Gunman kills ten in Alabama

MagicMarker

Forgive me if this has been posted, I had a quick look but didn't see it, even in the American Appreciation thread, which is the first place I'd expect to see it!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0311/alabama.html

A gunman went on the rampage in the US killing at least ten people including members of his own family, before fatally shooting himself.

At least four other people, including a child, were injured in the shootings, which took place across two Alabama counties.

The man burned down his mother's home, killed his grandparents, an uncle and aunt, and shot at strangers on their porches as he drove by, authorities said.

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He then turned the gun on himself at a metals plant.

Frankie Lindsay, chief of police in Geneva County where five people were shot dead, said the man also fired at officers as they chased his vehicle in patrol cars.

He said: 'We had set up a road block here in Geneva anticipating him coming down Highway 52.

My vehicle rammed into the suspect's vehicle and slowed him down enough and he pulled out what looked to me like an AR-15 or M-16 automatic weapon and fired a burst of rounds into my vehicle and my other officer's vehicle. Some of the shrapnel from the bullets entered my shoulder.'

He said the wife and child of a deputy sheriff in Geneva were among the dead.

Mr Lindsay added: 'This is probably the worst incident in the state of Alabama that I know of. I've been in this business for 33 years and this is the worst I've ever seen.'

The afternoon of bloodshed began in Kinston, near the Alabama-Florida border, where the man burned down his mother's house.

Officials found the woman's body inside the house, but were unable to get inside the still-burning house to determine if he shot her first.

The gunman then headed east, into Geneva County, where he shot and killed four adults and a child at a home in the nearby town of Samson. Then he killed one person each in two other homes.

The identities of all the victims were unknown, but the Coffee County coroner Robert Preachers said they included other members of the gunman's family.

'He started in his mother's house,' Mr Preachers said. 'Then he went to Samson and he killed his granny and granddaddy and aunt and uncle.'

'We don't know what triggered it,' Mr Preachers added.

He then killed someone at a Samson supply store, and another person at a service station.

Samson contractor Greg McCullough was at the petrol station when the gunman opened fire, killing a woman coming out of the building and wounding Mr McCullough in the shoulder and arm with bullet fragments that struck his truck and the pump.

'I first thought it was somebody playing,' he said. He said the gunman roared into the parking lot and slammed on his brakes. Then he saw the rifle.

He said the gunman fired and the rifle appeared to jam, then he 'went back to firing'. Then he drove off.

Mr McCullough, a father of two, said he tried to help the woman who was shot and called for someone to call an ambulance.

'I'm just in awe that something like this could take place. That someone could do such a thing. It's just shocking,' Mr McCullough said.

Police pursued the gunman to Reliable Metal Products just north of Geneva, about a 15kms southeast of Samson, where he fired an estimated 30 rounds from a semi-automatic weapon, the Alabama safety department said.

The gunman then went inside the plant and shot himself, according to the safety department's statement.

Now, that's just mean.

Anyone know if Obama has any opinion on gun control?

K-9

RTE wrote:

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He then turned the gun on himself at a metals plant.

Not a great Ad for metal there now.

rovert

Cant believe that this happened in America!

Mingey

'This is probably the worst incident in the state of Alabama that I know of

Worse than lynch mobs?

here.from.day.1

Pretty awful. R.I.P.

JohnGalt

MagicMarker wrote: »

Forgive me if this has been posted, I had a quick look but didn't see it, even in the American Appreciation thread, which is the first place I'd expect to see it!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0311/alabama.html



Now, that's just mean.

Anyone know if Obama has any opinion on gun control?

He should have an opinion on it, and it should be that it is unconstitutional to prevent American people from owning guns.

inforfun

rovert wrote: »

Cant believe that this happened in America!

Someone in Germany shot 10 people in a school today......

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/11/germany.school.shooting/index.html

Relevant

MagicMarker wrote: »

Anyone know if Obama has any opinion on gun control?

Obama just made a statement on Gun control:

Obama wrote:

**** that ****.
You don't need no gun control.

You know what you need?
We need some bullet control.

Man, we need to control the bullets,
that's right.

l think all bullets should cost $500 .

$500 for a bullet. You know why?

'Cause if a bullet costs $500
there'd be no more innocent bystanders.

That'd be it.

Every time someone gets shot, people will
be like, ''Damn, he must have did something.

''****, they put $ 500 worth of bullets
in his ass.''

People would think before
they killed somebody, if a bullet cost $500.

''Man, l would blow your ****ing head off,
if l could afford it.

''l'm gonna get me another job,
l'm gonna start saving some money...

''and you're a dead man.

''You better hope
l can't get no bullets on layaway.''

So even if you get shot by a stray bullet...

you won't have to go to no doctor
to get it taken out.

Whoever shot you
would take their bullet back.

''l believe you got my property.''

That's right, man.

tony1kenobi

Relevant wrote: »

Obama just made a statement on Gun control:

I understand Chris Rock feels the same way.

Rented Mule

rovert wrote: »

Cant believe that this happened in America!

Please don't lump Alabama in with the rest of us.

More tattoos than teeth down there.

Manic Moran

Anyone know if Obama has any opinion on gun control?

Obama certainly has an opinion on gun control, he's in favour of restricting firearms. He's from Chicago, the most anti-gun city in the US. (Used to be D.C., until the Supreme Court sorted DC's laws out). Also one of the most violent cities in the US, for some reason.

His Attorney General also has an opinion on gun control. He was brave enough to make a statement on the matter about two weeks ago. It was not very well received. He was rebuked by numerous people, to include Pelosi and Reid, and other Democrats joined in the chorus of 'Leave the gun laws alone.'

Two reasons. In the case of Pelosi, who herself is anti-gun, because she realises that gun control is a proven vote-loser. If they want to hand Congress back to the Republicans, this is the guaranteed way to go. (Look at 1994: If you thought there was a big swing towards the Democrats as a result of the Republican Iraq policy, look at the swing to the Republicans as a result of the Democrat gun control policy back then). So in her case, it's nothing to do with personal opinion, it's pure political pragmatism.

In the case of Reid and most other Flyover State Democrats, it actually is a matter of principle. They do believe in the right of the people to keep and bear arms and disagree with excessive gun control as a policy in and of itself. Montana is a great case in point. A fairly firmly Democratic state, with a Democratic governor who has "more guns than I need, but not as many as I want", a Secretary of State who threatened that Montana would reconsider its membership in the USA if the right to arms was not upheld (http://sos.mt.gov/News/archives/2008/February/2-19-08.htm) and both Senators, both Democratic, who wrote the A.G. a letter last week http://tester.senate.gov/Newsroom/pr_030309_holderguns.cfm telling him to back off the guns.

In a nutshell, I don't expect any significant new gun control legislation to come from the Obama administration, and I really don't expect any to pass.

NTM