Shooting Gallery on Skates

Because nothing says celebration of the holidays at a party like a little shooting that hits five or more people .

Gee, maybe these are more people who should not have guns; there is a 50/50 chance they got them from a family member, friend, or a straw purchaser.   THAT makes guns too easy for criminals to get.

Maybe they just saw a mouse and were taking the Utah approach to rodent control?  It's so easy to miss those mice and hit partying people instead.  (Apparently, you can find an image of mice doing almost anything.)


From MSNBC.com and the wire services:

Reports: 5 shot at roller-skating rink near Detroit

Suspects allegedly returned with at least one gun after a fight broke out at festive party

The msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 12/23/2011 6:29:14 AM ET

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — At least five people were shot early Friday at a roller-skating rink in suburban Detroit, according to reports.

The gunfire erupted as a private holiday party ended at Rolladium in the Oakland County community of Waterford Township.
WWJ-AM and television stations WXYZ and WDIV said the suspects returned to the rink with at least one gun at around 2 a.m. after a fight broke out.
WDIV quoted the owner of the business as saying that the group had provided their own security for the event.
The shooting victims were taken to the hospital but their conditions were not known.

Puting the Shoe in Shoe-ting

 Look!

More people who should NEVER have been allowed near a gun!

This was NOT an appropriate situation for either open or concealed carry.  The one shopper who compared this to a firecracker is an idiot.

Emphasis is my addition, in bold, italic, or larger type - DG.

Beyond that - have we become so damned materialistic that we put a pair of stupid shoes ahead of our own safety and the safety of others? This is insanity.

From ABC news in San Francisco:

Air Jordan shoe frenzy sweeps Bay Area malls

Laura Anthony 

RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Michael Jordan hasn't played in the NBA since 2003, but the frenzy over his shoes is as intense as ever. There was commotion, fights, even gunfire as shoppers waited all night and even broke down doors at shopping malls to buy the newest pair of Air Jordans.

Clearly the supply was way out of whack with the demand for the shoes. In some places, the crowds got so out of hand the shoe sales had to be shut down.
The frenzied scene was common all over the country. At one mall in Stockton, shoppers pushed and shoved to get their hands on a pair of $180 Air Jordan 11 Retro Concords.

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At Hilltop Mall in Richmond, gunfire rang out just before 7 a.m. when a 24-year-old man in line for Jordans mistakenly fired his weapon. The man was arrested and no one was hurt. "Right now, it's in the infancy stages of the investigation, but it appears it may have been a negligent discharge or an accidental discharge," Richmond Police Lt. Lori Curran said.
"The shooting, it was really nothing, it was just a little firecracker and the police, they just decided to shut it down because they didn't have the situation controlled," shopper Jonathan Del Valle said.
The mall shut down sales for a time, but later resumed.
At least some of those who bought the pricey shoes walked out and immediately resold them for a profit.
At the Westfield Solano Mall in Fairfield, dozens of police officers from four agencies responded when more than 1,000 shoppers showed up early and pushed a mall door off its hinges.
"The crowd was pushing up against the door on the upper level on the south side and pushed it off its tracks," Fairfield Police Lt. Joe Allio said.
Despite all the commotion, one young man managed to buy one of just 180 pairs before they sold out.
"I barely got in, but I was able to squeeze in and get my pair; it was lucky for me, I was very fortunate," Stephen Panis said.
Besides the one arrest in Richmond, two people in Fairfield were arrested, one for assaulting a police officer.
In contrast to what happened in Richmond and at some other malls, Serramonte Center in Daly City reported no problems. They handed out numbered wrist bands a day ahead of time so that only those who knew they'd get in showed up.
At Tanforan Mall in San Bruno, it went from mob-scene to ghost town when the two shoe stores there sold-out of the new Jordans by early morning.

Geezer with a Gun? Or.......maybe not!

When we think of bank robbers, an old guy face is not the kind of mask most of us think of in that context.  It is worth noting that the response, with the dye packets, to preventing bank robberies, or at least to aid in catching the robbers is non-lethal, exploding dye packs that stain AND STUN, not kill the bad guys.


From MSNBC.com and news services:

Mask may hide age of California's 'Geezer Bandit'

Bank robber appears pretty spry for an old guy hit with dye pack, FBI says

TODAY

Security cameras capture some of the "Geezer Bandit's" bank robberies.

updated 12/23/2011 6:50:45 PM ET

LOS ANGELES — Authorities say a California bank robber branded "The Geezer Bandit" because he appeared to be old might actually be wearing a mask, and the mask may have been damaged after a recent robbery.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Friday the man also was seen running away from his latest heist this month.
The disclosures raise questions about the age of the man suspected of holding up 16 California banks from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.
Investigators have been stymied for more than two years by the bandit, previously believed to be in his 60s or 70s.
The most recent robbery was Dec. 2 in San Luis Obispo when a security dye-pack exploded as the man left the bank and sprinted away.
The FBI this week released new surveillance video of the dye-pack explosion, NBC Los Angeles reported.
The video shows a man walking next to a truck after robbing a Bank of America in San Luis Obispo and becoming surrounded with what looks like red smoke, according to the FBI.
The smoke is actually red dye that came from a dye pack, which is a security device that's implanted in a stack of money to help authorities catch bank robbers by staining them and stunning them.
"You see him drop to the ground, trying to gather some of his belongings and also the money that he stole," said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth.
What happened next may be further proof that The Geezer Bandit is much younger than he appears, Foxworth said. In the video, you can see the man sprinting across the parking lot.
"When you look at that, it would lead you to believe that he doesn't appear to be someone in his 60s or 70s running at that fast of a pace," said Foxworth.
For the past two years since the Geezer robberies began, the FBI has been in contact with companies that make life-like elderly masks, hoping a sales receipt could lead to the Geezer Bandit, Foxworth said.
The mask may have been damaged by the explosion, according to the FBI.
"If it's not made of the right material then (the dye) could permanently stain it, in such a way that it's very noticeable," said Foxworth.
In images taken from inside the bank, the Geezer Bandit is seen carrying his signature day planner against his body, where he hides his gun.
The Geezer left behind the day planner after the dye-pack explosion, according to the FBI. It is now undergoing a forensic examination.
The Geezer Bandit has robbed 16 banks, including 11 in San Diego County. There is a $20,000 reward leading to his capture and conviction.
This article includes reporting from NBCLosAngeles.com and The Associated Press.

Merry Deathmas

Inanimate objects don't kill people; recklessly disregarding the danger of inanimate objects, ie guns (if we ditch the euphemisms),that are weapons, in the hands of people kill other people.

This was a preventable tragedy.  This was an avoidable death.  This endangered not only the child who died but other people who could have been hurt, including in OTHER apartments, including an adult who had to take the gun away from the child.

Not every person who wants a gun - including those not prohibited by law - should have a gun.  Not every person who wants a gun is safe with a gun, although I have yet to encounter any person who doesn't believe, emphatically, that they are safe with a gun, no matter what happens with it.

Gun nuts like the ones who comment here believe that we have to accept as a society that these things happen, rather than have stricter or more rigorous standards for gun ownership, and security requirements for storage of firearms.

I will follow this story as it unfolds.  I'm betting given the absence of any reference to this gun being illegal in this reporting, that it was legally owned and transported.

I expect that this is another person who insisted he NEEDED a gun for protection for that self defense occasion that in practice rarely if ever occurs, and which so very very often could be handled instead with non-lethal alternatives like pepper spray or stun guns or tasers.  This is one more case that makes the argument that those who need guns to make them FEEL safe, not BE safe, are dangerous.  That is a danger to us, and a danger to themselves and their family and friends, far more than they are hazardous to threatening criminals.

Any of those things used by the 3 year old would have been horrible for the 5 year old, but it is unlikely they would have been fatal.  Any problems resulting from one of those alternatives could be reasonably expected to be resolved, to be gotten over.  No one needed to die just so someone else could have the illusion, the DElusion, of safety.

Where was the trigger lock? Where was the locked container securing the gun, unloaded?  Where was the separately stored ammo in a similarly LOCKED container? This man was from another state - how securely was this weapon transported?  Gee, do you think deaths like THIS could just maybe explain why stricter states DON'T want reciprocity for careless gun owners from other states, who can too easily acquire weapons and then behave like this?

Events like this are a good example of why some parents don't want their children visiting the homes of their children's friends where the parents own guns.

NBC News and msnbc.com

updated 12/24/2011 6:35:41 AM ET 

Reports: Boy, 3, fatally shoots his 5-year-old friend

Kansas man faces charges of child abuse resulting in death and criminal negligence, KSNW says

A 3-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed a 5-year-old friend on Friday, according to reports.

NBC station KSNW reported that a 23-year-old Kansas man was arrested following the incident in Lakewood, Colorado. He faces charges of child abuse resulting in death and criminal negligence, KSNW said.
The Denver Post identified the suspect as Adam Dean Laham. It reported that he was a family friend who was staying at the apartment.
Bonnie Marin, a spokeswoman for the Lakewood Police Department, told the newspaper that she was unable to confirm whether Laham was in the home at the time of the fatal shooting, which occurred at 9:45 a.m. local time Friday.
KCNC reported that the 5-year-old had been shot in the chest. It said that Laham was the 3-year-old boy's father.
NBC News station KSNW and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.