"Police say man killed 2, self in Md. mall attack" by Jada F. Smith and Emma G. Fitzsimmons | New York Times , January 26, 2014
COLUMBIA, Md. — Three people were killed Saturday morning when shots rang out at a shopping mall in this suburban Maryland community, sending patrons running from stores and hiding under tables in the food court.
When police officers arrived, they found three dead inside a store on the upper level of the two-story mall.
Just one more reason to stay away from AmeriKa's malls.
Howard County Police said the victims were 21-year-old Brianna Benlolo of College Park, Md., and 25-year-old Tyler Johnson of Ellicott City, Md. The unidentified gunman also died. Police said they believe he shot himself and had acted alone….
It's always the same script.
The shootings at The Mall in Columbia set off fears and concern across the country over thoughts of another mass killing.
But at a news conference held within two hours of the gunshots, the county police chief, William J. McMahon, said he believed the shootings were an isolated episode involving just the three people who were found dead….
He said that only one weapon had been found at the scene and that police officers had not fired any shots. The suspect had a large amount of ammunition on him. The authorities approached him with caution because they were concerned that he had other weapons and wanted to make sure he did not have explosives….
He was dead, right?
McMahon said that uniformed patrol officers were the first to arrive on the scene and that they immediately went into the mall.
They were joined a short time later by SWAT team members who began sweeping the mall, looking for other potential gunmen and assisting shoppers who were hiding inside stores. The authorities had asked people to stay there until they were sure it was safe to leave.
This is starting to have the smell of a pre-planned drill to show how all the training measures are working.
McMahon said his officers had not determined a motive for the attack….
By 4 p.m., all of the people inside the mall had been cleared out and police investigators were examining the crime scene.
The mall, a huge complex with almost 200 stores, including a Macy’s, a Sears, and a movie theater, had opened around 10 a.m. and was busy on the chilly day….
Outside the mall Saturday afternoon, there was a swarm of emergency vehicles. Helicopters hovered overhead, and heavily armed officers stood on watch.
McMahon noted that the police had staged an emergency drill at the mall in the past, which he said had helped them respond to the shooting.
Oh, WOW!
The mall was built in 1971 in Columbia, Md., a planned community about 25 miles from Washington and about 15 miles from Baltimore. The town has about 97,000 residents spread over 10 separate villages.
Along with the nearby Ellicott City, it was named by Money magazine as one of the best places to live in America in 2010….
Not anymore.
--more--"
So who is the latest psychopathic patsy?
"Maryland mall gunman had no criminal past; Motive still a mystery; skateboarder, 19, described as quiet, cheerful" by Ben Nuckols | Associated Press, January 27, 2014
COLUMBIA, Md. — The 19-year-old mall gunman was a skateboarding enthusiast who took a taxi to the mall, carrying a 12-gauge shotgun he had purchased legally a month earlier, plenty of ammunition, and some crude homemade explosives inside a backpack, authorities said.
I say BAN BACKPACKS!! Isn't that where all this is going? Gotta search those kids backpacks just in case, and regiment them to the total surveillance tyranny in which they will be swimming.
Darion Marcus Aguilar entered the Mall in Columbia about 10:15 a.m. Saturday near Zumiez, a shop that sells skateboarding gear, and went downstairs to a food court directly below. Less than an hour later, he returned to the store, dumped the backpack in a dressing room and then started shooting, police said.
Shoppers fled in a panic or barricaded themselves behind closed doors and police arrived within 2 minutes of the first 911 call. They found three people dead, including Aguilar, who killed himself, police said.
The shooting has baffled law enforcement and acquaintances of Aguilar, a quiet teenager who graduated from high school less than a year ago and had no criminal record. Police spent Sunday trying to piece together his motive, but it remained elusive.
Was he on any prescription pharmaceuticals?
After Aguilar had fired between six and nine shots, two Zumiez employees were dead, police said. One victim, Brianna Benlolo, a 21-year-old single mother, lived half a mile away from Aguilar in the same College Park neighborhood, but police said they were still trying to determine what, if any, relationship they had. Although they lived close to Maryland’s largest university, neither was a student there.
The other employee, Tyler Johnson, didn’t know Aguilar and did not socialize with Benlolo outside of work, a relative said.
Tydryn Scott, 19, said she was Aguilar’s lab partner in science class at James Hubert Black High School and said he hung out with other skaters. She said she was stung by the news.
‘‘It was really hurtful, like, wow — someone that I know, someone that I’ve been in the presence of more than short amounts of time. I’ve seen this guy in action before. Never upset, never sad, just quiet, just chill,’’ Scott said. ‘‘If any other emotion, he was happy, laughing.’’
Those are the ones you have to watch out for, right?
Aguilar graduated in 2013, school officials confirmed.
‘‘There are a lot of unanswered questions,’’ Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said at a news conference.
Aguilar purchased the shotgun last month at a store in neighboring Montgomery County. Officers searched Aguilar’s home Saturday, recovering more ammunition, computers, and documents, police said.
So what did they plant?
The home is a two-story wood-frame house in a middle-income neighborhood called Hollywood, near the Capital Beltway. No one answered the door Sunday morning. There was a Christmas wreath on the front door and signs that read ‘‘Beware of Dog.’’
Is that what this is, another shooting fiction?
Police searched the mall with dogs overnight. Stores were to reopen Monday afternoon.
--more--"
You might learn something here about agenda-pushing:
"A man opened fire Tuesday inside a basement classroom at Purdue University, killing a teaching assistant and prompting officials to send a text alert to students telling them to seek shelter, police and the university said. The suspect, a student at the school, surrendered to a police officer within minutes of the attack….
--more--"
"College chief proposes arming campus police
The president of Greenfield Community College wants to arm the school’s three full-time police officers. Robert Pura told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that college officials are concerned it would take too long for local or State Police to respond to a shooter. Pura’s proposal must be approved by the college’s board of trustees and will probably come up for a vote on Feb. 12. He said he is not fond of guns but that his proposal comes down to the critical minutes needed to stop a shooter. Bill Mayrose, the college’s chief of police, said he and two other licensed police officers would complete between 40 and 60 hours of training before they could carry guns."
That really scares me because it makes me think a mass shooting (or staged and scripted hoax) is being planned for right here. Say goodbye to the school if the campus security ever kills a student by accident. How sad this state and society have become when one feels fear regarding the local community college.
Quinnipiac to arm campus public safety officers
Pretty soon they will have the police in primary schools:
"A 12-year-old New Mexico boy drew a shotgun from a band-instrument case and shot and wounded two classmates at his middle school Tuesday morning before a teacher talked him into dropping the weapon and he was taken into custody, officials and witnesses said….
--more--"
"Greeting the students on Thursday were residents waving American flags and holding yellow ribbons. The suspected shooter, another 12-year-old boy, has been charged as a juvenile with three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Authorities said they’ve turned up evidence that the suspect planned the attack and warned some classmates to stay away….
--more--"
Also see:
Giffords completes skydive on shooting anniversary
Gabrielle Giffords keeps door open for a future bid for office
"Pa. school shooting account disputed" Associated Press, January 20, 2014
PHILADELPHIA — A 17-year-old boy charged as an adult in the shooting of two students inside a school gym is not responsible for the crime, his attorney said.
Charges against Raisheem Rochwell were based on surveillance video and witness information from the shooting Friday afternoon at Delaware Valley Charter High School, police said over the weekend. One bullet from a gun Rochwell was holding hit two students, wounding each in an arm, police said.
But Rochwell’s attorney, Amato Sanita, disputed that account.
‘‘I’ve not seen that, I’m not aware of that, and from the information I have, I do not believe that is accurate,’’ Sanita said of the police version of events. He added that Rochwell ‘‘is not the person who will ultimately be responsible for this act.’’
Rochwell has been charged with aggravated assault, carrying an unlicensed firearm, carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia, possessing a firearm while a minor, possessing an instrument of crime, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person.
He remained in jail Sunday.
--more--"
He must still be there because the Globe never got back to me.
New school safety task force should address ‘hide or flee’
How could anyone ever be against making schools safe?
Security high as Colo. students return after shooting
That reminds me of something else:
"Florida theater shooting followed argument over texts; Retired officer charged with killing moviegoer" by Tamara Lush | Associated Press, January 15, 2014
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Chad Oulson was texting his daughter’s day care, friends said, and retired Tampa police officer Curtis Reeves got mad. Authorities said Reeves shot and killed Oulson with a handgun after the men exchanged words….
Reeves’s personnel files from the police department show he led other agencies in gun safety training and received numerous letters of commendation for his leadership….
Sheriff’s Detective Allen Proctor wrote that Reeves spoke to Oulson during the movie previews, then got up and informed management.
When Reeves returned to his seat ‘‘additional words were exchanged’’ and Oulson threw a bag of popcorn at Reeves, the report said.
Reeves told the detective that Oulson struck him in the face with an unknown object, and that’s when he removed a .380 caliber gun from his pants pocket. The report said Reeves fired the gun and struck Oulson once in the chest and that he ‘‘was in fear of being attacked.’’
Pasco Sergeant Steve Greiner was among the first officers in the theater. When asked about Reeves’s demeanor, Greiner replied: ‘‘He was very calm. He was seated in the chair, looking at the screen.’’
************************
Reeves’s attorney, Richard Escobar, argued that his client should be released because of his deep ties to the community.
And besides, it's okay for police to blow away citizens in AmeriKa.
Escobar said the probable cause document was ‘‘quite weak’’ and that Reeves was defending himself.
Try using that excuse as a private citizen.
--more--"
So what pre$cription pharmaceuticals was he on?
What is next, shootings at grocery stores?
"Gunman killed after slaying 2 at Indiana grocer" by Tom Coyne | Associated Press, January 17, 2014
ELKHART, Ind. — The manager of an Indiana grocery store where a shopper and employee had just been fatally shot was on his knees in front of the gunman and appeared to be praying when police entered, catching the shooter’s eye and giving the manager enough time to run.
That split-second diversion likely saved the manager’s life and enabled police to kill Shawn Bair Wednesday night at Martin’s Super Market.
With the gunman distracted, the manager ran down a store aisle, Indiana State Police Sergeant Trent Smith said Thursday. Bair ran down a parallel aisle before pulling out a large knife. Officers then shot him, Smith said.
Police are trying to determine a motive.
--more--"
Time to get outta this place:
"LAX officers left scene before shooting" by Tami Abdollah | Associated Press, January 23, 2014
LOS ANGELES — Minutes before a gunman opened fire in a Los Angeles International Airport terminal last fall, killing a security screener and wounding three other people, the two armed officers assigned to the area left for breaks without informing a dispatcher as required.
Hmmmmm!
The Los Angeles Airport Police Department officers were outside Terminal 3 when authorities say Paul Ciancia opened fire with an assault rifle, two law enforcement officials said. The officials requested anonymity, saying they were briefed on the shooting but were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
As terrified travelers dived for cover, TSA officers — who are unarmed — fled the screening area without hitting a panic button or using a landline to call for help. It took a call from an airline contractor to a police dispatcher, who then alerted officers over the radio — a lag of nearly 90 seconds, the officials said.
So now TSA is going to have to be armed.
Yes, all authority must be armed as they disarm you!
Before officers could get to the scene, Ciancia fatally wounded TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez and then headed to the screening area where he shot two more agents and a traveler, authorities said. Ciancia was subdued after being wounded by officers in the gate area of the terminal.
As part of a review prompted by the shooting, the TSA is considering allowing screeners to carry phones while working, according to an agency official close to the inquiry who requested anonymity.
Oh, they are going to get phones, too (they didn't have their own already?).
Officials need to decide whether the ability for agents to call for help in an emergency trumps the potential distraction from the phones.
In other words, they can play around on the phone all day because this was a hoax, folks.
The new details about the whereabouts of the two officers and communication issues come as authorities review the overall response, including whether emergency medical personnel were forced to wait longer than necessary to remove Hernandez so he could be taken to a hospital.
That is not good.
--more--"
Related:
Accused denies killing TSA agent at LA airport
LAX Hoax
LAX Question Answered
Parking This Post About the LAX Shooting
Explosions at LAX
This next article also is:
"Inquiry launched into officer’s killing in Calif." by Terry Collins and Channing Joseph | Associated Press, January 23, 2014
OAKLAND, Calif. — A San Francisco Bay Area public transit officer who was shot and killed by a fellow officer while searching an apartment was looking for a smartphone and related items that had been stolen, the transit agency police chief said Wednesday.
However, Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Kenton Rainey declined to disclose any further details about how Sergeant Tom Smith was shot Tuesday, deferring those questions to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting.
Rainey said at a news conference that there were seven BART officers and a sheriff’s deputy at the scene when the shooting occurred. A robbery suspect was in custody, and the officers were searching his apartment in Dublin as part of an investigation into the theft of BART property.
Investigators were trying to determine whether an officer’s weapon discharged accidentally, or if Smith was mistaken for someone else.
???????
--more--"
Reminds one of the Todashev killing, doesn't it?
"New Bedford officer shot during drug raid; Detective has been released from hospital and is expected to make full recovery, officials say" by Wesley Lowery and Gal Tziperman Lotan | Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent, January 25, 2014
NEW BEDFORD — A narcotics police detective who was shot late Friday night while executing a search warrant for drugs at a New Bedford apartment was discharged from a Rhode Island hospital Saturday and expected to fully recover, city officials said….
He is in good spirits, and is going to make a speedy recovery.
Two men were arrested at the scene following the shooting, and another three people who were in the apartment at the time — two men and a woman — were handed grand jury subpoenas and could face charges.
Police said a group of narcotics officers tried to break open the door of Apartment 2 at 244 Davis St., about 11:20 p.m. Friday to execute a search warrant.
As officers hit the door, which was barricaded with a security bar, Nathan Manuel-Jackson, 20, allegedly started shooting at them from inside the apartment, according to police….
Eventually, the occupants of the apartment agreed to remove the security bar and allow officers inside….
Boston cops sure are showing a lot of restraint these days.
The acceptable kind of killing:
"Family protests use of drugs in Ohio execution" by Andrew Welsh-Huggins | Associated Press, January 26, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The prolonged execution of an inmate during which he repeatedly gasped and snorted amounted to cruel and unusual punishment that should not be allowed to happen again, the inmate’s family said in a federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed late Friday, also alleges the drug maker that produced the medications illegally allowed them to be used for an execution and should be prohibited from making them available for capital punishment.
Dennis McGuire “repeated cycles of snorting, gurgling and arching his back, appearing to writhe in pain,” the lawsuit said. “It looked and sounded as though he was suffocating.”
McGuire’s execution Jan. 16 lasted 26 minutes, the longest since the state resumed putting inmates to death in 1999, according to an Associated Press analysis of all 53 execution logs maintained by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
It remains unclear what McGuire experienced. The AP observed him appearing to fall unconscious and remaining so while he snorted, gasped, and opened and shut his mouth repeatedly.
McGuire’s execution, during which his adult children sobbed in dismay, has led to several calls for a moratorium on capital punishment in the state.
I think the death penalty should be abolished. Too many mistakes and frame-ups in AmeriKa, although I am willing to make exceptions for war criminals and looters. Let God sort them out.
In addition, a separate federal lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to stop the March execution of a northeast Ohio killer on the grounds that condemned inmates could be clinically alive for as long as 45 minutes after a time of death is announced in the state death chamber.
Lawyers for Gregory Lott, who is scheduled to die March 19 for setting an East Cleveland man on fire in 1986 and leaving him to die, also say Ohio is breaking state and federal law by using the drugs without a prescription.
The lawsuit by McGuire’s family targets Lake Forest, Ill.-based Hospira Inc., the manufacturer of the drugs used in McGuire’s execution.
The company knew its drugs were being used for executions but continued to sell them to Ohio, according to the lawsuit, which seeks damages above $75,000.
Hospira should have known that the drugs “would cause unnecessary and extreme pain and suffering during the execution process,” the lawsuit said.
In 2011, Hospira ended production of sodium thiopental, a drug used by many states for executions, including Ohio, after it couldn’t guarantee to Italian authorities where its factory was located that the drug wouldn’t be used for capital punishment.
The company also has prohibited other drugs from being used in executions, and will take the same steps for midazolam and hydromorphone, the drugs used in the McGuire execution, according to a company statement.
Medical experts wouldn’t comment on McGuire’s execution or speculate about what he experienced. They agreed that used for surgeries, the two drugs by themselves wouldn’t cause pain.
“They are actually used to prevent any pain or discomfort, in a surgical procedure or any other kind of procedure as well,” said Robert Weber, administrator for pharmacy services at the Ohio State University medical center.
--more--"
Related: Executing This Post Will Take a Few Minutes
Also see: The Biggest Gun Dealers on Planet Earth
And you wonder why I'm all fired up and crazy?
LAX Question Answered
Parking This Post About the LAX Shooting
Explosions at LAX
This next article also is:
"Inquiry launched into officer’s killing in Calif." by Terry Collins and Channing Joseph | Associated Press, January 23, 2014
OAKLAND, Calif. — A San Francisco Bay Area public transit officer who was shot and killed by a fellow officer while searching an apartment was looking for a smartphone and related items that had been stolen, the transit agency police chief said Wednesday.
However, Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Kenton Rainey declined to disclose any further details about how Sergeant Tom Smith was shot Tuesday, deferring those questions to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting.
Rainey said at a news conference that there were seven BART officers and a sheriff’s deputy at the scene when the shooting occurred. A robbery suspect was in custody, and the officers were searching his apartment in Dublin as part of an investigation into the theft of BART property.
Investigators were trying to determine whether an officer’s weapon discharged accidentally, or if Smith was mistaken for someone else.
???????
--more--"
Reminds one of the Todashev killing, doesn't it?
"New Bedford officer shot during drug raid; Detective has been released from hospital and is expected to make full recovery, officials say" by Wesley Lowery and Gal Tziperman Lotan | Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent, January 25, 2014
NEW BEDFORD — A narcotics police detective who was shot late Friday night while executing a search warrant for drugs at a New Bedford apartment was discharged from a Rhode Island hospital Saturday and expected to fully recover, city officials said….
He is in good spirits, and is going to make a speedy recovery.
Two men were arrested at the scene following the shooting, and another three people who were in the apartment at the time — two men and a woman — were handed grand jury subpoenas and could face charges.
Police said a group of narcotics officers tried to break open the door of Apartment 2 at 244 Davis St., about 11:20 p.m. Friday to execute a search warrant.
As officers hit the door, which was barricaded with a security bar, Nathan Manuel-Jackson, 20, allegedly started shooting at them from inside the apartment, according to police….
Eventually, the occupants of the apartment agreed to remove the security bar and allow officers inside….
Boston cops sure are showing a lot of restraint these days.
--more--"
Related: New Bedford deaths were murder-suicide, DA says
Also see: Small earthquake strikes near New Bedford
Scallops giving New Bedford fishermen a welcome break
Gerena Gets Canned
Related: New Bedford deaths were murder-suicide, DA says
Also see: Small earthquake strikes near New Bedford
Scallops giving New Bedford fishermen a welcome break
Gerena Gets Canned
The acceptable kind of killing:
"Family protests use of drugs in Ohio execution" by Andrew Welsh-Huggins | Associated Press, January 26, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The prolonged execution of an inmate during which he repeatedly gasped and snorted amounted to cruel and unusual punishment that should not be allowed to happen again, the inmate’s family said in a federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed late Friday, also alleges the drug maker that produced the medications illegally allowed them to be used for an execution and should be prohibited from making them available for capital punishment.
Dennis McGuire “repeated cycles of snorting, gurgling and arching his back, appearing to writhe in pain,” the lawsuit said. “It looked and sounded as though he was suffocating.”
McGuire’s execution Jan. 16 lasted 26 minutes, the longest since the state resumed putting inmates to death in 1999, according to an Associated Press analysis of all 53 execution logs maintained by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
It remains unclear what McGuire experienced. The AP observed him appearing to fall unconscious and remaining so while he snorted, gasped, and opened and shut his mouth repeatedly.
McGuire’s execution, during which his adult children sobbed in dismay, has led to several calls for a moratorium on capital punishment in the state.
I think the death penalty should be abolished. Too many mistakes and frame-ups in AmeriKa, although I am willing to make exceptions for war criminals and looters. Let God sort them out.
In addition, a separate federal lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to stop the March execution of a northeast Ohio killer on the grounds that condemned inmates could be clinically alive for as long as 45 minutes after a time of death is announced in the state death chamber.
Lawyers for Gregory Lott, who is scheduled to die March 19 for setting an East Cleveland man on fire in 1986 and leaving him to die, also say Ohio is breaking state and federal law by using the drugs without a prescription.
The lawsuit by McGuire’s family targets Lake Forest, Ill.-based Hospira Inc., the manufacturer of the drugs used in McGuire’s execution.
The company knew its drugs were being used for executions but continued to sell them to Ohio, according to the lawsuit, which seeks damages above $75,000.
Hospira should have known that the drugs “would cause unnecessary and extreme pain and suffering during the execution process,” the lawsuit said.
In 2011, Hospira ended production of sodium thiopental, a drug used by many states for executions, including Ohio, after it couldn’t guarantee to Italian authorities where its factory was located that the drug wouldn’t be used for capital punishment.
The company also has prohibited other drugs from being used in executions, and will take the same steps for midazolam and hydromorphone, the drugs used in the McGuire execution, according to a company statement.
Medical experts wouldn’t comment on McGuire’s execution or speculate about what he experienced. They agreed that used for surgeries, the two drugs by themselves wouldn’t cause pain.
“They are actually used to prevent any pain or discomfort, in a surgical procedure or any other kind of procedure as well,” said Robert Weber, administrator for pharmacy services at the Ohio State University medical center.
--more--"
Related: Executing This Post Will Take a Few Minutes
Also see: The Biggest Gun Dealers on Planet Earth
And you wonder why I'm all fired up and crazy?
