DanDavis
08-02-2003, 03:50 PM
From MMAWeekly.com:
Sad news for fight fans across the world. Kickboxing Champion Alex Gong is dead after being shot in San Francisco. In a bizarre incident, Gong was shot and killed on Friday night. Gong had recently returned from Las Vegas as he had been helping Chuck Liddell train for his upcoming fight against Alistar Overeem.
Liddell told MMAWeekly last night "It's a shock. I just talked to him yesterday on the phone. It's hard to believe he's gone. He's a really nice guy. It's hard to believe. I was just in Las Vegas with him a week ago training. "
Investigators say there was a minor traffic accident as Gong's car was hit by a driver as the driver started to speed away. Alex apparently chased the suspect's car. Witnesses say that Gong confronted the suspect at 5th and Clara in San Francisco.
"It appears that it was a traffic accident dispute," said Maria Oropeza of the San Francisco Police Department. "The victim chased the suspect, and upon contact, the suspect shot the victim." A witness named Jason said, "He tried to confront the guy. We heard one pop, and he fell to the ground."
MMA fighter Duane "Bang" Ludwig fought Alex Gong for the World Muay Thai ISKA title on ESPN a couple of years back and Bang told MMAWeekly "He helped get muay thai bigger in the United States. He spent a lot of time promoting the sport, so it's a great loss to the sport." Alex Gong, a kickboxing champion, dead at the age of 30. MMAWeekly sends it's best to the family of Alex Gong.
HAPKO3
08-02-2003, 04:04 PM
We live in a shitty world.
------------------------
I remain, Hapko3
Phoenix
08-02-2003, 05:25 PM
Why the hell did that have to happen, anyway?
Over a fucking traffic dispute.....Jesus...is nothing sacred?
"You can't cast aspersions on someone because they're wearing a cape. Superman wore a cape, and I'll be damned if I'll let you say something bad about him." - Jerry Seinfeld
PizDoff
08-02-2003, 05:41 PM
some people are so screwed up
--
Hard work, Patience, Dedication.
"I ate a cow once and she fell in love with me." Posted by WTDude August 01 2003.
Omega the Merciless
08-03-2003, 01:17 PM
OMG, you're fucking me...
This better not be a hoax Dan...
Now I'm depressed.
Official WTDude Badass Evil Genius
Omega the Merciless
08-03-2003, 08:34 PM
Alex "F-14" Gong Shot Dead
Aug 2, 2003
San Francisco, CA
SFGate.com reports that Alex "F-14" Gong was shot to death in the middle of a busy San Francisco street Friday after he chased down a hit-and-run driver who had slammed into his parked car minutes earlier.
Alex Gong, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene on Fifth Street near Harrison Street. Witnesses said he was shot at point-blank range when he confronted the driver, who apparently waited for a traffic signal to turn green before opening fire and speeding away.
Alex Gong was the president of the USA branch of Fairtex, a muay-thai training facility.
Official WTDude Badass Evil Genius
Stold3
08-03-2003, 08:41 PM
I don't think punching out the guys window was the smartest move, but...I have to wonder what I would have done in the situation. I probably wouldn't have chased the guy down.
Jeep hit-run probe ends in death
Police say suspect in kickbox champ's slaying killed himself
Matthew B. Stannard and Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writers Tuesday, August 5, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A fugitive parolee who admitted to his girlfriend that he had shot a champion kickboxer to death killed himself Monday in a South San Francisco motel room after a 12-hour standoff with police, authorities said.
The man, whom sources identified as Rodger Wayne Chastain, 23, shot himself around noon after telling his girlfriend he wouldn't be taken alive, then spurning police efforts to talk to him in his room at a Travelodge next to the Bayshore Freeway, police said.
Police said Chastain had past convictions for stealing cars and gun possession and had failed to show up for required visits to his parole officer for the past year. Any contact with police would have resulted in his being returned to state prison for violating parole, authorities said.
Investigators said that might have been the motivation behind Friday's slaying of Alex Gong, 32, a champion Muay Thai-style kickboxer who was shot after chasing down a Jeep Cherokee that had hit his parked car in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood and confronting the driver.
"He knew that if this guy made him stop, the cops were going to check him, and he was going to go back to jail," said San Francisco homicide Inspector Michael Johnson. "He wasn't going to go back to jail. Whether he had to kill somebody else or kill himself, he wasn't going to go back to jail."
The Jeep, which police said was stolen and bore stolen plates, was recovered late Friday in Millbrae.
POLICE INFORMANTS QUESTIONED
Johnson said police had begun looking for Chastain on Saturday after questions to police informants led them to a woman with a grudge against him. She gave police Chastain's name, authorities said.
San Francisco police spread the word, and a tip brought South San Francisco officers to the Travelodge on South Airport Boulevard early Monday.
Police cleared guests out of surrounding rooms and brought in tactical and negotiating teams to speak with Chastain and a woman in the room with him.
Many of those guests, some still wearing their pajamas, spent the morning waiting to return to their cars and clothes.
"We didn't know if it was a terrorist or what," said 65-year-old Roxanne Vergers of Covina (Los Angeles County). "We just opened our drapes, and it was like reality TV."
Chastain's companion, who police said appeared to have been trying to talk him into giving himself up, surrendered at about 6:30 a.m. and spoke with Johnson and Inspector Maureen d'Amico.
The woman said she had been dating Chastain for about a year, police said. She described him as somewhat mysterious -- she didn't know his real last name -- and said he claimed to have shot a police officer in Texas, something police were checking Monday evening.
The girlfriend told police that on Friday afternoon, Chastain had gone to San Francisco to pick her up and parked on Clementina Street, an alley off Fifth Street in the South of Market area.
As he parked, Chastain accidentally struck Gong's car, also a Jeep Cherokee, the girlfriend said. Rather than wait for the possible arrival of police, she said, he took off.
Gong saw what had happened from the training gym he ran at 444 Clementina St. and gave chase on foot, still wearing yellow boxing gloves and boxing trunks.
Based on police conversations with Chastain's girlfriend, Johnson said, investigators believe that when Gong caught up with the Jeep, Chastain told him he couldn't stop.
"He told the victim, 'I can't stop, I'm wanted by the police, I can't stop and deal with this, I'm sorry, but I gotta go,' " Johnson said.
Gong began striking the car, smashing a window and a turn signal and tried to reach in to turn off the vehicle, Johnson said. At that point, authorities believe, Chastain shot him.
PAROLEE'S GIRLFRIEND'S PLEAS
In the hotel room Monday, as police and the girlfriend tried to encourage him to give up, Chastain made it clear he would not surrender, Johnson said.
"He told her, 'I'm not going to be taken alive,' " Johnson said. "He said, 'I'm not going back to jail.' He knew the game was up."
Police had no further communication with Chastain after the woman left. As the morning wore on, officers used a flash-bang noisemaking grenade to try to get his attention and telephoned his room several times.
Police also used a camera to try to peer beyond a mattress that Chastain apparently had propped in front of his room's window. Officers were unable to see anything useful.
At about 12:23 p.m., tactical officers heard a single gunshot, said South San Francisco police Sgt. Mike Brosnan. Officers soon found Chastain's body next door to the room where he had been staying, Brosnan said.
He said Chastain apparently had broken a hole in the wall and crawled into the adjoining room, presumably in an escape attempt. Police theorize that when he saw no way out, Chastain hid under a mattress and shot himself in the head with a revolver.
Investigators plan to conduct ballistics tests to see whether the weapon Chastain used on himself is the same one used to kill Gong.
Several of Gong's fellow martial arts aficionados drove to the Travelodge to watch the drama unfold. Afterward, Roman Fan, who studies Muay Thai in the East Bay, said the suspect's death brought little comfort.
"I kind of wish he didn't die so we could know if he really did it," Fan said. "I believe in an eye for an eye, but nothing can bring (Gong) back."
Gong's girlfriend, Mai Tran, also said it was more frustrating than comforting to hear that Chastain was dead.
"I'm not easy with the fact that he killed himself," she said, "because I feel there was more to this case than just an accident."
San Francisco's acting Police Chief Alex Fagan said there would be a lot of unanswered questions about the case.
"Here we have a parolee, who stole a Jeep, stole some plates and killed an innocent man," Fagan said. "I wish for the victim's family we could have answers to some of these questions. I feel we owe it to them."
E-mail the writers tschevitz@sfchronicle.com and mstannard@sfchronicle.com.
Fender-bender hit-run turns fatal in S.F.
Kickbox champ chases down driver, winds up shot to death
Jaxon Van Derbeken and Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writers Saturday, August 2, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A world champion Thai-style kickboxer was shot to death in the middle of a busy San Francisco street Friday after he chased down a hit-and-run driver who had slammed into his parked car minutes earlier.
Alex Gong, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene on Fifth Street near Harrison Street. Witnesses said he was shot at point-blank range when he confronted the driver, who apparently waited for a traffic signal to turn green before opening fire and speeding away.
Gong, who had been working out at the South of Market training gym he runs at 444 Clementina St., was wearing yellow boxing gloves and boxing trunks when he was killed.
Police had not released a description of the gunman or his vehicle Friday night. But witnesses described him as a Caucasian between 155 and 165 pounds who was driving a green Jeep Cherokee.
The slaying came one day after San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and other officials announced the start of a campaign to crack down on hit-and-run driving.
The 4:30 p.m. incident began outside Gong's Fairtex gym when his car, also a Jeep Cherokee, was hit by a passing car. Enraged, Gong gave chase on foot, going a block east on Clementina, then a block and a half south on Fifth Street. At that point, Gong confronted the driver, who had been forced to stop as traffic backed up near the Bay Bridge on-ramp.
''The victim put his arm out to stop the driver, the driver pushed him back and then shot him -- point blank," said Marilyn Moore, a witness who was riding in a car on Fifth Street.
'I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE IT'
"The victim grabbed himself and fell backward," she said. "The driver backed up, put the car in drive and drove off. He turned right on Harrison.
"I just couldn't believe it, I've never seen nothing like that in my life," Moore said.
Brian Lam, 26, an instructor at Fairtex, said members of the gym saw the initial fender-bender through an open garage door. Gong, who was inside training, took off barefoot after the man, said Lam, who grabbed a camera and followed.
"As I was running up, I see Alex arguing with the guy," Lam said. "The light turned green, the guy popped him. He definitely waited for the light to turn green."
Lam said he tried to take a picture of the fleeing Cherokee, but was in a rush to help his mortally wounded friend. "I just yelled for people to help," he said.
A motorcycle officer on the way to the Hall of Justice nearby stopped, and he and Lam both attempted to resuscitate Gong.
"Last year, Alex paid for my CPR certification," Lam said. "I was giving him mouth-to-mouth, the officer was giving him chest compressions."
Lam said a single bullet struck Gong just above the heart.
"I thought he was dead maybe 10 seconds after he was shot," Lam said.
S.F. RESIDENT
Gong, a resident of San Francisco, was born and raised in New England, and lived for a time in Central Asia before returning to the East Coast. He later moved to California and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in business.
Long interested in judo and tae kwon do, Gong discovered Muay Thai, a form of kickboxing and the national sport of Thailand, in 1994. He once said in an interview that he was drawn to the sport by the fluid movement and careful balance it requires.
He had a natural affinity for the sport and racked up an impressive array of championships in the middleweight and welterweight classes. He appeared regularly on HBO and ESPN and headlined fights at the MGM Grand and the Mirage in Las Vegas. He was a dedicated competitor who trained tirelessly, often waking at dawn to run five miles and perform scores of sit-ups, push-ups and other exercises before going to work.
Gong worked equally hard as a businessman who introduced Muay Thai to California when in 1996 he opened a San Francisco branch of Fairtex Combat Sports Camp -- founded in Bangkok in 1976. It wasn't long before the firm employed 20 instructors and included more than 600 students. It is, according to the company's Web site, the nation's top Muay Thai training facility and the only one recognized by the World Muay Thai Council, which is under the authority of the Thai government.
'AN AMAZING GUY'
Under Gong's leadership, Fairtex opened another facility in Daly City in 2000.
As Gong's body lay in the middle of Fifth Street, wrapped in a yellow tarp, and police interviewed witnesses, students gathered at Fairtex. They were stunned and spoke with admiration for Gong.
Lam said Gong was a mentor and a leader.
"Alex was an amazing guy," Lam said. "He was the owner, but he was kind of like a big brother. It was a family environment.
"He was a fighter to the end. He was arguing with this guy to get him to pull over -- all he had to do was get his plate, but he had to get into it with him," Lam said.
Freddy
08-17-2003, 03:55 PM
The truth of the matter is there are times where you have to fight and other times you just shouldnt.
"Do what thou wilt is the whole of the Law"
Anton LaVey made me say it!
Yeah, several times various threads have gone all over the use of violence. The first paste I made here in this thread answers the issue that was not got to before; Alex it seems, DID get violent. He did smash a window, a turn light, and reached into the guy's car. The guy was a criminal, the guy is now dead (that was the second thing that is new in the post I made), but so is one of the best mas in the country. What a worthless way to go.
I can't say that I would resond different. Like at the Dead concert in Tampa a guy lit up a ciggie by me twice. Once I pointed him out to the usher and the second time I didn't even think, I just snapped it out of his mouth and broke it and threw it to his feet. Maybe not smart.
"Based on police conversations with Chastain's girlfriend, Johnson said, investigators believe that when Gong caught up with the Jeep, Chastain told him he couldn't stop.
"He told the victim, 'I can't stop, I'm wanted by the police, I can't stop and deal with this, I'm sorry, but I gotta go,' " Johnson said.
Gong began striking the car, smashing a window and a turn signal and tried to reach in to turn off the vehicle, Johnson said. At that point, authorities believe, Chastain shot him."
