UPDATE Monday, May 2, 12:01pm | The capture and subsequent killing of the Taliban’s highest-ranking official, Osama bin Laden, announced Sunday night by the president hits particularly close to home considering the half dozen locals who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The attacks claimed the lives of area residents Dorothy de Aurajo, 80, of Naples; John Hofer, 45, of Bellflower; Christopher Larrabee, 26, of Long Beach; Maclovio “Joe” Lopez, 41, of Norwalk; Christopher Newton, 39, of Long Beach; and Mary Pappalardo, 53, of Paramount.
Bin Laden’s demise also resonates locally relative to the various Long Beach area soldiers who have lost their lives in fighting in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past nine years.
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Sunday, May 1, 9:15pm | As news of Osama bin Laden’s death spread throughout the Southland, some Long Beach residents took to the streets and shot off illegal fireworks in what appeared to be isolated celebratory incidents.
The small fireworks could be heard and seen briefly lighting up the night sky over the Long Beach neighborhoods of California Heights and Bluff Heights at about 9 p.m. Sunday. The illegal fireworks appeared to be the handiwork of residents rejoicing in this latest major development in the War on Terror.
Bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, was captured and killed Sunday night at a mansion compound in Pakistan just outside of Islamabad by a select group of U.S. Navy Seals who arrived in two helicopters. His death comes nearly 10 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which he masterminded, that claimed more than 2,500 American lives on U.S. soil.
President Barack Obama gave a live televised address just after 8 p.m. to inform the American public, though prior to Obama’s announcement, a number of Washington insiders had leaked the info, which spread like wildfire on Twitter and Facebook.
Police helicopters can currently be heard sweeping over various areas of the city of Long Beach, including Bluff Heights, in what appears to be the Long Beach Police Department’s attempt to monitor any potential incidents stemming from residents’ impromptu celebrations.
There has been some talk via Twitter amongst Beachers of an impromptu rally at Long Beach City Hall tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. celebrating bin Laden’s death, though whether such an event will come to fruition is not known.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the location of the mansion just outside of Islamabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden had reportedly been residing.