4 ms·

Zillow, ex-MS, Pure Networks, Cisco hacker killed by random bullet in Seattle

95 points by rubyrescue 14y ago

rubyrescue 14y ago
I'm submitting this in honor of my friend, Justin Ferrari. He was a fellow hacker at Viair (now Good Technology). He worked at Microsoft with the Outlook Express team, among other things, helped start Pure Networks (acquired by Cisco). He was a really amazing guy. He was killed while driving w/his father and children through South Seattle by a random bullet thought to have come from two kids who were arguing on the side of the road. I submit this as a small way of reminding the community that life is short, and as a small and insignificant way of honoring a great man.
- mratzloff 14y ago
  I read this in the Seattle Times yesterday and it really made me angry. They keep cutting the police budget and crime only increases... then things like this happen. There have been a lot of random shootings this year. Maybe we need to train these thugs to shoot better, so they kill each other instead of innocent people who are driving with their kids in the backseat. And of course, no one in the area knows anything...
  - Fivesheep 14y ago
    It almost happened to my coworker last year about the same time and it's also in the central area of Seattle. When he was walking along a street, there were two cars driving by. a guy in one of the car took out a gun, and shot at the other car. It's like 10 feet away from my friend. he's so scared, and he's lucky didn't get shot.
Tycho 14y ago
That's really awful. How hard is it to get a car with bullet proof windows?
- sp332 14y ago
  It really depends what kind of bullets you want to stop. Edit: alright, I admit I don't know what I'm talking about :)
  - bradleyland 14y ago
    Not only is this the inappropriate time, but you're pulling answers out of the air. You have no idea what you're talking about. This whole discussion is patently absurd. A man was just murdered in his car while driving down a public road. This is not a concern any of us should have to deal with, but devastatingly, it is a statistical anomaly that has impacted his family's life. Should we get in to the statistical probabilities as well? Should we dig in to the physics involved? How about we honor his death by simply acknowledging that of all the crazy aspects of this event, the most important is the loss that everyone involved is suffering and leave it at that.
    - sp332 14y ago
      A man was just murdered in his car while driving down a public road. This is not a concern any of us should have to deal with, but devastatingly, it is a statistical anomaly that has impacted his family's life. Should we get in to the statistical probabilities as well? Should we dig in to the physics involved? Why not? The article did. Your emotional response is completely valid, but don't demand that everyone feel the same way that you do. Worrying about one's own safety is also a completely normal and human response to hearing this kind of news. How about we honor his death by simply acknowledging that of all the crazy aspects of this event, the most important is the loss that everyone involved is suffering and leave it at that. I don't think "simply acknowledging" anything is a very helpful response, but if you feel that way, go ahead.
      - bradleyland 14y ago
        I'm happy to lose karma fighting this fight. It's something that appears lost on the internet, and especially amongst hackers. This is, in effect, standing over his body pondering whether bullet proof glass would have helped. Does it matter? Where is your empathy? Where's your perspective? I don't demand you feel any way, but I will always demand respect for other people, and this entire discussion is distasteful and disrespectful to those suffering loss. It's fine to wonder about your own security, but have some sense of context. Go do some research and find out what the real best way to protect yourself from events like this is. Go write an article about it and post it to HN. Those are all constructive things to do, but have some respect for the loss here and compartmentalize the discussion a bit.
sblom 14y ago
I worked at Expedia while he was there. He and I didn't work directly together. Despite that he and I are only very loosely connected through 6 months as coworkers more than 10 years ago, it somehow feels like I just narrowly dodged a bullet. I'm really saddened to hear about this. RIP Justin. And best regards to your survivors.
bugmenot 14y ago
What a waste. BTW, he was not killed by a bullet. He was killed by the person that shot a bullet.
mindstab 14y ago
And this is why other nations have gun control laws. I think the rest of us are continually scratching our heads at the proliferation of unregulated guns in the US when they fairly clearly cause so many obvious problems. The article skirts the issue just saying the city had noticed an increase in gun violence and was "galvanized" but then back away and later just talked about police budgets. Most of the rest of the world honestly finds this aspect of the US quite baffling.
- apr 14y ago
  The guy who was behind the trigger probably laughs at you and your gun control laws. In fact any laws.
  - cluda01 14y ago
    If nobody had guns from whom would the outlaw purchase(or steal) them from?
    - apr 14y ago
      From whom they get guns in the UK? Demand will create supply. Drugs are banned, does it mean they are unobtainable?
    - anamax 14y ago
      > If nobody had guns from whom would the outlaw purchase(or steal) them from? Nobody? Not police? Not govt? How about folks who know how to use machine tools? (Guns are surprisingly low-tech.)
      - apr 14y ago
        Yep, people who are rooting for gun ban fail to realize that M1911 was designed and developed 100 years ago and it basically remains as modern as the rest of the modern handguns are. Sure there have been some improvements in manufacturing technology and material science since then that make it possible to manufacture a gun like that in any decent machine shop.
laconian 14y ago
RIP. :( I didn't know the guy but heard about him on the news. What a tragedy.

95 points by rubyrescue 14y ago

I'm submitting this in honor of my friend, Justin Ferrari. He was a fellow hacker at Viair (now Good Technology). He worked at Microsoft with the Outlook Express team, among other things, helped start Pure Networks (acquired by Cisco). He was a really amazing guy. He was killed while driving w/his father and children through South Seattle by a random bullet thought to have come from two kids who were arguing on the side of the road. I submit this as a small way of reminding the community that life is short, and as a small and insignificant way of honoring a great man.

mratzloff 14y ago
I read this in the Seattle Times yesterday and it really made me angry. They keep cutting the police budget and crime only increases... then things like this happen. There have been a lot of random shootings this year. Maybe we need to train these thugs to shoot better, so they kill each other instead of innocent people who are driving with their kids in the backseat. And of course, no one in the area knows anything...
- Fivesheep 14y ago
  It almost happened to my coworker last year about the same time and it's also in the central area of Seattle. When he was walking along a street, there were two cars driving by. a guy in one of the car took out a gun, and shot at the other car. It's like 10 feet away from my friend. he's so scared, and he's lucky didn't get shot.

Tycho 14y ago

That's really awful. How hard is it to get a car with bullet proof windows?

sp332 14y ago
It really depends what kind of bullets you want to stop. Edit: alright, I admit I don't know what I'm talking about :)
- bradleyland 14y ago
  Not only is this the inappropriate time, but you're pulling answers out of the air. You have no idea what you're talking about. This whole discussion is patently absurd. A man was just murdered in his car while driving down a public road. This is not a concern any of us should have to deal with, but devastatingly, it is a statistical anomaly that has impacted his family's life. Should we get in to the statistical probabilities as well? Should we dig in to the physics involved? How about we honor his death by simply acknowledging that of all the crazy aspects of this event, the most important is the loss that everyone involved is suffering and leave it at that.
  - sp332 14y ago
    A man was just murdered in his car while driving down a public road. This is not a concern any of us should have to deal with, but devastatingly, it is a statistical anomaly that has impacted his family's life. Should we get in to the statistical probabilities as well? Should we dig in to the physics involved? Why not? The article did. Your emotional response is completely valid, but don't demand that everyone feel the same way that you do. Worrying about one's own safety is also a completely normal and human response to hearing this kind of news. How about we honor his death by simply acknowledging that of all the crazy aspects of this event, the most important is the loss that everyone involved is suffering and leave it at that. I don't think "simply acknowledging" anything is a very helpful response, but if you feel that way, go ahead.
    - bradleyland 14y ago
      I'm happy to lose karma fighting this fight. It's something that appears lost on the internet, and especially amongst hackers. This is, in effect, standing over his body pondering whether bullet proof glass would have helped. Does it matter? Where is your empathy? Where's your perspective? I don't demand you feel any way, but I will always demand respect for other people, and this entire discussion is distasteful and disrespectful to those suffering loss. It's fine to wonder about your own security, but have some sense of context. Go do some research and find out what the real best way to protect yourself from events like this is. Go write an article about it and post it to HN. Those are all constructive things to do, but have some respect for the loss here and compartmentalize the discussion a bit.

sblom 14y ago

I worked at Expedia while he was there. He and I didn't work directly together. Despite that he and I are only very loosely connected through 6 months as coworkers more than 10 years ago, it somehow feels like I just narrowly dodged a bullet. I'm really saddened to hear about this. RIP Justin. And best regards to your survivors.

bugmenot 14y ago

What a waste. BTW, he was not killed by a bullet. He was killed by the person that shot a bullet.

mindstab 14y ago

And this is why other nations have gun control laws. I think the rest of us are continually scratching our heads at the proliferation of unregulated guns in the US when they fairly clearly cause so many obvious problems. The article skirts the issue just saying the city had noticed an increase in gun violence and was "galvanized" but then back away and later just talked about police budgets. Most of the rest of the world honestly finds this aspect of the US quite baffling.

apr 14y ago
The guy who was behind the trigger probably laughs at you and your gun control laws. In fact any laws.
- cluda01 14y ago
  If nobody had guns from whom would the outlaw purchase(or steal) them from?
  - apr 14y ago
    From whom they get guns in the UK? Demand will create supply. Drugs are banned, does it mean they are unobtainable?
  - anamax 14y ago
    > If nobody had guns from whom would the outlaw purchase(or steal) them from? Nobody? Not police? Not govt? How about folks who know how to use machine tools? (Guns are surprisingly low-tech.)
    - apr 14y ago
      Yep, people who are rooting for gun ban fail to realize that M1911 was designed and developed 100 years ago and it basically remains as modern as the rest of the modern handguns are. Sure there have been some improvements in manufacturing technology and material science since then that make it possible to manufacture a gun like that in any decent machine shop.

laconian 14y ago

RIP. :( I didn't know the guy but heard about him on the news. What a tragedy.