Jacksonville Mass Shooting

[raljr1]

A racially motivated shooting in Jax yesterday. Three victims and the shooter dead.

I listened to the Jacksonville Sheriff, T.K. Waters talk at length about the incident. I have liked this guy since we started seeing more of him before the election. Level headed, intelligent, and plain speaking.

I listened to him recite the timeline of what happened down to the second. No notes, and it did not appear that he was working from a prompter because he was looking all around the room as he spoke. Not sure how he did it but I was impressed.

During the Q&A he reassured the reporters that the guns were purchased legally, that the FFLs who sold the guns did everything according to law, and there was no way that the dealers or Law enforcement could have foreseen this happening.

One inevitable question about the AR came up, and the sheriff's response to that was, (paraphrased) " Everyone tries to make it about the gun. People are evil. I could set my gun on this podium, and nothing will happen. In the hands of an evil person bad things happen. It's not about the gun, it's about the fact that there are evil people out there."

Now I really like him.

Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones.

 

[Beemerguy53]

The perpetrator of this crime was just 21 years old.

Now, it's been almost 50 years since I was 21, but I remember being idealistic, optimistic for the most part, and excited about my recently-started fire service career.

I will never, ever understand how someone so young could be so filled with hatred and rage that he could commit such an act of pure evil...

 

[Rustyt1953]

A 16 year old fataly stabbed another 16 year old today at a D.C. McDonald's over sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Evil most certainly walks amongst us.

 

[Beemerguy53]

A 16 year old fataly stabbed another 16 year old today at a D.C. McDonald's over sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Evil most certainly walks amongst us.

Good point, Rusty...the daily news in many places these days is full of stories of young people with no self-control inflicting deadly violence on others for trivial reasons. (In my own normally-peaceable county, two seventeen year-olds fatally stabbed a peer last Friday during an argument.)

But for a 21-year old to paint swastikas on his weapons...don tactical gear...and then deliberately target folks he doesn't know, who've done him no harm, simply because of their race? How in the world does that happen?

 

[FlyTyinFool]

...How in the world does that happen?

Just wait until the COVID kids go out unsupervised in a few years.

They haven't been studying or practicing acceptable social behavior.

Sad, but true...

 

[Eric300]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JSroiDGJ3E[/ame]

 

[Rudi]

The manifesto of the Nashville school shooter is still a secret. The UNC shooter has already vanished from the news because...........

 

[NFrameFred]

Good point, Rusty...the daily news in many places these days is full of stories of young people with no self-control inflicting deadly violence on others for trivial reasons. (In my own normally-peaceable county, two seventeen year-olds fatally stabbed a peer last Friday during an argument.)

But for a 21-year old to paint swastikas on his weapons...don tactical gear...and then deliberately target folks he doesn't know, who've done him no harm, simply because of their race? How in the world does that happen?

The tree is dying because the roots have been severed; the pillars that held up the roof are crumbling at their bases - when the foundation is neglected decay sets in and the house falls. People in their arrogance and hubris have decided they are the pinnacle and masters of their own lives and not bound by any "imaginary" law giver. The framers of our Constitution plainly acknowledged that the principles outlined and the statutes that made up the document could only be used to govern a moral people. When people define their own morality anything goes; one man's "morals" are just "his opinion" and no better than the next guy that believes he is entitled to his own and refuses to be bound by any arbitrary rules or laws. Many of us believe we're reaching a tipping point (if we haven't already) where there are more of 'them' than 'us'. That's one reason these looney tunes and their 'sovereign citizen' silliness are drawing members into the cult en masse. That's the reason life gets cheaper every day and some people are devolving into brute animals. We see our justice system and the officials tasked in upholding the principles selling out to greed, politics, tribalism and humanism. You don't have to be a congressman . . . if you gotta enough cash you can just own your own.

How does this happen, you ask? . . . You ain't seen nothing yet, says I.