TX - Gunman in Hijacked Mail Truck, multiple victims, Midland/Odessa, 31 August 2019

[MemPat]

You would be surprised at how many 'average'
people own assault weapons.
After a mass shooting a couple years back, in my
daily travels and discussing the most recent shooting, I came across 3 people who admitted
to having an AR-15 type rifle. THREE.
It sounded like they viewed this as having the
'latest' phone model or the 'with it' new game.
So there are uncountable # of these weapons
out there on the street, in cars and in closets.

I had a son-in-law with one AR-15. When talk started about banning them again he hurried up and bought a second one, even posed my little granddaughter with it on Facebook. I don't understand why anyone needs one and I sure don't understand why anyone needs two.....well, except for the ability to brag and appear to be a bad dude times two! S-i-l loved to pull them out to impress other men.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 3, 2019
Man killed in mass shooting left Vegas after 2017 massacre
Rudy Arco, 57, moved from Las Vegas to Odessa after the 2017 mass shooting there that killed 58 people and injured almost 700 others, his family told CNN.

Arco was one of seven killed during last Saturday's mass shooting.

Arco started a trucking company after moving to Odessa, working hard to build his business, his family told CNN.

He was driving home from work in his truck when he was shot.

[...]

The family left Cuba to escape communism, his wife, Bari Arco, told CNN.

"And now we are in America, the best country, the best everything, and we are not safe," Bari said. "Look what happened. He was coming from work, driving his truck, and that's it. He's gone."

[...]

 

[margarita25]

Officials with Emergence Health Network (EHN), are again preparing for local residents who may have been retraumatized by news and coverage of the mass shooting in Midland/Odessa.

EHN, operators of the Community Recovery Center specifically developed to address the mental health care needs of residents in the borderland region following the event on August 3, 2019, stand ready to help once again.

“Our EHN mental health professionals are uniquely qualified to provide care to those affected by traumatic experiences, so as we mark the month anniversary of this heartbreaking incident and hear news of the most recent shooting in Midland/Odessa we know many challenging emotions can resurface or individuals can experience relived trauma,” said Kristi Daugherty, Emergence Health Network, CEO.

“We also know there could be delayed trauma, so as the Local Mental Health Authority EHN is prepared for the long haul. We have the services and staff in place to help our community heal and the Community Recovery Center is an added resource.”

“Easy access to counseling is vital right now so services offered at the Community Recovery Center are free of charge and if an individual doesn’t want to make an appointment, he or she can just walk in. We also encourage our community to continue to utilize the Crisis Hotline where they can speak to one of our mental health professionals 24/7,” said Rene Hurtado, EHN Chief of Staff.

Community Recovery Center

8730 Boeing Drive, El Paso, TX

Monday – Friday

9am – 6 pm

To schedule an appointment call: 915-242-0555

EHN Crisis Hotline and Support

915-779-1800

Emergence’s Community Recovery Center Therapists prepare for retraumatized residents following Midland/Odessa Shooting - El Paso Herald-Post

There are a lot of PTSD victims out there from various shootings, I imagine.

I’m recalling two suicides recently from 2 people who were at one of the school shootings, iirc.

Recently my friend’s son threatened to shoot up a school and was reported. Serious action was taken. Also recently, an employee got fired from a local establishment - fellow employees said LE was supposedly “staking out” the place in case he came back because he too threatened to shoot up the place. (I actually went out there and all-casually tried to see if could “spot” them—-either they weren’t really there or they really were covert! Then I went back in and thought to myself “man, we would all be sitting ducks in here” as I looked at the exit routes and layout. I haven’t let that stop me from going there, but I have found myself looking around that’s for sure. One of the employees actually said he’s glad he just loaned the guy some cash, that hopefully if he comes in and shoots he’ll remember how nice he was to loan him the cash so maybe he’ll spare him! Then I told him, “I’m gonna stand next to you!” )

On a regular basis it seems I go to the local news channels and some school is on some lockdown alert for some reason.

Students do drills. I’ll never forget, and I’ve posted it about it here before I think, the fear and trauma one of my students experienced when there was an evacuation. I asked him what was going through his head at the time, trying to help him work through the experience because he was really upset, and he said, “Just that my mom couldn’t get to me”. (LE had roped off the parking lot and wouldn’t let parents in. The kids were led by that parking lot area and that particularly image was troubling for this student.)

I’m recalling a really deep quote by a recent LE, I think it was in the El Paso shooting. Marking to grab it because it really talks about the effect on LE who responds to these shootings.

My point, a lot of PTSD going around, moo.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 3, 2019
Texas shooter got gun at private sale; denied in 2014 check
The gunman in a West Texas rampage that left seven dead obtained his AR-style rifle through a private sale, allowing him to evade a federal background check that blocked him from getting a gun in 2014 due to a “mental health issue,” a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

[...]

Ator had tried purchasing a firearm in January 2014 but was denied, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement Tuesday. The agency said it was precluded by law from disclosing why, but the law enforcement official told the AP it was due to a “mental health issue.”

[...]

The so-called “gun show” loophole means that Americans can buy a gun from an individual, get one bequeathed from a relative, obtain one through an online marketplace as well as from some dealers at gun shows — all without needing to go through a federal background check.

[...]

In 2018, more than 26 million background checks were conducted. Of those, fewer than 100,000 were denied with the vast majority of those rejected because the person was found to have a criminal past that made them ineligible. Far fewer just over 6,000 were because the person had been involuntarily committed.

[...]

Combs said Ator “showed up to work enraged” but did not point to any specific source of his anger. Ator’s home on the outskirts of Odessa was a corrugated metal shack along a dirt road surrounded by trailers, mobile homes and oil pump jacks. Combs described it as a “strange residence” that reflected “what his mental state was going into this.”

[...]

 

[margarita25]

Odessa gunman purchased weapon in private sale: report

Odessa gunman purchased weapon in private sale: report

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had earlier stated that Seth Ator had failed a background check for a previous gun purchase and did not undergo one for the weapon used in the shooting, while authorities had said he had been flagged as a “prohibited person” legally prohibited from owning or buying a firearm.

...

Wow! This is really interesting.

I’ve been meaning to look into how exactly the “flags” work and what they are based on. Perhaps this has been discussed, still catching up.

I wonder what it was that made him a “prohibited person” specifically, in other words.

I wonder how far apart the flag/prohibition/denial on the initial applications was from the acquisition of the current illegal weapon at hand. How long ago was he flagged, etc.

—

ETA:

SEP 3, 2019
Texas shooter got gun at private sale; denied in 2014 check
The gunman in a West Texas rampage that left seven dead obtained his AR-style rifle through a private sale, allowing him to evade a federal background check that blocked him from getting a gun in 2014 due to a “mental health issue,” a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

[...]

Ator had tried purchasing a firearm in January 2014 but was denied, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement Tuesday. The agency said it was precluded by law from disclosing why, but the law enforcement official told the AP it was due to a “mental health issue.”

[...]

The so-called “gun show” loophole means that Americans can buy a gun from an individual, get one bequeathed from a relative, obtain one through an online marketplace as well as from some dealers at gun shows — all without needing to go through a federal background check.

[...]

In 2018, more than 26 million background checks were conducted. Of those, fewer than 100,000 were denied with the vast majority of those rejected because the person was found to have a criminal past that made them ineligible. Far fewer just over 6,000 were because the person had been involuntarily committed.

[...]

Combs said Ator “showed up to work enraged” but did not point to any specific source of his anger. Ator’s home on the outskirts of Odessa was a corrugated metal shack along a dirt road surrounded by trailers, mobile homes and oil pump jacks. Combs described it as a “strange residence” that reflected “what his mental state was going into this.”

[...]

BBM from above:

“The gunman in a West Texas rampage that left seven dead obtained his AR-style rifle through a private sale...”


So, 2014 then. Mental health issue. Where do they get the data for the mental health issues, meaning who exactly submits that information, etc? How does that whole thing work I wonder. Google...

—-

Also from above article, BBM (thanks pommy):

“The so-called “gun show” loophole means that Americans can buy a gun from an individual, get one bequeathed from a relative, obtain one through an online marketplace as well as from some dealers at gun shows — all without needing to go through a federal background check.”

This is exactly what we were talking about today.

 

[Backstroke10]

Wow! This is really interesting.

I’ve been meaning to look into how exactly the “flags” work and what they are based on. Perhaps this has been discussed, still catching up.

I wonder what it was that made him a “prohibited person” specifically, in other words.

I wonder how far apart the flag and prohibition/denial on the initial applications bs the acquisition of the current illegal weapon at hand occurred.

ETA:



BBM:

“The gunman in a West Texas rampage that left seven dead obtained his AR-style rifle through a private sale...”


So, 2014 then. Mental health issue. Where do they get the data for the mental health issues, meaning who exactly submits that information, etc?

—-

Also from above article, BBM (thanks pommy):

“The so-called “gun show” loophole means that Americans can buy a gun from an individual, get one bequeathed from a relative, obtain one through an online marketplace as well as from some dealers at gun shows — all without needing to go through a federal background check.”

This is exactly what we were talking about today.

I would like to know all of this as well. So there were red flags/mental health issues that wouldn’t allow him to obtain a gun but he was able to obtain a CDL and get behind the wheel of an 80,000 lb tractor/trailer. That’s troubling. IMO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Arco whose friends and family called him Rudy, lived in Las Vegas for more than two decades. He had only moved to Odessa, Texas last year.

His loved ones said he left Las Vegas to get away from gun violence. According to them, Rudy was an optimistic guy.

“He always saw the good things; the glass half full, the possibilities of life,” said his sister Maria Arco.

“I can’t call him; I can’t see how he’s doing,” Maria said.

Maria’s hurt a gunman’s rampage cheated her brother from seeing his youngest children grow up.

“The missing memories, the family trips, the family outings, the vacations together, the good times; those things are gone; they’re gone forever,” Maria said. ” They were ripped from us.”

Rudy’s death is even more tragic because is after living in Las Vegas since 1997, he moved to Odessa, Texas to keep his family safe. The 1 October massacre that occurred in Las Vegas had a big impact on that decision.

“I think it’s ironic that he went where he felt they would be safer for them, and he ends up dying,” Maria said. “It’s inconceivable. It’s not about geography or where you’re going to be safe.”

Maria says she wants to focus on Rudy’s life, not his death. She says he came to the United States in 1969 as a refugee from Cuba. He owned a few taquerias in Las Vegas called Super Burrito, and had recently started a trucking company in Odessa.
Remembering Rudy: West Texas shooting victim lived in Las Vegas; he moved after 1 October



“He didn’t deserve the way that he die[d]. And my kids don’t deserve to not have a dad because somebody has a gun and decides to kill people,” she said.

“We left Cuba because we hate communists. And now we are in America, the best country, the best everything, and we are not safe. Look what happened, he was coming from work, driving his truck, and that’s it. He’s gone,” she said.

The entrepreneur’s daughter, Julie Arco, said she tries not to question why her father passed away.

“We wake up every day hoping it’s just a bad dream, and realize it’s your reality. It’s the first thing I think about. And I think we all agree that in everything we do, we think of him in one way or another,” she said.

The beloved father was an inspiration to his family. Arco was a Christian man who showed grit, and provided hope and encouragement, according to his daughter.

“If he said 10 words to you, five of them were about God. He had so much faith. He never worried about anything. Because if you tell him your worried he’d say, ‘it’s okay you’ve got God,” she said.

Bari Arco said it’s unfair that she lost her husband, and believes something should be done by legislators so other families don’t have to experience the pain her family is experiencing.
Odessa family speaks out about loved one killed in mass shooting

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 3, 2019
‘He Was Looking Straight at Me’: West Texas Shooting Victims Recall Day of Horror
[...]

The spread-out and seemingly random nature of the shooting — carried out on the highways, streets and parking lots of two cities 20 miles apart — meant that the victims did not necessarily know one another, and in some cases, did not initially know that anyone else had been shot. They were struck on their way home from work, in their cars while stopped at red lights and at a car dealership while picking out a new truck.

And now, they are grieving in isolation: Unlike in other mass shootings, the gunman did not appear to target a single location or community. There is no central memorial site to bring supporters together in an attack that left behind more than a dozen crime scenes. Even patients recovering on the same hospital floor have not shared their stories with one another.

“I don’t know who the other victims are — I haven’t seen them,” said Mark Gonzalez, who was among eight victims still being treated on Tuesday at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. “I haven’t gotten out of the room.”

Mr. Gonzalez, 38, had just finished work on an oil site on Saturday and was driving home when he suddenly felt a thud. He thought he had gotten into a wreck, but when he glanced down, he saw that he had actually been shot in a leg.

He locked eyes with another driver, who was pointing a rifle at him from his car’s window.

“He was looking straight at me,” Mr. Gonzalez recalled in an interview from his hospital bed.

[...]

A makeshift memorial for victims of the mass shooting, in which seven people were killed and 25 wounded. CreditLoren Elliott for The New York Times

 

[margarita25]

BBM:

SEP 3, 2019
‘He Was Looking Straight at Me’: West Texas Shooting Victims Recall Day of Horror
[...]

The spread-out and seemingly random nature of the shooting — carried out on the highways, streets and parking lots of two cities 20 miles apart — meant that the victims did not necessarily know one another, and in some cases, did not initially know that anyone else had been shot. They were struck on their way home from work, in their cars while stopped at red lights and at a car dealership while picking out a new truck.

And now, they are grieving in isolation: Unlike in other mass shootings, the gunman did not appear to target a single location or community. There is no central memorial site to bring supporters together in an attack that left behind more than a dozen crime scenes. Even patients recovering on the same hospital floor have not shared their stories with one another.

“I don’t know who the other victims are — I haven’t seen them,” said Mark Gonzalez, who was among eight victims still being treated on Tuesday at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. “I haven’t gotten out of the room.”

Mr. Gonzalez, 38, had just finished work on an oil site on Saturday and was driving home when he suddenly felt a thud. He thought he had gotten into a wreck, but when he glanced down, he saw that he had actually been shot in a leg.

He locked eyes with another driver, who was pointing a rifle at him from his car’s window.

“He was looking straight at me,” Mr. Gonzalez recalled in an interview from his hospital bed.

[...]

A makeshift memorial for victims of the mass shooting, in which seven people were killed and 25 wounded. CreditLoren Elliott for The New York Times

From above:

“He locked eyes with another driver, who was pointing a rifle at him from his car’s window.

“He was looking straight at me,” Mr. Gonzalez recalled in an interview from his hospital bed.”

Any chance he was on any trucking routes through Northern Colorado in 2015 I wonder? Long shot I know but I have to ask. It’s been over 4 years and Jacoby’s and Romero’s shooter still has not been ID’d. Their 2 shootings have been positively linked.

I’ve learned that highway shootings are more common than some people might think and trying to catch these guys is hard. There are always many gun incidents to weed through at any given time, especially as related to gang members who like to go around and shoot, road rage incidents, etc. Of course the current incident was obviously a rampage, etc. as opposed to the individual/intermittent shootings as in NOCO, but this individual obviously does have the potential and capacity to do something like this - unfortunately as we know, so do a lot of people. It’s a different type of crime in many ways, but worth a look, imo, especially if he was escalatory.

(For reference:
CO - Possible Serial Shooter Has Colorado Drivers on Edge #1 )

 

[margarita25]

(Continued from above, ran out of editing time, it’s the middle of the night and nobody is posting so sorry for the double post)

I meant to include this in the above post (BBM from Pommy’s quote above):

“The spread-out and seemingly random nature of the shooting — carried out on the highways, streets and parking lots of two cities 20 miles apart — meant that the victims did not necessarily know one another, another...”

‘He Was Looking Straight at Me’: West Texas Shooting Victims Recall Day of Horror

 

[PommyMommy]

Morning Express with Robin Meade on Twitter (Video)
Officer Wounded in Texas Shooting Gets Hero's Sendoff from Hospital
Morning Express with Robin Meade: Weekdays, 6-Noon ET on HLN
6:47 AM - 4 Sep 2019

 

[Inthedetails]

There are a lot of PTSD victims out there from various shootings, I imagine.
.

Snipped.

I agree, @magarita25. And the PTSD goes beyond victims/witnesses of actual shooting, but within the general public too.

All the more reason to make a commitment to being kind to each other - little niceties are not trivial and weak but are important and help us keep up strength and stamina for situations that actually require it.

If we're fighting with each other, snarky with strangers in person or online, roll our eyes, are rude....that is an exhausting environment we're creating and it wears us down.

Build up! Encourage each other, be nice, give people the benefit of the doubt, don't assume others are "bad" because their political views or religion or whatever are different, don't be easily offended or quick to point out what is wrong with "those people," etc. These things MATTER, imo.

jmo

edited to add: I include myself in this - not preaching at others about what to do.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I had a son-in-law with one AR-15. When talk started about banning them again he hurried up and bought a second one, even posed my little granddaughter with it on Facebook. I don't understand why anyone needs one and I sure don't understand why anyone needs two.....well, except for the ability to brag and appear to be a bad dude times two! S-i-l loved to pull them out to impress other men.

Semiautomatic rifles have been in existence for public purchase in our country since the 1950s like the AR 15, and similar rifes.

Some say they are military grade weapons, but that simply isn't true. The way they LOOK are modeled after military rifles with some even being much fancier looking depending on the manufacturer.

But the same working mechanisms are still the standard semiautomatic that has been in existence for over 60 or 70 years.

Btw, many females also own 15s, and .223s and various other rifles.

Many millions of legal gunowners own these type of rifles. Iirc, although they are being bought even more now than any other time in our history, in 2018 18 million are legally owned.

It helps to put it into clear perspective that these type of rifles are very rarely used to harm others.

In fact more homicides by far were done by offenders with handguns. Even shotguns are used approximately 250 times a year to commit homicides.

We, as a nation seem to learn very little if anything at all from our past history. We just blindly seem bound, and determined to repeat them.

During prohibition we banned liquor/alcohol until the government wised up realizing all it did was make many into millionaires who were illegally supplying the need, and demand without any taxes or any government regulations.

Then our goverment decided to make certain drugs illegal, which I agree with, but honestly all it did was windup making the drug lord into the next billionaires because tragically the supply, and demand is here in our country the most.

Then from 1994 until 2004 the government banned assault weapons. The reason it was lifted is because it had failed miserably in decreasing homicides.

In fact it was in the 90s our homicide, and overall crime rate soared higher than at any other time in our history.

Now in the past 6 years our homicide rate has steadily declined even though more firearms are legally owned including rifles than at any other time with our population growing immensely since the 1990s when homicides, and other crimes spiked under president Clinton's terms.

Imo, this shows banning anything outright only makes it far worse for our citizens ....as we have painfully seen over, and over again in past history.

All it will do... is like it always has done, and that is to drive up the supply, and demand making the illegal gunrunner the new wave of billionaires.

As an aside:

I often see many question why anyone would need or want these type of rifles. To me that is like me unfairly judging anyone who may purchase a 100K vehicle thatcan go 200 MPH why they dare to buy certain things. Honestly, it's not my business why anyone buys anything that is perfectly legal to purchase. They certainly don't owe any explanations to explain why.

No one who legally owns firearms owes anyone an explanation why they have them. They are legally obtained, and a protected right under our own constitution.

Of course if there are red flags any one shouldn't have any firearm those should be seized immediately if supported by evidence.

They aren't any different than anything else anyone else may want to legally purchase even if some of those other purchases may seem odd to someone else.

To make our homicide rate plummet faster than a falling heavy rock they must find away to get all of the illegal obtained firearms off our streets with many of them in the possession of violent exfelons or deadly gang members.

Just think if we could remove even four cities , like Chicago, Detroit, LA or St. Louis etc, from our overall homicide national data? Our yearly homicide rate nationwide would take a nosedive.

Imo, in the end it shows once again any one contemplating any murder including in mass always finds a way to carry them out. They always have, and that same pattern will continue just like it has in the past.

Jmho

 

[PommyMommy]

Fox & Friends First on Twitter (Video)
Memorial services begin for Army veteran, Kameron Brown, who was killed in the Odessa, Texas shooting. (Video)
8:50 AM - 4 Sep 2019

Thank you for your service.
Rest peacefully, Mr. Brown.

 

[Bellecent]

I would like to know all of this as well. So there were red flags/mental health issues that wouldn’t allow him to obtain a gun but he was able to obtain a CDL and get behind the wheel of an 80,000 lb tractor/trailer. That’s troubling. IMO

Very troubling! I work in HR and am amazed of the number of violent crimes people commit and still allowed to receive a class A. Oh and it is a perk for inmates getting released free class A classes. Of course not all companies will hire someone depending on background. If this person was working for an oil.company then he would have had an hazmat endorsement and in TX most drivers have a special card due to the refineries.

 

[Backstroke10]

Very troubling! I work in HR and am amazed of the number of violent crimes people commit and still allowed to receive a class A. Oh and it is a perk for inmates getting released free class A classes. Of course not all companies will hire someone depending on background. If this person was working for an oil.company then he would have had an hazmat endorsement and in TX most drivers have a special card due to the refineries.

I totally agree and it’s quite scary. A company I went to a few years ago was a household goods moving company (moved people’s furniture) and they had drivers with sexual assault convictions, some were against children. I couldn’t do anything about it other than tell the owner that he was putting women and children at risk since many times they are the only ones home when moving into and out of a home. He didn’t care because he needed drivers so bad. Companies that hire hazmat CDL drivers are supposed to do criminal background checks. Of course most of them don’t.

 

[MindHunter13]

Just wanted to jump in and say that this unfortunate case is a prime example of why red flag laws and stricter gun control laws will not be effective if we never address the problem of mental illness to begin with. This shooter was denied a permit and yet still found a way to obtain a weapon. Laws stop law abiding citizens, not criminals.

 

[human]

?

I hope you’re not referrring to my post. And please don’t insult Americans. I’m being realistic based on the statistics. I did say we can try though and achieve some progress. But it’s not just going to stop and that is an obvious reality IMO. There is no candy coating here, we are beyond that. Saying that has nothing to do with being an ”AmeriCANT” and I’m finding this term very offensive.

The reality is that this is a big problem which in MANY aspects is out of the average citizen’s control. There ARE things that we can try to focus on and improve, but reality is imo we can not fully predict some nutjob loner and where he’s going to shoot and when. So often they are off the radar. Nor can we do anything to get all of these illegal guns off the street. LE is doing all they can to get the illegal guns off the street. I’ll even pull my recent quote from ISP on illegal guns and trying to get them off the street. Even if gun owners give up their guns, it’s not going to stop Joe Schmo...but if it did, many people would give up their guns.

I’ve been thinking about your question re: why is it just USA and I’ve been wanting to respond because it is a great question and point; you and I have had some good collective brainstorming discussions on profiling, etc in past shooter threads.

I really want to know what the answer is, we all do, and I am SO OPEN to hearing everything, with it of course not going into a nightmare discussion for the mods or anything that violates TOS. Respectful adult discussions, not insults. We are at the point where we are here in a new shooting thread every few days, weeks....it’s going to get worse, moo. These are based on my personal statistical projections based on stats, moo.

Human, in your opinion, how do we get rid of the guns EVEN IF WE WANT TO? You can make the dang things...I am waiting to see now if this “AR-type”and .225 is custom!

I’m all about hearing solutions and hearing all aspects. I think most of us here are. But it’s a lot easier said than done to just eliminate all the guns even if we want to. I’m realistically saying there’s a black market, etc etc, and MANY crazy people. How do we control these people? We can’t even identify/predict them before they go on their rampages.

As an AmeriCAN, I see the AmeriCANT attitude.

When the Las Vegas massacre happened, my daughter was supposed to go to celebrate her friend’s 40th birthday. She did not go. I forget why. My best friend’s daughter who I have known before she was born and three other young women that I know did go and ran for their lives.

My friend’s daughter worked in a hospital in MN and they gave her free counseling.

Last spring, my grandchildren attend the middle to upper class high school that I and my children attended. My grandson was a senior and my granddaughter was not there that day. My niece was there as well as all of the friends that I know of their’s.

There was a man who was going to go on a mass killing spree. He was in the school. My grandson talked about how they were stacking furniture and thought they were going to die.

He was caught hiding in the building with a nice store of weapons in his trunk.

Since no one died, I doubt if it hardly made the news out of our area.

I looked at a document which I cannot find anymore about the hundreds of thwarted school shooters.

All one has to do is look at what has worked in other countries. I hardly know of a more macho country than Australia. And New Zealand. Wow. All Blacks. Rugby.

Australia is immense. It is filled with social problems.

So starting with what works is always a good idea

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Imo, If we really want to begin to solve this problem we must do a deep dive into the ROOT CAUSES of why anyone becomes or plans to murder in mass in the first place.

The deep research must be specific to these individuals' mindsets, and the root causes because that is where it all starts whether they use firearms, machetes, knives, bombs or fly airplanes into buildings murdering 3000 with many more still dying from those horrific most violent mass murders our nation has ever suffered.

Without that they simply are among all of the other innocent multi millions of men who never harm a soul even when they legally own firearms.

When cancer is suspected there is a valid reason why a biopsy is done on each indivudual because they must determine if it is cancer, what type, and where it started hoping by removing where it started they can successfully cure it. The root cause is also vitally important research..

Punishing over 150 million law abiding gunowners is not the root cause of why a few commit mass murder.

Just like it's not the root cause why more are murdered in our country on a daily basis in so many large inner cities by those who obtain their firearms illegally.

I imagine when LE said he bought his weapon from a private sell meant he bought it on the streets from someone who didnt care if he was mentally ill or not as long as he had the cash.

No one likes gun bans, or restrictive gun laws any more than criminals.

It allows them more easy sitting targets, more gun free zones, filled with more defenseless people to be able to murder in mass... just like they target 99.9 percent of the time for a reason.

Comparing any much smaller country to a nation of 330M is misleading, imo.

Jmhoo

 

[margarita25]

An aside here:

One of my thoughts is that as time progresses, we will start to see more hybrid types of shootings, similar to what we see here. I know it sounds a little out there.

Remember recently I’ve been talking about “one of these days the shooter may actually want to live and may try to get away, which in that case would mean we have a mix of mass meets serial shooter?” Of course we know the majority of these guys are neutralized very quickly and want to die martyrs, but the day may come one day imo...a mass shooter may actually be the type who takes pride and joy in going undetected, say like Malvo.

Moo.

When and if that ever happens we will see a manhunt like none has ever seen before.

What if this guy here would’ve gotten away? Where would we be right now? Freaking the heck out.

There is a lot to this, as far as the psychological variances between different killers, and we see these variances even between SKs with various MOs, etc . So why wouldn’t any hybrids or subspecies exist within mass shooters?

O/T, yesterday there was an article where a 15 year old boy has gunned down his entire family. 5 people. The article references that this closely follows this shooting we are talking about now. These are the types of hybrids I’m referring to. At the time I read the article it was unknown where he got the gun. Family homicides are nothing new but I’m just using this as a basic example, that I suspect we will not only see more shootings, but slightly variable types, such as the one at hand.