Gulf oil spill: Boat captain, despondent over spill, commits suicide

[RamboLiberal]

Source: LA Times

William Allen Kruse, 55, a charter boat captain recently hired by BP as a vessel of opportunity out of Gulf Shores, Ala., died Wednesday morning before 7:30 a.m. of a gunshot to the head, likely self-inflicted, authorities said.

"He had been quite despondent about the oil crisis," said Stan Vinson, coroner for Baldwin County, which includes Gulf Shores.

Kruse, who lived with his family in nearby Foley, Ala., reported to work Wednesday morning as usual at the Gulf Shores Marina on Fort Morgan Road in Gulf Shores, Vinson said. He met up with his two deckhands at his boat, The Rookie. One of the deckhands later told Vinson that Kruse seemed his usual self, sending them to fetch ice while he pulled the boat around to the gas pumps.

As the deckhands walked off to get ice, they heard what sounded like a firecracker, Vinson said. They turned around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. So they proceeded to gather the ice and wait for Kruse at the pumps. "He never showed," Vinson said.


Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/06/gulf-oil-spill-boat-captain-despondent-over-spill-commits-suicide.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Sad.....very sad

[dhill926]

2. how many more......

they're losing their livelihood and way of life.........

[Jefferson23]

3. ""All the waters are closed. There's no charter business anymore."

Tragic, the poor man, RIP.

[Voice for Peace]

4. rest in peace. I can not fathom the despair for those up close to this.

Even from a distance it is too painful to think about. How much more so for those living there.

[Uncle Joe]

5. What a tragedy and I'm afraid he won't be the last.

:(

Thanks for the thread, RamboLiberal.

[Jacobin]

6. RIP

[Mimosa]

7. My heart goes out to him and his family

I imagine the agony was unbearable.

[Oregone]

8. Is this on of the two deaths BP ambiguously announced today?

[Mika]

9. THIS IS MURDER COMMITTED BY RAPACIOUS CAPITALISM!

Goddamnit! Let's call it what it is!

I want Mr Obama to clear the Bush/Cheney moles out of our government.

I want BP taken down (in some fashion that directs their US div profit towards the US rebuilding of the utter destruction by corporations).

:mad:

I am so sorry for this man's family and friends. :cry:

This is murder!

---

[truthisfreedom]

11. There's blood on all of our hands. This is yet another oil disaster... Iraq, the first gulf war...

Ultimately Afghanistan is about oil as well. 9-11 was essentially about oil. How many lives?

[donheld]

10. Sadly, I suspect there will be more.