Gettysburg police searching for those who set hiker on fire

[hikerboy57]

There's a lot of good folks on this site.we should be able to find out quickly who he is and how we can help.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Folks forget guns stick to the story... please....

Agreed. The truth is that this is a sad situation, and my prayers are that this hiker will be OK, and that justice will eventually be served.

Well said, terrible tragedy.

[wornoutboots]

Agreed, let us know how we can help & who this hiker is, if thats okay with him.

[SouthMark]

I'm from Tuscaloosa and checked our local paper as soon as I heard about this. It has the article but does not mention the name. I early wish that I knew who it is and maybe I could help his family get him home.

[Pumba]

This article states the hiker was from Australia! But, at the end of the story it states what hotel he is staying at.

http://www.wgal.com/news/susquehanna...c/-/index.html

[Pumba]

I just got in touch with the Gettysburg Hotel. They, for security reasons, could not confirm whether or not the hiker is staying with them, but I did ask the gentleman that answered the phone that if he was possibly staying there, that he ask the hiker reach out to us. I asked him to write down whiteblaze.net and to let the hiker know there is a huge community of people that want to help him. I suppose at this point all we can do, until further information is released, is hope that he comes here.

[rocketsocks]

I just got in touch with the Gettysburg Hotel. They, for security reasons, could not confirm whether or not the hiker is staying with them, but I did ask the gentleman that answered the phone that if he was possibly staying there, that he ask the hiker reach out to us. I asked him to write down whiteblaze.net and to let the hiker know there is a huge community of people that want to help him. I suppose at this point all we can do, until further information is released, is hope that he comes here.

Good job Pumba, thanks for making that contact.

[Pumba]

I've also just emailed the Gettysburg Police Chief.

[Feral Bill]

It seems that the hiker was mistaken for a homeless person. Thus may be an extremely rare issue for hikers, but news items about homeless folks being set afire show up all to often, and have for many years. Maybe, after we do what we can for this victim, we might give a though to how we might make ours a more civil society where this doesn't happen to anyone.

[leaftye]

It's a shame that a foreigner and tourist experienced the hateful intolerant side of America. The community may help heal some of the mental wounds, but the physical scars will probably never go away, and those scars are going to bring up this story over and over again back home.

It seems that the hiker was mistaken for a homeless person. Thus may be an extremely rare issue for hikers, but news items about homeless folks being set afire show up all to often, and have for many years. Maybe, after we do what we can for this victim, we might give a though to how we might make ours a more civil society where this doesn't happen to anyone.

Not as rare as I'm sure you'd like. Get too far away from the popular trails and hiking season, and the disparaging comments and dirty looks abound. You can be clean, have the most expensive gear, and even fancy electronics, but it doesn't matter. You got a pack. You're homeless. And there are too many people that pick on those that they think can't fight back. Not just citizens, but law enforcement too. I experienced this earlier this year while walking with a group. We quickly learned that one of the best self defense tools is live streaming video. I didn't care much for technology last year, but I'm warming up to using a fancy cell phone and expensive data plan for long walks in the future.

[WingedMonkey]

Why is believing in firearms .

How do I do that? Do I build an altar in front of my gun cabinet? Just how do I "believe in firearms"?

I think you missed the part of her post that said

Way too liberal for my thinking.

[Hoop Time]

(AP) Gettysburg police said a 46-year-old Alabama hiker received second- and third-degree burns in a Thursday morning assault by people who may have thought he was homeless.



Police said the victim had been walking the Appalachian Trail and stopped in Gettysburg for supplies

more -- http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind...er_burned.html

[Sampson]

(AP) Gettysburg police said a 46-year-old Alabama hiker received second- and third-degree burns in a Thursday morning assault by people who may have thought he was homeless.



Police said the victim had been walking the Appalachian Trail and stopped in Gettysburg for supplies

more -- http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind...er_burned.html

Either it's "set a hiker on fire week" in gettysburg or this is a story that's already been covered here at white blaze. I'm reconsidering my thru if it isn't the latter.

[Mother Natures Son]

Sad news out of Gettysburg, PA. AT hiker was set on fire while taking a break off the trail.

Hiker from Australia set on fire in Gettysburg

Man suffers burns to arm, chest, scalp

UPDATED 12:10 AM EDT Jul 14, 2012

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Hiker set on fire in Gettysburg
GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Police are asking for help to solve a crime they are calling "beyond comprehension."

A hiker from Australia was walking the Applachian Trail through Gettysburg when strangers passed by in a car and set him on fire.
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Police said the 46-year-old man stopped at the Grey and Blue Bar off Lincoln Square.
He left the bar around midnight Thursday and was walking south on Baltimore Street when he had an exchange with some people in a car.
Police said people in a small blue car passing by, taunted the man, saying he was homeless. The hiker yelled something back and the car turned around.
The man tried to get away from the car and went into an alley, police said. The blue car cut him off and two men got out and poured an unknown flammable liquid on him. The other man lit a match and set him on fire.
"I've been here 30 years and we've never had something like this," said Sgt. Kevin Wilson of the Gettysburg Boro Police Department.
Wilson said the people in the vehicle drove off, leaving the victim burning in the alley.
"At that point I'm sure he's not trying to get a description of the vehicle as you might in another crime. At this point he's trying to put the fire out," Wilson said.
Police said the man sustained burns to his arm, chest and scalp. The flames were so intense they burned off the victim's shirt, camping pack and a good chunk of his hair.
"I've never heard of something like that before in all the years I've lived here," said a resident named Donna.

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[Hairbear]

i respect your right to feel this way w/m but its not mayberry r f d out here anymore.the youth today has experienced endless bombardment of violence from modern tv till it desensitizes us all, and the rising violence is consuming the good that we once imagined.parents today dont raise their own kids day care does due to the cost of everything. two people have to work to keep up with societal expectations of wealth the kids are left to raise themselves.no surprise that when they express their anger of being alone all the time it comes out in movie like violence.in short we can only do what we can imagine. why do we imagine .extreme violence ,because that is what is stored in the files of our minds

[Hairbear]

to achieve this quick draw you would have to be hiking with a cocked and no safety on firearm i dont think i would want that in camp around me

[OzJacko]

As someone who will be an Australian hiking the AT next year can we keep this post on the subject and drop the guns debate.
An Australian would not have been allowed to carry a gun anyway so did not have the bloody option!

[hikerboy57]

please stop the gun debate.start a different thread if you want to debate it ad nauseum.
this guy might need our help, weve worn out the whole gun issue. you want to carry, carry. its illegal on many parts of the trail.
but could we focus our efforts here on finding out if the victim needs our help?

[Pedaling Fool]

I agree, the gun debate has no place here. It's obvious this is our new world thanks to.... http://newsbusters.org/blogs/anthony...-lead-genocide

[10-K]

Terrible thing and there is no excuse for it.

However, the guy will probably never again yell anything back at a carload of people that drive by and insult him. (the article makes it sound like they turned around because he yelled back at them).

That was not very smart at all. He would have been better off just figuring they were idiots and letting them go on.