Santa Ana Winds Cause
Ion-Blaster Shooting Spree
TOPANGA CANYON — The seasonal Santa Ana
winds had been blowing steadily, and without incident, through this
sleepy canyon for most of November. But all that changed one afternoon
last week.
According to reports by neighbors, a 42-year-old
man who lived in a cabin with his two sons, became suddenly unnerved,
grabbed his child's Toy Story "ion-blaster" and went on
a shooting spree at the Topenga post office.
No one was injured, but the man, Flavius Bermingham,
was taken into custody at the Topenga jail before being shipped
off to an undisclosed psychiatric treatment center in Woodland Hills.
"He came in, shooting from
the hip. We all ducked behind counters and two of the postal staff
jumped straight into mail bins."
— Jonas Chotzen, witness / resident
Topanga residents recalled that Bermingham frequently
complained about the "evil influences" of the Santa Ana
winds, which possess a greater number of positive-charged ions and
are blamed for sudden rises in traffic accidents, public rioting,
generalized depression, suicide, murder and poor decision-making
in Hollywood.
The phenomenon of such "witches' winds"
like the Santa Anas is echoed by winds in other parts of the world:
the Chinook, of Western Canada; the Foehn, in Switzerland; the Sharav,
in the Middle East; the Mistral, of France and the Italian Sirocco
winds.
Jonas Chotzen was at the post office when Bermingham
went on his shooting spree. "He came in, shooting from the
hip. We all ducked behind counters and two of the postal staff jumped
straight into mail bins. 'Flave' was making these weird popping
noises with his mouth, but we all figured it was coming from a real
gun. Besides, no one's going to take a chance in being wrong. But
when he came near me, I knew I had no choice but to tackle him.
It all happened so fast."
Two years earlier, also during the Santa Ana winds,
Bermingham was arrested after he ran naked down the full length
of the Topanga Canyon Road and took a skinny dip in the Pacific
Ocean. At the time, he was fined for indecent exposure, treated
for sunburn and forced to wear natural fibers and keep an aquarium
in his home—two methods used to foster negative-ion charged
environments.
There was no word yet about when, or if, Bermingham
would return home.
But at a Topanga community meeting, there was
renewed discussion over a former town council proposal in which
a giant, negative-ion machine would be built at the top end of the
canyon. The machine would counteract the effects of Santa Ana winds
entering the canyon each year and wreaking havoc in one form or
another.
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