A man whose wife and daughter were moving away from the Roslyn Heights home where they had been living apart from him for the past year shot them and his mother-in-law Friday before turning the gun on himself, Nassau police said, in a bloodbath that rocked a quiet neighborhood.
The man's estranged wife was the sole survivor of the shotgun blasts that took her daughter and mother, then the man himself, police said.
The angry husband and father was named Mohamed Shojaeifard, 49 years old. He shot and killed his mother in-law, Batool Biraman, 66, his daughter, Mandana Shojaeifard, 17, and seriously wounded his estranged wife, Haleh Mohseni, 40, before turning the gun on himself.
For me the only thing worse than this is when the guy kills his wife and only wounds himself. That happens every once in a while. But, what you almost never hear is the wife and mother killing her entire family with a gun. I know Andrea Yates used another means, but even so, it's rather rare. Mr. Shojaeifard provides us with yet another illustration of my ever popular theory that guns are bad news for women.
What's your opinion? Does the fact that he used a shotgun mean there's nothing we could have done to prevent this? After all, shotguns are as American as apple pie; not even the most fanatical gun control proponent talks about banning them.
The assault-style shotgun used in the attack is marketed for self-defense. Nassau County does not require registration of such weapons. The gun found in Shojaeifard's car was a traditional shotgun with a stock.
Some of my critics might be surprised that I actually agree it's not just about the gun. More than the particular weapon used, I think it's the mindset which says if you've got a problem, blasting away with a gun is a viable option. We see it all the time with young people. Do you think the attitude of legitimate gun owners feeds into this in some way? Don't they have a similar attitude? If someone steps out of line too far, in the judgment of the gun owner, blasting away with a gun is a viable option.
The problem with that is, number one, many legitimate gun owners are not qualified to make such life and death judgments, and number two, the general attitude of fixing a sticky situation with bullets knows no boundaries; it permeates the world of legal gun owners as well as that of the criminals as well as that of the unbalanced like Shojaeifard.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
"not even the most fanatical gun control proponent talks about banning them."
ReplyDeleteExcept the Brady Campaign, the VPC and IANSA.
Is your position so weak that you must resort to bald-faced lies in order to push your agenda?
The rest of your post is nothing more than a personal attack which compliments your intellectual dishonesty quite nicely.
Mom admits drowning 2 children/ Lamar woman told investigators
ReplyDeleteShe took off Gabriel's clothes and diaper before placing him face up in the tub. She held him under until he stopped breathing.
Four-year-old Grace Headlee was in the master bedroom when her mother grabbed her by the neck to take her into the bathroom.
She undressed the girl before putting her face up next to Gabriel.
In one account, she pushed her daughter's head under until she died. Later, she said she didn't push her under and wasn't sure if she drowned.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20031021/ai_n10028527/
A deranged Long Island mom killed her three young children - apparently by drowning them - and laid their wet corpses side by side on her bed, police sources said yesterday.
Leatrice Brewer, 27, then called 911, but may have tried to kill herself first, the sources said.
A homicide detective said today one child's throat was cut and all three showed signs of possible poisoning.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02252008/news/regionalnews/mom_drowns_3_kids__li_cops_99233.htm
According to a statement she gave police, Yates drowned her children one after the other in the family’s bathtub. She told the authorities that she had first drowned the younger sons—John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke 2. While she was attempting to do the same to her six-month-old daughter, seven-year-old Noah walked in and asked, “What’s wrong with Mary?”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jul2001/yate-j02.shtml
Need I go on?
Does it really matter what tool a person uses to commit murder?
"Does it really matter what tool a person uses to commit murder?"
ReplyDeleteIt does if your goal is to ban guns.
kaveman, I assure you I'm not resorting to lies to push my agenda. I have never heard anyone suggest banning all guns including shotguns. I imagine they're out there, the internet has everything, but what I keep hearing from Helmke is "let's keep dangerous weapons away from dangerous people." Isn't that his mantra?
ReplyDelete"but what I keep hearing from Helmke is "let's keep dangerous weapons away from dangerous people." Isn't that his mantra?"
ReplyDeleteYup, except that Helmke and his ilk consider everything from a .22 rifle with a 10 rd. tubular magazine to a .308 deer rifle to be "dangerous weapons." They want to ban everything and always have.
As far as "dangerous people." They consider every gun owner "dangerous" and assume that even if they're law abiding, it's just a matter of time till they go bad. Like you Mike, Paul doesn't have any respect for innocent until proven guilty.
Not the first time Cliff has said it
ReplyDelete#16 by Cliff Lyon - August 8th, 2009 at 14:46
Linoge,
How do you get ’self-defense’ here? The gun freak chick made a direct threat.
Particularly interesting that today, thanks to Mr. “cold dead hands” a reference to the Second amendment is a death threat.
We should be very honest about how stupid these people are. It is not only possible, but likely that these people think the Second Amendment makes it legal to shoot someone who disagrees with you for violating your First amendment right to free speech.
Before Obama brought the serious freaks out into day light, I would have thought, ‘nobody could seriously be that stupid.’
Buts that’s no longer the case. These people, these pro-life, tea party, birthers, astroturfers and all the assholes stockpiling ammo, these people are our Taliban.
The NIE warning was right on. Its time to start confiscating guns NOW!
Maybe Cliff's right.
ReplyDeletehttp://oneutah.org/2009/08/08/nra-american-domestic-terrorists/#comment-145175