Police: Uber driver arrested after attempting to murder police officers

[FrodosPet]

Source: WJLA Washington D.C.

BY KEVIN LEWIS/ ABC7 WEDNESDAY, MAY 25TH 2016

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (ABC7) — Police arrested a Maryland man after he allegedly attempted to shoot and kill Montgomery County Police officers with his homemade gun, police say.

Last week, undercover cops swarmed a Gaithersburg office complex to arrest 52-year-old Jonathan Hemming, on a drug warrant.

It was then that Hemming allegedly grabbed a homemade pistol from his car and tried to shoot multiple police officers.

Today we learned that Hemming is also an Uber driver and his lengthy felony record spans at least three states, begging the question, how is he driving people around?

~ snip ~

Read more: http://wjla.com/news/crime/police-uber-driver-arrested-after-attempting-to-murder-police-officers

---

Best in the business background checks?

Yes, it could just as easily been a taxi driver. Which would have made some taxi-haters deliriously happy.

Uber is an awesome concept, ruined by greedy impatient assholes like Travis K who don't care if or how many people get hurt in his quest for global domination of transportation.

[LisaM]

1. Elizabeth Warren has taken some first steps towards the gig economy problem

http://www.thenation.com/article/elizabeth-warren-takes-on-the-gig-economy/

Kind of a side issue to the violent rampage taken by this driver, but Uber is just about pure profit for the owner.

[christx30]

6. My parents are really hurting for money these days.

My mom has been looking for a nursing job for a long time. My dad was doing Lyft for a while, before they left Austin. My mom was doing Favor (another gig job), but can't get a schedule now that Uber and Lyft have left. All of the drivers are now doing Favor. Full-time/part-time/contract status isn't really a huge deal to them right now. It's money coming in, which is the main concern.

[LisaM]

7. Yes, it's difficult when having to pick up a part-time job is a necessity, not a luxury.

I do get that, but there must be a better way to go about it.

[christx30]

8. Until someone comes up with something,

I'd rather having the options. I just love the people that hate Uber and want them to stop operating, but aren't able or willing to come up with alternatives for people that need to get from point A to B, and for drivers that just want to work a couple of days a week.

I voted in favor of Uber/Lyft in the election last month in Austin. Getting something into the fridge is important.

[ananda]

2. This is exactly why I voted the way I did in Austin.

And this isn't the first time an Uber driver has used a gun
against people.

[FrodosPet]

10. And people use guns and knives on Uber drivers

UBER DRIVER STABBED IN BELLFLOWER

http://abc7.com/news/uber-driver-stabbed-in-bellflower-/1350951/

By ABC7.com staff - Sunday, May 22, 2016 07:15PM

BELLFLOWER, Calif. (KABC) -- An Uber driver was stabbed while attempting to pick up passengers in Bellflower early Saturday morning, according to authorities.

Sheriff's deputies said the Uber driver arrived at Flux Bar, located at 17817 Lakewood Blvd., at about 2:15 a.m.

~ snip ~

When the Uber driver tried to get back in his vehicle, one of the men attacked him, deputies stated.

Officials said the driver initially believed he had been punched, but he had actually been stabbed.

~ snip ~

[christx30]

12. Don't forget this winner

that attacked an Uber driver while drunk. Then sued the driver when the video of the attack became public.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uber-attack-lawsuit-20160118-story.html

[TrollBuster9090]

3. However, the main point of the story

is that he charged a lot less than a regular cab company would have while he was trying to kill a police officer. So, Uber still makes all kinds of economic sense.

[LisaM]

4. Lots of funny people on DU today

I've spent too much time laughing. That one was a spit take!

[truthisfreedom]

5. Homemade gun?

Who has a homemade gun???

[FrodosPet]

9. Making a gun is easy

People have been doing it for hundreds of years.

That is one of the frustrations of gun confiscation... Some metal, some knowledge, and a few common tools, and you can build more.

[TrollBuster9090]

14. Very true. The irony of the whold gun safety debate is that "guns don't kill people....

BULLETS kill people." And it's the sale and purchase of bullets that would make more sense. Up to and including marking shell casisngs with traceable serial numbers.

Any jackass can make a zipgun. Some of my friends did it in high school metal shop while the teacher wasn't around. It's easy for lots of people to make their own gun. But NOBODY could make their own bullets.

[TrollBuster9090]

15. A better question is WHY would anybody bother to BUILD a gun, when most States just GIVE them away

as prizes in boxes of CRACKERJACKS.

It's so easy to buy a gun it's ridiculous. Why would anybody make one?

Back in the old days, young gang punks who lived in states that had common sense gun laws used to build their own "zipguns" The simplest ones were just a piece of pipe with the right bore to be a barrel, and a nail attached to a rubber band or spring to serve as the firing pin.

These days, however, it's usually young libertarian geeks who are making plastic 'liberator' guns to prove that gubmint is wasting its time trying to stop people from having guns. It's a perfect match: young libertarian geeks who love both Ron Paul and 3D computer printers...and pretty soon you've got a lot of college geeks blowing their fingers off with plastic guns...

[PersonNumber503602]

16. That getting even easier today

The tools to do it are accessible and so is the knowledge. I think rifled barrels are the most difficult part of it.

[Kingofalldems]

11. Props to the MoCo Police.

In many other places this guy would have 30+ bullets in him.

[graegoyle]

13. Until I read your comment...

Race did not enter my thoughts. Then, I read it. Then, I made an assumption. Then, I checked the article. And the obvious was made plain.

Not that I don't have an appreciation of proper police action, but, well...