Leatherface Almost Shot By Drunk, Off-Duty Police Officer
October 27, 2009 by Morbid
ESSEX, Maryland – An off-duty Baltimore police officer, Eric Michael Janik, 36, was taking his 9-year-old daughter through the haunted house attraction, The House of Screams, along with another police officer, Lisa Michelle Hinkley. When they reached the end of tour, they ran into Michael Brian Morrison, 32. An employee of the attraction who gives the paying customers one final scream dressed as Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw MassacreThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre reviews
films. After his act of cutting a girl in two, he chases after people with an unchained chainsaw as they exit the attraction. But when he approached Janik and his daughter, Janik pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Morrison’s chest. Morrison dropped the chainsaw and held up his hands. Janik then holstered the gun, stated “it’s alright, I’m a cop,“ and attempted to shake Morrison’s hand. Another employee called police.
Responding officers found Janik in his car in the parking lot.When he rolled down his window, the responding officer noted “a strong odor of alcohol” and slurred speech. Him and his Hinkley identified themselves as police officers and showed their badges. Janik also denied ever brandishing his firearm in the attraction. When presented with witness statements including a tour guide and another worker, Janik changed his original statement and said that he did brandish his firearm, but pointed it at the ground. He told the officer that Morrison “did not stop advancing toward him,” and that while he knew it was part of the show, he pulled his gun “to stop him.”
The reason why Morrison went after Janik and not the kids like he usually does? Because the girl was already upset and crying. The owner of the haunted house, Tony Sapanero, said that a security guard was already following Janik as they seemed drunk when they arrived. He states that Janik and Hinkley were rowdy throughout the attraction, including Janik holding his screaming daughter close to the characters.
Janik was charged with first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He was released on $25,000 bail and suspended by the Baltimore Police Department. As for Morrison, he says fuck it, he’s going to continue what he does and will be back in costume on Wednesday. “I’ll probably be a bit more leery,” he said.
Speaking of drunk assholes, did you know that Leatherface is my all-time favorite character from a horror film? I disregard all the sequels and the remakes. Just the Leatherface from the first film. Aside from owning multiple copies of TCM in VHS, DVD and BluBlu
-RayRay reviews formats, I also collect Leatherface and TCM memorabilia. A couple of my favorites are:
Mezco Plush Leatherface and 18-inch McFarlane Leatherface
And of course, my two of three houses from the TCM movie. The home not pictured is the Franklin home. These pictures do not do them justice.
The Sawyer Family Home Decked Out For Halloween
The Sawyer Gas Station
You may be asking why the hell am I posting my Texas Chainsaw Massacre Fanboy Badge in this story, and my only answer to that is simply because I can – and I usually do whenever I find the opportunity. 
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10:44 am on October 27th, 2009
Poor girl will probably hate Halloween now. Her drunken dad takes her to a haunted house, shoving her into the face of the scary creatures as she screams and cries, pulls a gun on the last character and gets hauled off to jail. Happy fucking Halloween.
11:15 am on October 27th, 2009
Naw… kids are resilient. If I hated every holiday my dad got drunk, outta pocket and potentially violent, I’d be a Jehovah’s Witness by now.
She’ll LOVE to tell that story when she hits the inevitable “my family is more dysfunctional than yours,” phase that comes in the early teens. It’ll be hard to trump.
Seriously, though… for a cop, this is a fairly minor err in judgment. Hopefully this situation helps this guy recognize that he needs some help (or retraining or something).
11:25 am on October 27th, 2009
Pointing a loaded handgun at a haunted house employee dressed as Leatherface is far from a minor err in judgment – cop or not. This guy doesn’t need retraining, he needs to quit drinking and get another profession.
11:25 am on October 27th, 2009
Makes you wonder just how worthless physcobabalist and their physcobabalist test are when you see the kind of disorders police departments hire, Cops are a sample of the general population, with every deviant conceivable behavior
And they allow these same physcobabalist in court giving opinions that get murders, rapist and child molesters off the hook, just ridiculous.
I don’t think the physcobabalist even eliminate those that walk in jump up and down screaming “I want to Kill, to see blood guts and gore in my teeth” it’s more like “Son we want you” Alice’s restaurant recruitment office as best as I can remember.
11:32 am on October 27th, 2009
HUH?
11:49 am on October 27th, 2009
morbid – i LOVE those pieces of your collection. leatherface = win.
i do have a confession though – i kinda LOVE the second TCM as well. i mean, the original is obviously a work of superior horror art to all others in the franchise, but you gotta love bill mosely’s character in TCM2 – heating up a coat hanger to scratch the hair and flesh from atop the metal plate in his head as an on-the-go snack. it’s so delightfully fucked up.
GO CHOP TOP!!!
12:08 pm on October 27th, 2009
I disagree.
LEO’s are taught to only draw their weapon with the intent to use it; IOW, if there is an actual life threatening situation to themselves or others.
Brandishing a weapon without clear intent of danger is a violation taken very seriously by most LE agencies, and is often punishable by termination and fines, and in some cases prosecution.
I’ve held a CWL for nearly two decades, and I have never even considered brandishing to joke around or intimidate.
Legally carrying a firearm is a tremendous responsibility, and IMO, there is no room for those who think they’re “cool” for playing around in this manner because they’re a cop, or have a license/permit to carry.
12:30 pm on October 27th, 2009
In theory. In reality, I’m quite surprised that they actually suspended this guy.
I’m not trying to say that this is no big deal. I phrased it poorly. Obviously, this was wildly reckless. But in LE circles, this is minor misconduct. He’s been suspended – with pay, in all likelihood – and will return to the force in short order. What I was trying to convey is that I can only hope this situation causes HIM to look to correct this behavior, because the odds of the department correcting it for him through mandatory therapy or training is slim.
Yes, in a perfect world, this guy will be fired or harshly reprimanded. But this world is far from perfect. In my opinion, it’s often strong police unions and inconsistent discipline that give some cops the impression that they can behave like this in the first place.
1:03 pm on October 27th, 2009
That, I agree with.
1:04 pm on October 27th, 2009
He knew it was part of the show, but still choose to possibly put someone’s life in danger. That screams very dangerous to me. Why in the hell would you carry your weapon to a haunted house anyway? Especially while drinking, seems a little egotistical to me.
1:06 pm on October 27th, 2009
This one just cracked me up! Maybe because, in my minds eye – I could SEE that happening
Although, for me – that phase came later in life (like my 20’s) In my circle of teeny bopper friends, I usually won without saying a word because my step-dad was a cop. They figured my life was just plain miserable regardless…lol. Honestly, it was only tough when (on the rare occasion I came home directly after partying and he was still up) I was trying to hide my bloodshot eyes, the smell of booze or the mega munchies I was sportin’. LMAO. Thank GOD he never did anything this stupid or reckless!
6:42 pm on October 27th, 2009
years ago i bartended in a county dance club. you would be shocked and awed by the amount of off duty cops that would come in, gun and all, and get wasted. i’m supprised we don’t see more of this honestly.
6:45 pm on October 27th, 2009
THEHEHEHE…you can do anything you want at Alice’s restaurant.
6:49 pm on October 27th, 2009
for Morbid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo
9:02 am on October 28th, 2009
I predict his wake up call will come if/when he tries to rise in ranks, or get into the State and Federal levels of law enforcement, which have zero tolerance for this type of behavior.
You’ve nailed a railroad spike head with the sledgehammer there, ma’am
8:41 am on October 30th, 2009
I’m going out on a limb here, but I think after a IA investigation and many disciplinary hearings, this cop will be fired. Brandishing a firearm while drunk in a crowded haunted house with children is serious and with the story out there, there will be scutiny. Hope I am right. I have no axe to grind, but I don’t think this situation will be swept under the carpet. Puts a bad stain on the department. We shall see.
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