I’ve just gone from a nasty wisdom tooth abscess to yet another mass shooting societal abscess.
I came home from my dental procedure to the CNN scene of a medical spokesman telling gathered reporters something about a “single gunshot wound to the head.” The reporters were assured it was an ‘unsurvivable’ wound. Later, our president told the viewing audience there were “several shot; some killed.” There are supposedly multiple bodies inside the DC Navy yard. Good God, what now?
So while I’m waiting for the numbness to wear off, there are apparently some victims out there for whom the numbness is permanent. Another great day for Wayne LaPierre and his posse of gun manufacturers who can expect the shelves to once again be emptied of their products in light of this latest high profile shooting.
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I’m treating this story with the same chronology that similar breaking news followed in my reporting days. It’s been but a few hours since the Monday, 8’ish AM fireworks, so we know very little at this point. The single shooter is dead. Early reports indicated there are two other gun-slinger who were not in the building: A white male, armed with a handgun, described as wearing a tan military or faux-military outfit and a black male lugging a long gun and also attired in either real or phony military garb. With breaking news these reports might be accurate, then again, they might not be. All we know is we’re tallying up the total of yet another senseless shooting incident.
Let’s see, was it Colorado that just recalled two big shot Democratic senators for their roles in pushing for sensible gun laws like limiting magazine capacity? Missouri almost passed a law nullifying all federal gun laws in the state and Strum, Ruger & Co is over the moon about soaring sales for their deadly products. They’re even opening a new factory in tiny Mayodan, North Carolina to keep up with demand. They’re hiring 70 people to put their stuff together. I suspect 70 people will be killed within a few hours nationwide to kind of even things out.
Recent offshoots (pardon the pun) of assorted NRA friendly developments have been baby and toddler killings all the way up to a shootout with a 107-year-old. When the smoke had cleared, law enforcement prevented any chance of this ancient citizen gun geezer celebrating number 108. Here’s the basic story of the old gent’s demise from HuffPost.
As often happens in major gun stories, explosive new details emerge that make the story parallel to the 146 mass shootings (4 or more victims) since 2006. At a News conference, Washington DC Police Chief, Cathy Lanier just announced that there are now a dozen fatalities. Earlier sightings of two additional shooters seems to be on the mark. The white male, attired as described appears to be between 40 and 50 and his black running partner around the same age at 5’10” and roughly 180 pounds. The guy that entered Navy Yard building 197 is dead after he silently raised his gun and starting to fire according to witnesses. He’s described as a black male about 6′ tall and wearing all black and armed with at least an AR-15, a shotgun and a handgun. If two possible accomplices really exist (still not verified) it is a disturbing development insofar as they’re still on the loose at last report. The chief also said the FBI is taking the investigative lead, though other agencies will obviously be involved.
During her news conference, Chief Lanier reached out to the public for any further information. She asked anybody who knows anything about this latest shooting obscenity to call 1 800 callFBI. This is the existing number for the Major Case Contact Center so if you do have anything to add, be patient as you’ll initially hear a recording with various prompts.
As first reported by Pete Williams from NBC News we now have the name of the shooter. Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old from Ft. Worth. Alexis will command headlines for the deed, then deep background and pop psychological profiles will emerge; maybe a thrown-together paperback after which he’ll be tossed onto the heap of dead and alive fellow killers of innocents. He had apparently recently signed on as a navy contractor. He flashed someone else’s badge to gain entry to 197. It’s not clear if he had his own clearance as yet. If so, my guess is he expected to escape and somehow wouldn’t be identified.
There will be little to be learned from this latest idiocy. The scripts are the same only the names change. There may be a tiny piece of positive news. It now appears that the shooter was a lone wolf. That story changes hourly because we’re still at the stage that nothing can be taken as gospel so it’s wise to remain cautious. The Washington Post is staying with the original suspects as of this writing. It’ll take days to sort this one out. Then it’s on to the next one.
The Navy Yard is right next to the Washington Nationals major league baseball stadium. There’s a game scheduled for tonight. Ironic that on this occasion the nation’s two pastimes, baseball and gunning people down in cold blood would be in such close proximity to each other.
I’m off to take a pain pill. Not for the tooth, but for the hurt and personal devastation of yet another unnecessary destruction of multiple human beings and by extension, their families and friends all in the name of greed and selfishness of those who could do something about it.
Raised rural & small town, then lived in N.Y., Chicago & LA. Widely traveled. Returned from world wandering to pursue media life of anchorman/reporter and major, medium and small market talk radio. Highly active in politics. Once worked as orderly & security in Mens Lock Ward for the Criminally Insane at a state institution. Much more rational population than current Teapublicans. Great concern for country run by and for the extreme wealthy. The inhumane current running through this country has no precedent in modern history.
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