedell’s family: ‘We may never know why he made this terrible decision’
Updated: Hollister man shoots two at Pentagon, is shot and killed
Sources: Suspected Pentagon gunman is from Hollister
