Another fucking spree shooting. Great.

The U.S. was wracked by a record high 610 mass shootings in 2020, the most of any year since the organization began tracking the number in 2014.

well. fuck.

They still haven't caught the guy in Austin, sounds like it was more of a domestic incident and did not actually appear at the shopping center. Her coworkers were finally allowed to leave the stock room and go home about 1 1/2 hours ago.

How did we have more mass shootings in 2020 during the pandemic?

I was wondering the same thing. I thought they were really low and recently spiked again.

I think they did go down during the worst months, but there were a ton early last year before the pandemic, and then some in the fall too.

I take that back, the summer was the worst. It is part of the overall crime increases that a lot of cities saw — a lot of mass shooting don't register to us as "mass shootings" because they're part of criminal enterprises rather than random events.

It’s being reported that the Austin shooter was a former cop.

RIP :(

This fucking country. The headline really says it all:

There were at least 9 mass shootings across the US this weekend

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/us/us-weekend-mass-shootings/index.html

Fun Terrifying country you've got over there

It's just so depressing to know that nothing is going to move the needle to enact any meaningful change. By living in America in 2021, we've all just tacitly agreed to shoulder the risk of being shot in a mass shooting.

JUST IN: San Jose officials say "there are multiple injuries and multiple fatalities" from shooting at VTA facility, cautioning that information is "preliminary." https://t.co/qEvtxR3I4n pic.twitter.com/FHWbhje4R8

— ABC News (@ABC) May 26, 2021

JFC:

https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Active-shooter-downtown-San-Jose-16204454.php

Another day in America

The mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo, said in an interview that “at least several people” were killed in the shooting. He said the facility had been evacuated.

“It appears that the suspect’s house is on fire but that there was nobody inside,” Mr. Liccardo said. “There’s a strange connection here between arson and the shooting.”

I work close by, boss called and told me to go home, colleague lives 2 blocks away from the VTA site

fucking america

I thought this revive might have been about the 12 mass shootings we had over the weekend but, of course not. This fucking country.

2021 is definitely off to a worse start, according to the wikipedia tracker there were 178 mass shootings in America as of April 30th. There were 108 over the same period in 2020.

All those shooters working from home last year tho

Not for the first three months of 2020 though. Unfortunately the wiki sources don't have a handy summary table for the years prior to 2020 for me to keep going without more time than I care to spend at the moment.

Nine dead and here in the UK you have to scroll down most news websites before even seeing it mentioned

Even the NY Times you have to scroll more than a third of the way down before seeing an article about it.

i read that the shooting took place during a union meeting? enclosed space aspect always adds an extra layer of horror

so awful & terrifying

Fuck fuck fuck 8 people and America is yawning

My buddy grew up with the shooter. :/

Eesh. I'm sorry to hear that.

yeah cosign, that’s rough

single digits? no obvious gimmick. it's just another mass shooting in america, then, not a headline event.

sorry, DJI, just read that. i don't mean to demean all these events, it's just fucking crazy how often this happens

Nine dead and here in the UK you have to scroll down most news websites before even seeing it mentioned

Yes, this incident is strangely invisible in the British media.

Fucking hell

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/30/us/florida-shooting/index.html

"This type of gun violence has to stop. Every weekend, it's the same thing. This is targeted. This is definitely not random," said Ramirez.

It has to stop, surely

imagine how many more would have been shot if Director Ramirez wasn't on the job

At least 13 injured in spree shooting in Austin's 6th Street district early this morning.

Fwiw, today is also the 5th anniversary of the Pulse mass murders.

yeah the mood is somewhat somber today here in Orlando, lots of tributes to the 49 fallen going on, news specials. hard to believe it's been 5 years.

Looks like a potentially terrible mass shooting may have been prevented by a hotel employee in Chicago. A separate article (paywalled) mentions he also had a laser sight:

An Iowa man now faces felony charges after police say an employee discovered a rifle inside a room at Chicago's W Hotel pointed in a "very suspicious position" over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Keegan Casteel, 32, of Ankeny, Iowa, was charged with two felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon without a FOID card for having two guns inside his hotel room Sunday evening.

According to police, an employee at the W Hotel, located in the 600 block of N. Lake Shore Drive, reported to officers that a 32-year-old man had a rifle inside a hotel room.

Officers responded and found a handgun, along with the rifle, and rifle magazines on the windowsill of the room.

"Obviously very concerning given the position of W Hotel to Navy Pier," Brown said.

Casteel's room was located on the 12th floor, high above a very crowded Ohio Street Beach.

Police said they are tracing both the rifle and the handgun, but Casteel has no criminal history and admitted to officers he had the weapons before they entered his room. He has a valid gun permit in Iowa, but not a valid FOID card in Illinois.

Casteel was taken into custody without incident, according to authorities, though his motive remains unclear.

An investigation remains ongoing, Brown said, with a joint terrorism task force investigating.

Authorities praised the housekeeper who reported the weapons.

"This employee saw something by entering the room to clean it that likely prevented a tragedy from happening," Brown said. "So it’s significant and very valuable and we ought to heed a lot of praise on that employee for being aware and letting us know so we can react quickly and potentially avoid a tragedy."

I think he means “heap a lot of praise”

Yeah, I caught that too. Had to beg out of reading the reddit thread about this since it's filled with "how can we assume bad intent"/"it's perfectly reasonable for a tourist to arm themselves in such a violent city" morons. According to other articles there was no serial number on the rifle (not clear if it was filed off or what), the rifle was loaded and he had four magazines lined up next to it on the sill.

i’m so tired

the sill was once your safe place

So did he forget to put out the Do Not Disturb sign or did he think there was a maid-guest confidentiality law?

xpost, irl lol & thank u

Afaik, those "do not disturb" signs are a courtesy and that most hotels are still allowed to access a room at least once every 24 hours even if one is hung on the door.

#UPDATE: Iowa man arrested for hotel guns pops the question after jail release https://t.co/4SbFsq48Jr pic.twitter.com/UhcOFfFhZt

— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) July 8, 2021

what are hotel guns

So was the proposal a back up plan if his mass shooting failed or was it all part of the plan?

This marriage proposal was made upon advice of counsel.

"Honey ... will you ... will you ... be a person who can't testify against me?"

She doesn't mind the spree killing as long as he puts the toilet seat down

After the proposal, he drove right to the othodontist to get adult braces. Then he refinanced his home and planted some blue agave pups.