LA - Two killed, 9 injured in Lafayette movie theater shooting, 23 July 2015

[Canaille]

Just sickening. Getting to the point where you have to live every day as if it was your last one.

Well, we should live every day as if it was our last one. There are millions of ways we could die.

 

[La Louve]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I thought I remember this theatre having metal detectors at the door?

I haven't looked through the backpages but I took it to mean it was some "pundit" in the media projecting (no pun intended) into the future of the multiplex experience.

 

[Canaille]

Fox News is reporting that Westboro Baptist Church will picket the funerals of Mayci and Jillian. Apparently the church (using that term loosely) failed to do its research. I'm from here. We are a gun-loving and gun toting community. I'm sure most homes have more guns/rifles then people and many of those weapons aren't registered. I believe that our communities will be awaiting Westboro Baptist. We're Cajun Strong!

Westboro will definitely be messing with the wrong people if they show up in Lafayette! They threatened to show up for the Charleston funerals, but I don't think any of them came.

 

[bessie]

'Apprentice Alum: Donald Trump Is ‘Creating the Next Dylann Roof'

"[Kwame] Jackson told [CNN's] Don Lemon he’s fine with people expressing their opinions, but creating a “toxic environment” of racial dog-whistles is dangerous because it creates an ecosystem “that weak-minded people act on.”"

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/apprentice-alum-donald-trump-is-creating-the-next-dylann-roof/

Now, I don't want to give Trump too much credit, but I think the shrill tone of some divisive political rhetoric has been convincingly shown to incite ultraconservative men to violence. There was a lot of evidence to suggest that this shooter would more likely be a white male conservative than a Muslim.

"Creating a Dylann Roof"? No. But inciting, and creating a target for a Dylann Roof to direct his rage? Providing a scapegoat for a Rusty Houser to focus his self-hatred? Yes.

JMO

 

[wendybtn]

A lot of people don't like that fact. Also a lot of people get vicious if you suggest this might have something to do with gun culture.

IMO asking about ISIS in this situation is sensationalism.

I'm very sorry for everyone in the theatre. I can't imagine how terrifying it was to be sitting there hearing shots and people screaming, and then thinking it was just like Aurora.

Mostly, there is a lot of untreated mental illness out there. And men are more likely to not go to the doctor. I took care of an older white male (30 years ago in nursing school) who quoted commercials off tv and said they were messages from God. I certainly never assumed that he and his poor brain represented all Christians or all white men his age. I think it is all part of the game we have to play in our minds to get through day to day. I am different because I do have this or I don't believe that, therefore this type of random violence cannot occur to me or mine. But it can. But we have to live anyway.

 

[Teche]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I thought I remember this theatre having metal detectors at the door?

I haven't seen any mention of metal detectors at the theatre. I've been to the theatre numerous times. It does have video surveillance. Police did mention that they viewed the video and he purchased a ticket and entered the theatre.

 

[FindHG]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I thought I remember this theatre having metal detectors at the door?

In the CBS/AP report I linked upthread, the reporter mentions that the theater gun policy, nothing about any tech used to detect guns though, IIRC (please lemme know if not).

​Lafayette shooting: Gunman ID'd as "kind of a drifter"
CBS/AP, July 24 '15, 8:42 am (brdcst time & info updated 2:02 pm)


Lafayette Shooting Suspect Had Mental Illness History, Officials Say
New York Times updated

~

Gov. Bobby Jindal has ordered the American and Louisiana flags be flown at half staff to honor the victims of the Lafayette theater shooting.


by Kevin Litten, The Times-Picayune
July 24 '15, 1:06 PM

 

[wendybtn]

Bluesneakers, thank you for your service.

I have friends in England, have traveled to the UK a lot and have felt the same sense of loss to explain our rampant gun violence in this country.

What about the riots in England in late 2013 or early 2014? Hooligans running through proper London slicing people with kitchen utensils, taking rings and fingers, stabbing with steak knives as they ate in the best restaurants in the best neighbourhoods? That got just a touch of coverage here. Do you question Londoners why this happens? Violence is everywhere, whether guns are there or not. Sometimes I think people secretly want more mass shootings in the US. It has given you an opportunity to post the ramblings of a demented (IMO) individual that otherwise were basically ignored. Why do you want to republish his twisted ramblings? Just curious.

 

[Bravo]

I am just sick about this latest horror. As we all are. And all the others..... Prayers to to Victims, Family and Community. Where and when does it end!!!!

 

[La Louve]

What about the riots in England in late 2013 or early 2014? Hooligans running through proper London slicing people with kitchen utensils, taking rings and fingers, stabbing with steak knives as they ate in the best restaurants in the best neighbourhoods? That got just a touch of coverage here. Do you question Londoners why this happens? Violence is everywhere, whether guns are there or not. Sometimes I think people secretly want more mass shootings in the US. It has given you an opportunity to post the ramblings of a demented (IMO) individual that otherwise were basically ignored. Why do you want to republish his twisted ramblings? Just curious.

Where did I publish his ramblings? And I denounce your implication that I "secretly" (or otherwise) want more mass shootings.

It's unwise to blame the messengers for pointing out the problems.

And not that it's any of your business, but the last time I was in the UK was in 2008 so I have not had the occasion to discuss the incidents to which you refer.

 

[FindHG]

Troubled man kills 2, himself at a Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater
Greg Botelho, CNN / Philippines,
Updated 03:06 AM PHT Sat, July 25, 2015

Begins his report, writing the shooter

"apparently penned anti-government, anti-media blog posts. He was subject to a 2008 restraining order in which his then-wife and daughter were "fearful of him," police said. He spent time that year and the next getting treated for mental health issues. And last year, he got an eviction notice from a Phenix City, Alabama, property that had been damaged, a sheriff there said."

[...]

"Four on-duty police officers happened to be on the property, Craft said. Within 60 seconds, they were inside the theater.

By that point, Houser had left and come back after noting the quickly growing police presence outside, including one patrol car near the exit door where he'd parked his blue 1995 Lincoln Continental. He reloaded, went back in and shot himself."

[... Colonel Edmonson said]

"He could have come out and done additional harm,"

"... It was an ordinary moment, an ordinary night, and it turned into an extraordinary situation."

[...]

 

[wendybtn]

I agree thats why earlier lots of folks said the thought it was part of the movie -- made no sense to me !

If I were wathcing "the Killers" maybe

but this one


apparently he was just sitting there, and then just stood up, and started firing
??

One person I read quoted was in the theatre next to this one, in one of the MSM-linked posts on an earlier page. They may have been watching a shoot'em up.

 

[wendybtn]

Louisiana Theater Shooting: Gunman John Houser Was 'Drifter' Intent on Escaping, Cops Say
by Erik Ortiz, NBC NEWS about 9 pm

[... parked a]

"1995 blue Lincoln Continental with switched license plates near the exit of the Grand Theater 16, officials said — indicating that he planned to flee after using a .40 caliber handgun to kill two people and injure nine others during the 7:10 p.m. screening of the comedy "Trainwreck."

[...]

""The gunman's original plan was to leave the theater alive," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told reporters."

[... Chief Jim Craft said]


"He just seemed like he was drifting along,"... "We're not sure why he chose to stay in Lafayette."


BBM

Can someone explain about the switch-license plate? I am not too technical and have never heard of these kinds of plates.

 

[wendybtn]

A couple of entries from John Russell Houser's LinkedIn page. A few more are at the link.

Summary

In 1975 health spas were a new national phenomena. I typed up a letter with my new heading and logo entitled "NATIONAL WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION". The letter explained that those returning the enclosed form "signed by their club professional or premises manager" verifying their ability to bench press 300 lbs would be eligible to purchase 300 CLUB t-shirts for $15 each. How many respondents could actually bench 300 remains in question, but 685 t-shirts were sold in 90 days.

This idea hit me when I saw that health spas were posting addresses of other spas claiming affiliation.
Let us brainstorm some list together.

Experience

Real Estate Developer/Layout Maximization
John Russell Houser
February 2006 – September 2006 (8 months)32nd Street Phenix City Al
Needing cash for investment, I decided to sell my house and find one for profit. Riding the streets of the Columbus/Phenix City area I found a spectacular estate on 32nd street in Phenix City. Though it was grossly undervalued and completely unrealized it was two times my investment potential, so an investor was brought in. Lots were sold on the property while I kept the house and an extra lot for myself. This is my home today.

What did I see in the estate that had escaped others? Cut the trees and see the view.
I can show you the view in what you already own,of whatever nature.

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-houser/6b/602/871

He was a member of Tea Party Nation

http://www.teapartynation.com/profile/JohnRussellHouser?xg_source=activity

Sounds like bipolar with psychotic features and delusions of grandeur. If it worsened over time, as it usually does, he may have been having auditory and visual hallucinations by the time he hit 50-53 years of age.

 

[bessie]

Researching Houser's internet activity, I came across at least three references to the U.S. as a "financially failing filth farm". I find that telling. It goes to my comment about needing a scapegoat for his own financial failure and personal shortcomings.

As an aside, I'm curious if anyone who followed the Lauren Giddings murder case is noting the similarities between Houser and Stephen McDaniel. McDaniel didn't commit mass murder. He killed and dismembered his neighbor and law school classmate. Stalked her with a camera taped to a stick which he held up to her window, then attacked her in her bed, and left her torso in the trash can right beneath her apartment. That took place in Macon, but he was from a small town in GA. A wimpy little man who espoused similar political and religious views on the internet, and took glee in boasting about his weapons. Like Houser, he had a need to be heard, so he'd write missives to classmates which he signed Son of Liberty. Another ticking time bomb. Houser is who I think McDaniel would have become had he gotten away with Lauren's murder.

 

[Friday Fan]

Can someone explain about the switch-license plate? I am not too technical and have never heard of these kinds of plates.

He probably stole the plates from another car. If he made the getaway, the police would have difficulty tracing the car to him if they ran the plates. Its a common ploy. I see this in movies alot and I don't think it is too difficult to steal plates. Not more difficult than shoplifting. This guy was clearly nuts and I don't think stolen plates would have gotten him very far.

 

[wendybtn]

Where did I publish his ramblings? And I denounce your implication that I "secretly" (or otherwise) want more mass shootings.

It's unwise to blame the messengers for pointing out the problems.

And not that it's any of your business, but the last time I was in the UK was in 2008 so I have not had the occasion to discuss the incidents to which you refer.

I was actually referring to bluesneakers quote that you used. Sorry.

 

[wendybtn]

He probably stole the plates from another car. If he made the getaway, the police would have difficulty tracing the car to him if they ran the plates. Its a common ploy. I see this in movies alot and I don't think it is too difficult to steal plates. Not more difficult than shoplifting. This guy was clearly nuts and I don't think stolen plates would have gotten him very far.

Thank you! I think I misunderstood what that link was referring to. Now I understand.

 

[bessie]

I haven't looked through the backpages but I took it to mean it was some "pundit" in the media projecting (no pun intended) into the future of the multiplex experience.

You probably saw the same post I did. Apparently, *someone* made a comment in a media interview about the possibility of metal detectors being used at movie theatres in the future. It might have been the industry expert interviewed on CNN.

 

[FindHG]

Two women killed in Louisiana theater shooting
By Ray Sanchez and Pete Burn, CNN
Updated 3:19 PM ET, Fri July 24, 2015



The lovely Mayci Breaux,

"attended Louisiana State University-Eunice...

Her employer posted on Facebook that "many of you had come to know and love Mayci" during her time working there...

"Nothing ever prepares you for a loss... Much less the loss of such an amazing young woman,"...

"We are deeply saddened."




The accomplished Jillian Johnson,

"made everything more beautiful. She worked to make Lafayette a more beautiful place, and one of the most tragic things that has ever happened here took her. She was a mother, a wife, a sister, an artist, a collaborator, a band member, a friend to so many."


~

Another day, another mass shooting: Americans are caught in a crossfire
By Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, July 24 at 3:26 PM

[...]

""The mass shootings are paradoxical in the broader picture of crime in America: The murder rate nationally has been

halved in the last two decades. But homicides with four or more victims have held basically steady. Then there are these special

“active shooter” events, which appear to be on the rise."

A 2013 FBI study of 160 active shooter events since 2000 showed a staggered increase over time, with the four most violent years of the survey."

[... according to experts]

“It’s clear that social isolation is a risk factor for suicidal behavior in general. Having real friends, close face-to-face friends, those people can be moderating forces on your moods. They can help you get treatment if you really need it,”

[...]

“We oftentimes try to avoid people who seem angry, because we don’t know what to say and what to do. That’s the wrong move,”...

“We can try to restore the sense of community in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in society more generally.”