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Santa Maria CEO dies in Arizona shooting

January 31, 2013
Steve Singer

Steve Singer

The chief executive officer of a Santa Maria telecommunications company died in a shooting Wednesday in an Arizona office building. [KCOY]

Steven Singer, 48, was the CEO of Santa Maria based Fusion Contact Centers.

A 70-year-old shooter wounded two other people in the building around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, but only Singer died. Police say Arthur Harmon opened fire in the office building because he had troubles with his mortgage.

Harmon fled after the shooting and remains at large. He is described as a 6 foot tall white male who weighs about 220 pounds.

Singer died in the hospital from his injuries.

 


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Arizona’s gun laws promotes this type of guns-can-solve-everything mentality, and makes Arizona an unsafe place to live and even visit.


“Pocketbook Politics” is the concept of effecting change by refusing to financially support places and people you feel are doing harm.


So do what I, and many others, do: BOYCOTT ARIZONA.


The movement originally started because of the anti-brown-skinned-people legislation, and the bigoted mindset that produced it. However, that is not the only issue that makes Arizona a terrible place to visit, as many victims of Arizona’s culture of gun violence can attest to.


Here is one site for a “boycott Arizona” petition: thepetitionsite.com/1/boycott-arizona/


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Boycott? I’m thinking about moving there!


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Let’s boycott California! They take our money in the guise of taxes and utilize or hoard it whenever and however they see fit. They support the illegal masses over the naturalized one; they favor the decimation of the 2nd Amendment and stomp on the US Constitution whenever possible. They pay no heed to the will of the voters, but instead send bills passed by voters back to the courts, costing the taxpayers MILLIONS iin dollard to fight that which they already spoke to in the way of their votes. California supports Agenda 21.


And before anyone says I am bigoted, come to my office and interview my staff. You will be surprised.


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I forgot to mention I would vote for Jan Brewer from AZ should she run for President.


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Mr. Singer is yet another innocent victim of gun related violence. An everyday American experience.

The greatest barrier to realizing the truth, is your denial of it. Mark Twain was right, it’s not just a river in Egypt.


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Are you implying that only the United States experiences gun violence? Really?


That would be both asinine and extremely ignorant.


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America gets the lions share


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We can argue about the comment being asinine; but ignorant? America does not suffer all of the gun violence in the world, but I have to wonder how many of the countries that do have gun violence it would take to add up to our numbers. The next five combined? The next ten? Twenty?


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There are no “guns” in Mexico, don’t ya know. Except perhaps the ones our goverment sold them in the Fast and Furious program.


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Might I suggest you look at the world-wide statistics related to gun violence…at least in the most developed, and wealthiest nations, and it will become abundantly clear that you have no idea what you are talking about……asinine and ignorant certainly describes you well.


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There are distinct differences between the US and all other countries — even the “developed” and “wealthiest” ones. Comparisons about gun violence don’t take those differences into account. Why not look to the gun violence statistics published by the Dept of Justice for the last half century in this country instead. See how Feinstein’s “assault rifle ban” from 1994-2004 affected those rates. A close look shows no obvious correlation.


Why look to repeat failed legislation? Because it appeals to simplistic, emotionally-based thinking as an alternative to dealing with the numerous, difficult and expensive issues that need to be addressed to address gun violence. (The NRA does this too on the other side at times because it seems that is the only way to get substantial numbers of Americans on ANY side of ANY issue to invest in that issue.)


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“Steve Singer, the man police say was shot and killed by an angry contractor on Wednesday in Phoenix, owned Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Fusion Contact Centers.


Fusion provided outsourced contact center agents and services for enterprises. While Fusion did not run an indirect channel, Singer and PlanetOne CEO Ted Schuman had known each other for 20 years.


Singer died after a mediation did not go in shooter 70-year-old Arthur Douglas Harmon’s favor. Harmon also shot Mark Hummels, Singer’s lawyer who was overseeing the meeting, in the neck and back. The Arizona Republic reported late Thursday morning that doctors said Hummels would not survive, despite surgery.


The Arizona Republic also was reporting that the body of a man who shot himself in Mesa on Thursday morning likely was Harmon’s, who had been on the lam since Wednesday morning.


“We believe that we possibly found Mr. Harmon,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said in a news conference.


Harmon insisted Fusion Contact Centers had not paid him in full for contract work performed; Singer and Hummels said Harmon had been paid for work not done”.


From Channelnewsonline.


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Another day…another gun related tragedy.


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It’s a tragedy that the people who were attacked weren’t armed. Did they think they could call the police and have them arrive in less time than it takes a criminal to discharge his firearm? People are responsible for their own security, and for letting anti-self-defense nut-jobs from disarming them.


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Blaming the victims for being shot does nothing but mark you as a freak of a gun nut.


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If you’re going to attack my character, at least have the courtesy to attack the point I made too. Otherwise, you add to its credibility.


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The real tragedy here is that apparently the shooter thought about this negotiation far enough in advance that he may have even planned to shoot these two people if things didn’t go his way. Or maybe he always “packed” and just got so fed up in the heat of the moment that he didn’t even think about it and shot them because, in his mind anyway, they “deserved it”. Your assertion that “more guns” could have averted this tragedy is asinine. The real failure here is that an armed man was allowed to carry his weapon with him into a potentially confrontational meeting; that should have never been allowed. America is a nation of laws; if you receive a legal decision that you don’t agree with, you have no “right” to shoot someone for it. You do have the right to turn around and take them back to court, if you have the means to do so or can find someone who will help you. More guns does not make everyone safer.


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Maybe if our legal system didn’t have such a high “cover charge” in the form of lawyers fees, people like the one in this case wouldn’t resort to violence to correct what they perceive as an injustice. I don’t know whether the shooter was actually cheated in this case, but if he couldn’t afford a lawyer and was trying to resolve a legal problem with someone who was aided by a lawyer, he was at a distinct disadvantage in the negotiation/arbitration.


Our “legal system” needs to be returned to a “justice system” where legal technicalities are given much less weight and someone of reasonable intelligence can have a fair chance at justice without being overwhelmed with arcane procedures and verbiage that require a law school education to understand.


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Another day…. millions of guns used safely and properly.


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You can say the same things about nuclear bombs, but I wouldn’t want everybody carrying one around.


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Please go to Google at this address and read each link you find:


https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&nfpr=1&spell=1&q=how+many+people+were+stabbed+to+death+in+January+2012&sa=X&ei=AOkLUfrsE4O2iwL89oHYDg&ved=0CC0QBSgA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41867550,d.cGE&fp=4203f3224e879201&biw=1688&bih=849


Far more people were stabbed to death in 2012 than shot. Point made? Don’t villanize firearms when many other means are utilized to kill innocent people. Knives, bombs, even the biggest lost of American lives on our own soil was NOT the result of firearms.


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danika says:”Far more people were stabbed to death in 2012 than shot. Point made?”


No, your point missed. There are far more knives available in America. Homes without any guns have knives, dozens of them.


So if there are more stabbings then shootings because of many more knives than guns (and easy access) then a reasonable person would know if we own more guns there will be more shootings and funerals.


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God Bless Steven Singer and his family, and Arthur Harmon along with his family. May they both rest in peace.


Blessings


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Huh? “God bless…Arthur Harmon?!!!” The shooter??


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See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/mental-health-gun-violence_n_2583986.html for some info on the confusing issue of mental illness in this debate. The gun lobby will try to cloud the issue.

The shooter here was just mad, not necessarily nuts. The only common thing in all these killings is guns. The easy, fast and cowardly way to dispatch others. It’s almost always guns.

Even many gun freaks have ‘gone off their rockers’ on the internet about this, saying they would shoot anyone coming for their guns. We see that anyone can ‘get mad’ and do something others call crazy. It is always the guns, we have to many of all kinds.


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“A 70-year-old shooter…”


Are you saying that the story should read “A 70 year old firearm….” started shooting people?


Looks to me like there is a person who is responsible for doing this.


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hotdog says:” The gun lobby will try to cloud the issue.”


And there he is (choprzrul) casting doubt to cloud the issue, challenge accepted.


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I heard on the radio a little while go that Mr. Harmon has been found and has taken his own life. Assault weapon band would not have changed the outcome of this story, The link in all these sad stories is the elephant in the room: MALE / MENTAL ILLNESS. What are we going to do about this. This is the biggest problem facing our society today, Let’s focus on what we can do about the billions we spend on mental health for failed results. Very sad!


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SLObird said “The link in all these sad stories is the elephant in the room: MALE / MENTAL ILLNESS.”


You’re correct, if we locked up all males, we’d have far fewer killings, especially with guns.


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In addition, the number of rapes would drop to near zero, and the number of pedophilia assaults would drop to about 12%.


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Right, put your stupide spin on this. There is a MAJOR Mental Health issue and we need to talk about this as robust as the gun issue. If you have stuck your head in the sand regarding this, please do not response to my posting. I am willing to accept that assault weapons (really assault weapons, not the ones that look like they might be an assault weapon), I believe in national registry, I also think people owning a gun should take a class and get a gun permit (we do it for driving) but none of this will solve the real problem – all these sick mental health people that no one wants to talk about. Please do not be stupid!


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No, the link is guns. Always guns. The problem is guns, and the fools (or greedy gun lobby) suggest more guns as a solution. Nice bit of doublespeak nonsense for the less than aware masses.


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Good ol Mr. Doublespeak himself calling the kettle black. May I direct your attention to the video link. I find of interest at :55 when they talk about Washington D.C. and murder rates.


Or how about 1:55 when they talk about the 40 states that don’t have gun control vs those that do.


And last at 2:32 listen to what the thug that is going to rob your ass the next time has to say.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_YTM_eAWnQ


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Ignorance is more dangerous than a gun, you display that on a regular basis.


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Spare us the platitudes. “Ignorance is more dangerous than a gun.” REALLY?


Ignorance by itself can’t kill people. Ignorance (or having a small *ick) AND a gun can, however.


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THAT’S what it is Mary, SDS. The NRA should fund a study. Not that it isn’t a known fact that these guns are nothing more than an attempt to enlarge what they don’t have.

Given that fact, there is no hope.


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I think your condolences ring hollow when you attempt to place the blame for Mr. Singer’s death on Mr. Singer by implying he was at fault for not bringing a gun into Arizona where he traveled.


You don’t know the specific circumstances of the shooting. Therefore, you don’t know if having a gun could have saved Mr. Singer from being fatally wounded by the shooter.


Ex-congressional-rep Gabby Gifford’s career, and nearly her life, were ended in the shooting in Arizona. Given the situation she was in when the shooting occurred, she could not have protected herself from the shooter without risking the lives of many people in the crowd.


Singer’s death by shooting attack, ironically, occurred on the very day Giffords appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun control. Her ability to speak is still severely impaired, but she was able to say a few words.


Speaking is difficult, but I must say something important.

Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. To many

children. We must do something. It would be hard, but the time

is now. You must act.”


—Gabrielle Giffords, ex-congresswoman from Tucson

and shooting victim.


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I agree with your opening comment but do have to wonder a bit when you bring up Ms Gifords and her concern for violence and the death of children. What makes the last breaths of children at the hands of guns more important than the deaths of milions of children who haven’t even taken a single breath? Many politicians lately have been preaching about gun violence and deaths but then turn a blind eye to the killing of the youngest amoung us, why is that?


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Off topic and you know damn well this is a way different issue.

Preventing a life and taking one are way different concepts. Over half the population disagrees with you on the first an no one does on the second.


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This is certainly a hot issue and defining life has been a legal and moral problem. However that is not the issue here. Nor is the issue of the multitudes of innocent civilians we have killed during wartime. It is about our internal society and our lust for more and bigger firepower, driven by greed and fear.

I hope, sometime, the children or friends of the voracious gun lobby fruitcakes are wounded by senseless gun violence. Then they will understand, and pay for their ignorance and damage to our country. Just like I wish the fat cat CEOs and bankers would all be broke.


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And yet we looked to our politicians to make the bankers and CEO’s be held accountable, which they have failed at, and now we look to them the help when a wacko with a gun kills?? They fails us over and over how is it we now think they can help?


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Our politicians, especially those on the right, have also failed in holding the NRA and other death pimps accountable.


The NRA is much like the banking industry–they pimp their wares to politicians, buying protection from the very people we elect to protect us, and it is the citizens who pay the butchers’ bill.


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The Newtown shootings were horrific, tragic and avoidable in many ways, But don’t delusion your self that the goverment wants anything other than absolutel C.O.N.T.R.O.L.. They do from small city government, county government, state and federal laws. Chip, chip, chipping away at what this great nation was back in the day.


There has to be a meeting of the minds to overcome the firearms tug-of-war. A give and take, of sorts. I see no reasonable end to this heated issue anytime soon. But I WILL NOT roll over and accept the continual pillaging of my rights as a natural citizen of this fine country.


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This is a very sad story. My condolences to his family. What possessed him to think that he could go to Arizona without his own gun for defensive purposes? Perhaps Oprah should have been passing out guns instead of cars…”Everyone gets a gun…!”


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AZ has concealed carry laws without the need for background check, just stuff one in your belt and go anywhere you want. What makes anyone think that carrying a gun is going to prevent anything. I drive a cab in AZ a few times a month and never carry a gun. Go into all the “bad” areas and I don’t need a gun. If I did have one, the guy in the back seat would have his pointed at my head and there would be nothing I could do about it. Let’s all put our big boy pants on and leave the guns at home. You guns fanatics really sound scared, where’s your courage?


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Why the anti civil rights rant?


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Wow, nice dodge there. NOWHERE did “onceknown” advocate for taking anyone’s civil rights; the suggestion was to leave the gun at home. Sheesh.


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