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From our wire services
NEW YORK Former Beatle John
Ono Lennon died late last night after be
ming shot five times by a man police said
was most likely "deranged" and had
been stalking Lennon for several days.
A police spokesman said Lennon, 40,
was shot shortly before 11 p.m. as he
returned to his home in the Dakota, a
cooperative building on Manhattan's Up
per West Side, from a late-night recor
king session.
Sources close to the investigation said
the gunman walked up to Lennon as he
was leaving his limousine.
"Mr. Lennon?" the man said, pulling a
gun from under his coat and firing.
Lennon staggered about 5 feet to a
*mall guard's booth in the courtyard of
the building.
"Do you know what you just did?" the
doorman asked the man.
"I just shot John Lehnon," the gun
man responded, throwing down a
handgun.
.0 Police were questioning the gunman,
who sources said was "coherent," and
were attempting to interview Lennon's
wife, Yoko Ono, who was with him at the
time of the shooting.
"Tell me it isn't true," Ono screamed
in the police car on the way to the
iospital, said a police officer. "Tell me
he's all right.'.'
Police said the gunman, identified ear
ly today as Mark David Chapman, 25,
was a resident of Hawaii whose
honietown was not immediately known.
Police said Chapman had been in New
Fork City for two weeks,.had stayed at a
MCA and then at the Sheraton Centre
Hotel.
Chief of Detectives James Sullivan
described the suspect as "apparently a
wacko."
Authorities said Lennon was shot
,„seven times in the head, chest and arm.
Tie was rushed in a police car to
Roosevelt Hospital's emergency room,
where he died in surgery with Ono with
him.
A hospital spokesmaii'said "it was im
possible to resuscitate him by any
means."
*I Jack Douglas, Lennon's producer,
said he and the Lennons had been at a
studio called the Record Plant in mid
town Manhattan earlier in the evening
Municipal Council decides not to open meetings
By LORRAINE ORLANDI
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The State College Municipal Council
last night rejected a resolution to open
ore council meetings to the public.
T
IP The council also dropped a proposal to
prohibit the sale of smoking accessories
to minors.
The open meetings resolution, propos
ed by council member Joseph Wakeley
Jr., would have opened to the public all
meetings of the council and the council's
fommittees, authorities, boards and
commissions, except those specifically
designated by the resolution, such as
meetings concerning personnel or real
estate purchase price.
Wakeley and council members
Dorothy Lennig and Fred Honsberger
toted in favor of the resolution.
Before rejecting the proposed resolu
tion entirely, council members debated
considerably over whether to amend the
proposal.
Council President Mary Ann Haas pro
posed an amendment to allow commit
tee meetings to remain closed, stressing
Ahe need for "flexibility."
"Government is cumbersome
enough," Haas said. "A committee
meeting is a research tool that the coun
cil uses to move toward a decision."
But Wakeley said he felt the discussion
that occurs at council meetings is as im
fortant as what takes place at a meeting
where a formal decision is made.
"It appears to me that the ideas we
vote on here in council are formed very
strongly in committee meetings,"
Wakeley said.
Council member Ronald Abler said he
would not favor public participation at
Committee meetings. He said public par
ticipation sometimes turns regular coun
cil meetings into "public spectacles."
"I don't think the real issues come up
at committee meetings," Abler said.
"This (the council meeting) isn't a
Tumbling dice
Cloudy and cooler today with periods of
rain or drizzle and a high temperature
early in the day of 48. Temperatures will
slowly tumble during the afternoon.
itloudy and colder tonight with rain con
tinuing and possibly changing to snow
before ending as the low reaches 32.
Variable cloudiness, becoming windy
and much colder on Wednesday with
flurries likely. Temperatures tomorrow
will tumble from the mid 30s in the mor
lining to the 20s by nightfall.
daily
ennon killed
Former Beatle shot 5 times in front of his Manhattan apartment
Former Beatle John Lennon, 40, was shot five times airdkilled last night in front of lis,Marihattan apartment.l;ennon was
taken to Roosevelt Hospitalllkemergacy room where he died shortly after the shooting. He had no last words.
and that Lennon left at 10:30 p.m. Len
non said he was going to get a bite to eat
and go home, Douglas said.
A bystander, Sean Strub, said he was
walking south near 72nd Street when he
heard four shots. He said he came
charade we go through to bless or anoint
decisions made in secret committee
meetings."
Abler said the resolution would
amount to a "gag rule," preventing any
conversation about council business bet
ween two or more members.
Wakeley also cited a lack of com
munication among council members as
a reason for the resolution, saying he is
often uninformed about what goes on at
committee meetings.
"If we, who are supposed to be active
ly involved, don't understand what is go
ing on, how is the public going to get the
word," Wakeley said.
But Chaffee argued it is not necessary,
and would be impossible, for a council
member to know everything that is go
ing on in the municipality. He said a
member only needs to know where to
find the information if a citizen request's
it.
Under the Pennsylvania Open
Meetings Act, or the "Sunshine Law,"
any meeting where a formal decision is
made must be open to the public. The
council's three-member committees
make recommendations, but not final
decisions, to the council.
The proposed ordinance to ban the sale
of smoking paraphernalia to minors
would have prohibited the sale of smok
ing substances, such as tobacco, and
items for use with smoking substances,
such as pipes and rolling papers, to
minors.
Chaffee, who proposed the ordinance,
made the motion that it be dropped by
the council because of recently enacted
state legislation banning the sale of drug
paraphernalia and pending court cases,
including one involving the State College
ordinance, challenging the constitu
tionality of such laws.
In other business, the council held a
public hearing on its propsed 1981
budget.
Haas said the 12.6 percent increase in
this year's budget is caused by inflation.
No new services or staff have been add
ed, she said.
Some citizens offered suggestion to the
council about how to trim the budget.
To meet the costs of the proposed
budget, Municipal Manager Carl B.
Fairbanks has proposed an earned in
come tax increase from 1 percent to 1.5
percent and a real estate tax increase.
The final decision on the proposed
budget will be made at a public meeting
Dec. 17.
()Ile • iari
the
around the corner to Central Park West
and saw Lennon being put into the back
of a police car.
"Some people they heard six shots and
said John was hit twice," Strub said.
"Police said he was hit in the back."
Ohio drug paraphernalia law struck down
By LORRAINE ORLANDI
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
An Ohio drug paraphernalia law which
was the basis of the State College drug
paraphernalia ordinance was struck
down yesterday by the U.S. Court of
Appeals.
The court reversed an opinion of a
judge in Parma, Ohio, upholding a drug
parpahernalia ordinance in Parma. The
recently enacted State College
paraphernalia ordinance follows the
lower court's opinion.
Robert Kistler, State College
municipal solicitor, said he did not know
whether the decision by the court of ap
peals to grant a permanent injuction
The State College Municipal Council last night rejected a resolution sponsored meetings to the public. Speaking with Wakeley after the resolution was
by council member Joseph Wakeley Jr., right, that would have opened more defeated is State College Mayor Arnold Addison. •
He said others on the street told him
the assailant had been "crouching in the
archway of the Dakota . . . Lennon arriv
ed in the company of his wife and the
assailant fired."
James Moran, the police officer who
against the Parma ordinance would af
fect the pending decision by Judge
Richard Conaboy of the U.S. District
Court in Scranton on whether to grant a
permanent injunction against the State
College ordinance.
Conaboy's decision was expected to
come yesterday or today, but a law clerk
in Conaboy's office said yesterday the
judge's decision would be delayed
because of the Ohio decision.
Bill Cluck, adviser to the University
chapter of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he
thinks that because the appeals court is
the highest court so far to rule on the
drug paraphernalia ordinance, the Ohio
took Lennon to the hospital, said the
singer was bleeding badly from the
chest.
Moran said he asked him, over and
over, "Are you John Lennon?" but Len
non only mumbled and moaned.
"He had no last words," Moran said.
Strut) said residents of the apartment
building told him the man had been seen
in the vestibule for hours before the
shooting.
"He just walked out and shot him,"
Strub said.
He described the man as white, with
dark hair and wearing a leather jacket.
He said the suspect, a "pudgy kind of
man" 35 to 40 years old with brown hair,
was.put into another police car.
"He had a smirk on his face" when
police took him away, Strub said.
Lennon, who celebrated his and his se
cond son's birthday on Oct. 9, had just
released an album, "Double Fantasy,"
which he made with his wife in what was
to be a comeback for the couple.
Local reaction to Lennon's death last
night was a mixture of surprise and a
sense of loss.
Ten to 15 people called radio station
WQWK to find out more about the
singer's death, disc jockey Ken Hughes
said.
"They simply can't believe it,"
Hughes said. "We've had a few people
crying on the phone. There's a feeling of
great loss."
He said the station canceled its mid
night album feature and played Len
non's hit album, "Walden Bridges."
Dan Regan. (6th-business administra
tion) said he heard of the
singer/songwriter's death on the radio.
"One of my friends got really broken
up about it," Regan said. "He was really
silent on the way home. It caught my at
tention, but I can't say I got broken up
about it."
Ann Stancavage (9th-biochemistry),
who was with Regan last night in West
Halls, said she learned of Lennon's death
while watching television.
"I was just really surprised," she said.
"I guess the fantasy of having the four
together again is gone."
A West Halls resident said a group of
students played taps and sang a Beatles
song in the West Quad.
decision will be important in the State
College case.
Jurisdictionally, the Ohio ruling will
not affect the State College ordinance,
but the Ohio decision is a "precedent
setting" decision, Cluck said."
Kistler said the State College or
dinance could be a moot case now that
the state has enacted a statewide drug
paraphernalia ordinance, which could
supersede the State College ordinance.
The State College ordinance is based
on a model act drawn up by the U.S.
Justice Department and follows the opi
nion of the Parma judge upholding a
similar ordinance. Similar ordinances,
including a state law in Maryland, have
15'
Tuesday, Dec. 9,1980 •
Vol. 81, N 0.83 16 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
Lisa Mazzeri (2nd-pre-med) and Con
nie McGowan (2nd-business administra
tion) were relaxing in McGowan's
Thompson Hall room late last night
while Lennon's song "Oh Yoko" played
on the radio.
Mazzeri said that although she wasn't
a big Beatles fan, she was surprised to
hear of the death• and will miss the
singer.
"I was really shocked even angry,"
she said. "To think some crazy nut
would do that to a human being . . .
that's sick. That kind of stuff always
scares me. You can't believe a star is
alive one minute and then he's gone just
like that."
McGowan also said she was surprised
when she heard the news on the radio.
"It's a shame the people who are
popular have to be so fearful for their
lives," she said.
The two women said they did not
believe many other residents on the floor
knew about Lennon's death.
Ron Adams, nighttime disk jockey for
WMAJ radio, said his station received
about 20 calls from people asking if the
news was true or to request John Lennon
songs on the radio.
"I had one girl talk for about 15
minutes," Adams said. "Most seem
pretty bummed out. I'd say about 80 per
cent have been girls, but some are
guys."
Adams said last night he didn't knowverly
the station would play tributes of
singer today.
"I've been playing (Beatles sot
every 10 songs or so," he said. "The p
son who comes after me I'm sure wi
play them too."
Adams said he first became a Beatles
fan about 10 years ago when he first
began in radio.
"I am really shocked," he said. "Five
years in retirement and all of a sudden
he goes."
In an interview earlier this year his
first major interview in five years
Lennon said he had wanted to leave the
Beatles as early as 1966 but did not make
the move until four years later because
he "just didn't have the guts."
Continued on Page 16.
been upheld recently in courts around
the country.
The State College ordinance prohibits
the advertising or sale of items for use
with illegal drugs, with a penalty of $lO
to $3OO.
The constitutionality of the ordinance
has been challenged by David Talmas,
president of Lazy J Ltd., 232 E. College
Av., and James Bauer, president of
Quickdraw Accessories Inc., 137 N. Pat
terson St.
Council member Joseph Wakeley Jr.
said he expects to see the drug parapher
nalia issue reach the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Photo by Stel Varies