Patriot/survivalist murdered?

This stinks to high heaven. Who like this would use a 22 for suicide? Oh, and nothing like contradicting oneself with saying things like "semi-auto machine gun".

Police find cache of weapons, ammo in Harmony Twp. home

Harmony Township police display a cache of guns and ammunition found in the home of a township resident who attempted suicide Sunday. Police said Alexander Zane, 39, was on life support at UPMC Mercy hospital as of Monday afternoon.


By Larissa Theodore, Times Staff

Published: Monday, April 13, 2009 10:56 PM EDT
HARMONY TWP. — Police in Harmony Township, responding Sunday to a report of a gunshot victim, found a man alive inside his four-room apartment and also discovered dozens of weapons and ammunition.

Police Sgt. Jim Essek said officers arrived at 3097 Woodland Road around 5 p.m. and found Alexander Zane, 39, sitting in a living room recliner with his feet up and a .22-caliber handgun on his lap.

A friend who had stopped by to walk Zane’s dog found the man, who lived alone, and called 911.

Essek said Zane had what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his right temple but was still breathing. Police immediately notified paramedics.

Additional police officers arrived to help secure the apartment and to make sure no one else was inside. As they went through the residence, Essek said, police found a large collection of weapons.

“There were guns in every room,” he said.

Zane was flown to UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh and remained on life support in the hospital’s neurointensive-care unit Monday. Essek said there didn’t appear to be any foul play in the shooting, which initially was ruled an attempted suicide.

Police found several weapons inside Zane’s apartment, including a fully automatic Uzi machine gun with a silencer, at least four AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifles and an 8mm semiautomatic machine gun from 1934.

The Beaver County District Attorney’s office has recommended that all weapons be removed, Essek said. Zane’s apartment is one of four in the building.

Police took 19 long rifles, 13 handguns and more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition, Essek said. Some guns were in gun safes, which were also removed.

Ambridge, Baden and Economy police, along with the Beaver County detective’s office and sheriff’s department, assisted Harmony.

Yellow police tape covered the outside of Zane’s apartment Monday afternoon. A woman who answered the door at the apartment building said she didn’t know anything about what happened.

Essek said Zane was a gunsmith who formerly worked for a Harmony company called United Arms Service. The shop, which repaired and crafted custom firearms, went out of business more than a year ago.

Police were unsure whether Zane built some of the weapons, a couple of which are custom made, or whether he had been selling them. Police found some gun accessories — stocks, triggers, barrels and receivers — which can be used to make a gun. Two bulletproof vests, several knives and survival kits were also found.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will begin tracing the guns today to find out to whom they are registered. ATF officials verified Zane was not a federally licensed firearms dealer, Essek said.

“The apartment was not set up to manufacture guns,” Essek said. “They were basically just everywhere.”

In light of the recent deadly police shooting in Pittsburgh, Harmony Police Chief Jack Lively, who was the first to respond Sunday, said he took precautions going into the home. Zane was approximately 12 feet inside the door, sitting in a chair.

Police found a suicide note in a dresser drawer dated for April 6. Police would not release information contained in the note.

Essek said Zane, a Marine Corps veteran, was receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section.

Larissa Theodore can be reached online at [email protected].

WEAPONS FOUND

Harmony Township police confiscated 19 long rifles, 17 of them custom-made, 13 handguns and more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition. Among the weaponry was:

* A fully automatic Uzi machine gun with a silencer.
* At least four AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifles.
* An automatic 12-gauge shotgun.
* An 8mm semiautomatic machine gun from 1934.
* Several .308-caliber rifles.
* A sniper rifle.
* Two bulletproof vests.
* Several knives.