A California mechanic said Thursday, Feb. 18, he knew Joe Stack for four years and has a difficult believing what transpired in Austin, Texas earlier in the day.
Dave Page, a mechanic at Lincoln Airport in in Placer County, Calif., worked on Stack's plane ten years ago and became friends with the software engineer. After Stack moved to Texas, Page said they only spoke occasionally.
Stack was identified as the pilot of the Piper Cherokee PA-28 that crashed into the Echelon office complex where the IRS has an office,Thursday. To Page, the incident was not something his friend was capable of pulling off, or even planing.
"I'm shocked," Page said. "It's unbelievable. That's not the Joe Stack I knew."
Page said Stack would commute to and from Palo Alto, Calf., by plane. He said he last heard from him about five years ago.
"Maybe one e-mail back in 2005 just to say, 'hi' and 'how are you doing?" Park recalled.
While Park remembers his friend well, managers at his former Lincoln, Calif. apartment don't recall interacting with Stack, although records show he was a resident at Auburn Creek Apartments.
There was one person, Polly Rowan, who saw Stack almost daily at the mail and shipping store she owned.
"He seemed normal," Rowan said. "He didn't seem any different than anybody else."
Rowan, who owned the business from 1997 to 2005, did say Stack often talked about moving to Texas. She said Stack was in favor of several elements of how the Texas government operated. He was especially interested in the state's decision to not impose income taxes.
Authorities believe Joe Stack flew the Piper into the Echelon complex because it houses an IRS office and that Stack harbored anger for the American tax system.
Thursday, a seven-page manifesto, written by Stack before the crash, explained how he felt victimized by the American government. Stack was killed in the crash. Thirteen people were injured.
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