T-Shirt Vendor Takes On New Persona: Reluctant Hero of Times Square

Source: The New York Times

About 12 hours had passed since a T-shirt vendor in Times Square had alerted police to a suspicious S.U.V. that was packed with a bomb. But by 7 a.m. Sunday, with the S.U.V. towed away and the streets safe and reopened, the vendor was tired, cranky and reluctant to say much about his feat.

“I’m fed up,” said the vendor, who declined to give his name as he headed toward a taxicab in Times Square around 7 a.m. “We’ve been up since 6 a.m. of yesterday morning.”

The vendor, who was swarmed by television cameras, wore a name tag around his neck that identified him as Lance Orton. A law enforcement official confirmed that his first name was Lance.

The vendor had seen smoke billowing from the rear of the S.U.V., which was parked awkwardly near the curb and was running, shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Within moments, the vendor alerted a mounted police officer; the officer smelled gunpowder near the car and an evacuation of Times Square was ordered.

Read more: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/t-shirt-vendor-takes-on-new-persona-reluctant-hero-of-times-square/?src=mv

Gotta love that attitude. :)

:fistbump:

:fistbump:

Signs that say that are all over the place.

:D

:toast:

After the Salahis, Octomom, Jon & Kate, the jersey Shore gang, Balloon Boy Dad, et. al., how refreshing to see someone not seeking the limelight.

:fistbump:

Usually the best defense against these things is a good alert citizen. I don't blame him for being fed up, or having the "not in my city attitude" Kudos to him!

(Somebody Jackson? Can't remember) Also, the first reports mentioned a sports car, not an SUV.

Either it was the wrong name on the ID mentioned in above story or once again the very first folks on the scene of a national security event tell a different story from the filtered story hours later. But CBS radio news is a NOTORIOUS liar dissembler as a new source. I would not trust them AT ALL. Just sayin, watch your eyes and ears, this story is being edited/ manipulated. I hope it;'s just fact correction, but my spider sense is tingling.

those Stern people are so funny...

I was watching CNN moments after the Oklahoma City bombing. The cameras were focused on the front 1/2 of the building being blown away, people dazed and bloody, confusion everywhere. One of Howards fans called and he was talking to the newsroom on the air about the carnage. Suddenly out came the punking...carnage about Sterns female counterpart, whatever her name is/was.

Oh so funny.

thanks for the belated welcome.

Member since May 30th 2006
Number of posts 211
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I assume you were referencing my post count?

Lance Horton, another Viet Nam vet named Duane Jackson, and a homeless man named "Bullet".

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/05/02/2010-05-02_times_square_vendors_duane_jackson_lance_horton_alerted_cops_to_smoking_car_bomb.html

Times Square vendors Duane Jackson, Lance Horton alerted cops to smoking car bomb

They saw something and they said something.

Two Times Square street vendors - both Vietnam veterans - were the first to alert cops that there was something fishy about the blue SUV.

"Why is this knucklehead parked in the bus lane?" handbag vendor Duane Jackson, 58, said he asked himself after spotting the Nissan Pathfinder in a No Standing zone around 6:30 pm.

(snip)

Several vendors insisted that a homeless man known only as Bullet, who was helping Horton sell his T-shirts Saturday evening, was the very first to notify cops.

Asked Sunday if he was a hero, Bullet said, "It was all of us."


(end snip)

i don't see him as the type who will "write a book" about his experience, but i'd be very, very happy if some anonymous donor gave him a bunch of money.
he isn't seeking fame, i like that.

Staying alert to anything unusual and saying something to appropiate personel. Whether it's heroic or not can turn heroic in some fashion.