DA assinations in TX

[25elk]

Did anyone else notice this or am I imagining things? I have been following this story on Fox news and after seeing multiple interviews with the local sheriff and others it seems the local authorities are being extremely cautious in what they release. No motive, no suspects, no information. Yet last evening on our local channel which I believe is an NBC affiliate, when broadcasting the story on the national level the first words out of the news anchor's mouth was that the DA and his wife were shot with an "assault rifle". This is the only reference to how they were murdered and I find it highly suspect and just another instance of how our news is manipulated.

 

[desi2358]

News readers have the habit of blabbing away without any real info or facts. Since "assault rifles" are one of their personal demons I'm not at all surprised they would blame one as it furthers their agenda of terrifying the ignorant public.

Personally I would be far more worried that this could be another case of the drug cartels extending their wars into the US as there has been at least one previous attack on a DA that was suspected of cartel involvement. If the violence from mexico starts to really spread up here things could get very bad fast and the media would surely love to use it to push their own agendas.

 

[Texas Star]

I also heard the bit about an assault rifle. But I've seen a H-K MP-5 SMG portrayed on the news as an assault rifle, too. The talking heads don't know guns well, just that if they use emotional terms enough, they may get them banned.

One reason why I doubt the assault rifle theory is that the neighbors heard no shots. That sounds to me more like a silenced 9mm SMG or pistols.

Both this last event and the prior murder of the other prosecutor in that county seem like professional hits. I do suspect drug cartels.

 

[jaykellogg]

I read that officials are looking into white supremacists. They think this murder may be linked to another a couple of months ago. Apparently neighbors heard the gunshots but assumed they were thunder. 5.56 has a kind of distinctive sound. It wouldn't be my first choice if I was going to commit a crime like this.

 

[Texas Star]

I'm thinking more like AK-47's. The neighbors I heard hadn't heard anything. I guess they found others.

If it is white supremists from prison gangs, the guy that was killed driving down here after killing the Colorado prisons director and a pizza man may have been on his way to kill the Kaufman County DA, but got killed by cops first. So, they sent someone else??

The Texas Rangers and FBI are involved, so somethng may shake loose soon as they review past and pending cases.

 

[Old TexMex]

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/media_and_communications/threatOverview.pdf

Posted elsewhere, but relevant to this issue,and acknowledged as such in this PDF. (unclassified doc.)

 

[25elk]

Addition to my original post. Fox just announced that the weapon was a caliber .223. Just don't want to be accused of passing along erroneous information.

 

[Harrison]

Drug cartels have been active in the states that border Mexico for years. Not much can be done as long as the border remains wide open.

 

[4011]

Local news last night had a neighbor on that stated it sound like an assault rifle.

 

[jaykellogg]

What does an assault rifle sound like? Just kidding. If it was Mexican gangs they could have used full auto. Of course, anyone can, but the Mexican gangs get a lot of their guns from the Mexican army (in spite of what the US government tells you).

.223/5.56 is a very loud round. If you're going to commit a double killing in a residential area it would be better to select something that can't be heard a half mile away. The only advantage I could imagine is ballistic armor would probably not stop it. I assume whomever did the killing could have chosen from multiple guns and calibers.

Mexican gangs have used this tactic in Mexico for years. That may backfire on whomever did the killings. The USA has so many layers of law enforcement it could trigger an avalanche of scrutiny.

 

[GKC]

I live in (or actually outside the city limits of) Kaufman. The ADA was killed in the parking lot of the Kaufman county courthouse in January. Now, the DA and his wife have been killed in their home outside of Forney, about 15 miles from where I live. The articles I have read indicate that officials now think it may be retaliation from the Aryan Brotherhood, since the DA's office was involved in prosecuting them for racketeering, and the AB has sworn revenge. At first, in the ADA's murder, they speculated that it might be linked to a large drug bust he had prosecuted, but now the focus seems to be on the AB.

I don't know any more than this, but whatever it is, it sure doesn't seem like any kind of coincidence. It does make you wonder how they got to the couple in their home...since he was supposedly on extra vigilance and expected the possibility of violence.

It is shocking when something like this happens in a small, quiet town you live in...you aren't surprised to read about this in places like Chicago or Detroit, but here...no way. Just goes to show what a violent world we all live in...it can and does affect us all.

Of course, if we had universal background checks and magazine capacity limits, I'm sure that these violent criminals would have been deterred from their murderous intent. Even more so, if assault rifles had been completely banned, the bad guys would have been totally stymied!

What a crock.

 

[Fishslayer]

Drug cartels have been active in the states that border Mexico for years. Not much can be done as long as the border remains wide open.

Just doing murder, kidnapping and extortion American cartels don't want to do...

Local news last night had a neighbor on that stated it sound like an assault rifle.

Oh good grief mother o' pearl... :facepalm:

 

[COL Jagdog]

News reports also list the DA as carrying a pistol with him everywhere, including when answering the front door, a practice he adopted after the asst DA was killed -- the DA was also quoted in previous news reports as having 23 years of Army experience and thus was better prepared (according to him) to react to trouble or intruders --
I have not seen anything suggesting that the DA returned fire or that he didn't return fire -- it appears they caught him off-guard -- or there is more info than is being released.

 

[GKC]

the DA was also quoted in previous news reports as having 23 years of Army experience and thus was better prepared (according to him) to react to trouble or intruders

I read that quote, and I have to say it sounded like someone who was too sure of himself. Of course, it was reported after he had already been murdered, so it is easy to draw that inference.

I wonder why he didn't have some sort of security, like armed bodyguards. Perhaps he felt he didn't need them, I don't know...but in his case, and with the resources available to him from his office, he sure should have had more security.

 

[bettis1]

Most recent report is that his wife answered the door and was shot in the head. He was shot multiple times (12+) further in the house and he was wearing his pajamas. So probably the event occurred so rapidly that he was unable to respond appropriately. There was a major electrical storm in the area that night and it is easy to see that the sound of the shots could have been confused with the thunder. Houses not close and no reason to expect gunfire of that type in that neighborhood. The DA had a Sheriff security at his home for some time following the shooting of the Asst. DA but that had apparently been discontinued.

Kaufman County has been a major center for methamphetamine production for some time. Aryan Brotherhood and 211 Crew both known in area.

No ties revealed at this point between the deaths of the three persons in Kaufman and the prison official in Colorado but investigations are proceeding in parallel at this time. The shooter of the Colorado official was killed by the police about 100 mi from Kaufman.

 

[jaykellogg]

Not a real savvy move on the criminal's part. It isn't like the authorities don't know who the Aryan Brotherhood's members are. In the '20s and '30s in Chicago the gangs were shooting each other up and pretty much as long as it was gangsters, no one cared. There is going to be tremendous pressure to solve this. I heard his door was kicked in. I also heard he had a police tail 5 days a week.

i think someone poked a hornet's nest. Last week it was local news, now it is national news.

 

[desi2358]

I would certainly hope they catch those responsible though I don't expect our criminal justice system to give them what they deserve. Which is to say a tall tree and a short rope....things are rapidly getting worse all over and the anti-gun media twists everything to support their own agenda.