Multiple victim public shooting in Serbia

Another attack in Europe.  From the New York Times:

A 60-year-old man went on a shooting rampage in a village near Belgrade early on Tuesday, killing 13 people, including his son, his wife and a 2-year-old child before attempting suicide, police officials and Serbian media reports said. 

The police and the Serbian media said that the man, identified as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, used a handgun to kill six men, six women and the child, whose parents were among the dead. The Serbian Police director, Milorad Veljovic, said the gunman’s motive was not immediately known. Mr. Bogdanovic had lost his job last year, the Serbian media reported, and was a veteran of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, having fought in Croatia in 1992. 

The killings happened between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. in the sleepy village of Velika Ivanca, 30 miles, southeast of Belgrade. Police officials said Mr. Bogdanovic first shot his son in the head, before leaving his home and going from house to house, where he killed several of his neighbors and relatives, some of whom were sleeping. Mr. Veljovic said that the neighbors in the village had left their doors unlocked and all were shot in the head. . . .  

They said he was not known to have a history of mental illness or a criminal record. The Serb media reported that he had a license for the gun used in the shootings. . . . .

Read More

Progress on what people should do during mass shootings

Well, at least they are now encouraging active resistance by victims and faster responses by police.  It would be even better if they left people defend themselves with guns, but this is a small start.  From The New York Times:

The speed and deadliness of recent high-profile shootings have prompted police departments to recommend fleeing, hiding or fighting in the event of a mass attack, instead of remaining passive and waiting for help. 

The shift represents a "sea change," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which recently held a meeting in Washington to discuss shootings like those in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo. 

The traditional advice to the public has been: "Don't get involved, call 911," Wexler said, adding that "there's a recognition in these 'active shooter' situations that there may be a need for citizens to act in a way that perhaps they haven't been trained for or equipped to deal with." 

Wexler and others noted that the change echoes a transformation in police procedures that began after the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, when some departments began telling officers who arrived first on a scene to act immediately rather than waiting for backup. . . . . 

"We used to sit outside and set up a perimeter and wait for the SWAT team to get there," said Michael Dirden, an executive assistant chief of the Houston Police Department. "Now it's a recognition that time is of the essence, and those initial responders have to go in," he said, adding that since the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, the department has been training first responders to move in on their own when they encounter active gunfire. 

Research on mass shootings over the past decade has bolstered the idea that people at the scene of an attack have a better chance of survival if they take an active stance rather than waiting to be rescued by the police, who in many cases cannot get there fast enough to prevent the loss of life. . . . .

Read More

Newtown Killer himself died within 5 minutes of the attack starting

Note that it took 20 minutes for the police to even arrive outside the school after the first 911 call.  The problem is that someone with a gun needs to be able to arrive on the scene much more quickly than is currently possible.  From Fox News:

An arsenal of weapons including guns, a gun safe with shotgun shells, a bayonet and several swords were found in the home of the gunman who carried out the Newtown school shooting, according to search warrants released Thursday. 

Adam Lanza killed 26 people inside Sandy Hook Elementary School and took his own life within five minutes of shooting his way into the building, State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III said in a statement accompanying the release of the warrants in the Dec. 14 massacre. 

The extensive inventory of the evidence seized from Lanza's home and the car he drove to carry out the massacre provided glimpses into the world of the reclusive gunman. 

Prosecutors until now had made few details available, despite pressure to do so from the governor, who criticized leaks to the press and lawmakers who clamored for more details as they craft legislation on mental health and gun control. . . . 

Sedensky says Lanza killed all 26 victims inside Sandy Hook Elementary School with a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle before taking his own life with a Glock 10 mm handgun. He says Lanza had another loaded handgun with him inside the school as well as three, 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster. . . .

Read More

Media Bias on Multiple Victim Public Shootings

The mainstream media has been willing to quickly jump to the conclusion that some killers have been motivated by right wingers just because they incorrectly think that the killers are themselves right wingers.  Now they find strong and convincing evidence that a killer is a liberal Democrat who is a strong supporter of Piers Morgan and Obama, there is no mention and certainly no emphasis of that in the media.

Read More

Mayors Against Illegal Guns gets supposed list of shootings where guns were allowed all wrong

I have previously noted that there were two multiple victim public shootings that weren't in gun-free zones.  Those were the Gabrielle Giffords and the Carson City, NV IHOP shootings.

In response to my statements, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) has put together a list of their own cases where they claim that more shootings have occurred where guns are allowed.  The group's chairman, John Feinblatt, had a relatively long 255 word letter in the Wall Street Journal publicizing this report.   What should be very clear to anyone who has worked in this area is that you can't simply look at a few news stories to determine whether an attack has occurred in a gun-free zone.  Indeed, as I have complained many times, the media virtually always refuses to mention whether the attack occurred in a gun-free zone (many of my op-eds have also made this point).  For those who follow this blog, it should be fairly clear that others and I do a lot of work in obtaining information about different attacks.  This includes calling the businesses or other facilities involved.  But many times those organizations are uncooperative and in those cases I have spent a lot of time contacting individuals in the area of the attack and asking them if they can provide pictures or other information on the facilities.  Dozens of individuals around the country can attest to me bothering them over the years after these incidents.

Unfortunately, Mayors Against Illegal Guns did not do this work, and they have also inaccurately stated, ignored, or simply missed material that is readily available in news stories.  Let me go through the cases in the MAIG report.

Geneva County, AL, 3/10/09: The shooter killed ten, including four members of his family, before killing himself. 

Shooter Name: Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28 

Gun details: Bushmaster AR-15, SKS Rifle, Shotgun, and .38 Pistol 

Ammo details: Police recovered additional ammunition from his vehicle after the shooting. Gun acquired: Unknown. 

Prohibiting criteria: The shooter had no criminal record and there is no indication he was prohibited from owning a gun. 

Not a gun-free zone: It was lawful to carry a firearm in the public intersection and gas station where two of the individuals were shot.

Nine people were killed by McLendon. In the first shooting in a house on Pullum Street, five people were killed.  There was also a second shooting in another home that left two people dead.  Neither were public places.  It is true that two individuals were killed in separate public places as McLendon was driving along, but that is not a multiple victim public shooting in which at least four are killed in a public place.  However, MAIG’s report implies that all these shootings occurred in a public places.

Lakewood, WA, 11/29/09: The shooter killed four police officers in a Tacoma Coffee shop, eluding police for two days before being killed as he fled.
Shooter Name: Maurice Clemmons, 37
Gun details: When he was killed, he was in possession of the handgun of one of the officers he had killed.
Ammo details: Unknown
Gun acquired: Unknown
Prohibiting criteria: The shooter was prohibited from purchasing a firearm, having been charged with at least 13 felonies across two states. He had posted bail for raping a child just six days before the attack.
Not a gun-free zone: The police officers were armed at the time of the shooting.

I haven't defined gun-free zones in terms of whether police were allowed to carry guns, but whether private citizens are able to readily obtain concealed handguns for their protection.  What is important is that the coffee shop was posted to prevent concealed carry permit holders from carrying.  Presumably MAIG understood this point and that is the reason why they focused on police officers being able to carry in this venue.  Obviously, however, on-duty police can carry any place.  The problem for uniformed police is that they provide an easily identifiable target and it is easy to take them out.  Possibly if the attacker had to worry about permit holders who he could not identify, it would have dissuaded him from attacking.  While I had checked when this event originally occurred, I reconfirmed this information with Dave Workman who lived nearby via email on January 8, 2013.  

Carthage, NC, 3/29/09: The shooter opened fire at a nursing home where his estranged wife worked, killing eight and injuring three before he was shot and arrested by a police officer.
Shooter Name: Robert Stewart, 45
Gun details: .357 Magnum handgun and Winchester 1300 shotgun
Ammo details: Unknown
Gun acquired: The guns were acquired legally from a local sporting good store.
Prohibiting criteria: There is no indication the Stewart was prohibited from owning a gun.
Not a gun-free zone: We could find no indication that the property-owner forbid carrying of firearms on their property.

This facility informed me in April 2009 that they did not allow guns in the facility for either the people living there or the staff.  I called up asking what their policies had been before the attack.

Boston, MA, 09/28/10: The shooter killed four and wounded one during a drug-related robbery.
Shooter Name: Edward Washington, 33, and Dwayne Moore, 35, were both charged in the killings. Washington was acquitted. In Moore’s first trial, the jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of his guilt, but he was later convicted in a retrial.
Gun details: 40-caliber Iberia handgun and 9mm Cobray semiautomatic. The Cobray has not been recovered, but the weapon was identified based on recovered bullets and shell casings.
Ammo details: 14 rounds fired
Gun acquired: Unknown
Prohibiting criteria: Unknown
Not a gun free zone: A person with a Massachusetts Class A license could lawfully carry a firearm in this area. 

Buffalo, NY, 8/14/10: The shooter opened fire on a group of people outside a bar, killing four and wounding four others.
Shooter Name: Riccardo McCray, 24
Gun details: Unknown
Ammo details: Unknown
Gun acquired: Unknown
Prohibiting criteria: McCray had been arrested earlier that year on felony drug charges and the previous year for having a loaded rifle in his car. If he was found guilty of either crime, he would have been prohibited from possessing firearms.
Not a gun-free zone: We could find no indication that it was unlawful to carry a firearm in the area.

Both cities either forbid or make it incredibly difficult for law-abiding citizens to carry concealed handguns for protection.  In Boston it is so bad that even off-duty and retired police are regularly denied unrestricted license to carry permits.

Oak Creek, WI, 8/5/12: The shooter killed six people at a Sikh temple and injured three others, including a responding police officer, before killing himself.
Shooter Name: Wade Michael Page, 40
Gun details: 9mm semiautomatic handgun
Ammo details: Page reportedly bought three 19-round magazines when he purchased the gun.
Gun acquired: Page acquired the gun at a local gun shop a week before the shooting.
Prohibiting criteria: Page was involved with the white supremacist movement but he does not appear to have been prohibited from purchasing a gun. Federal officials investigated Page’s ties to supremacist groups more than once prior to the shooting, but did not collect enough evidence to open an investigation.

From FoxNews.com: “No guns [were] allowed in the temple,” Kulbir Singh, an attendee of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, told FoxNews.com. “Everyone knows that it’s not allowed, anywhere in the temple.” 

Norcross, GA, 2/22/12: The shooter returned to a Korean spa from which he'd been kicked out after an altercation, where he shot and killed two of his sisters and their husbands before committing suicide.
Shooter Name: Jeong Soo Paek, 59
Gun details: .45 caliber handgun
Ammo details: Unknown
Gun acquired: Police reported that he acquired the gun legally.
Prohibiting criteria: Paek does not appear to have been prohibited, although he had allegedly served two months in jail for assaulting his sister six years earlier.
Not a gun-free zone: We could find no indication that the property owner forbade possession of a firearm on their property.

In one of the more difficult conversations that I have had, I spoke with someone at the spa after the attack and they indicated that they were sure that neither the sisters nor their husbands had guns at the spa and that the killer who was the brother of the women knew that was the case.  I was told that the killer knew "nobody there had a gun."  While I don't know what the official policy at the spa was because the person that I was talking to was upset and didn't want to continue the conversation, the important thing was that the killer knew that there were no guns for people to defend themselves there.  This was a small family owned establishment so it is most likely that this was the official policy of the family.  Note that they have the wrong date on this event.  The event actually occurred on February 20, 2012.  Note also that the business has since closed.

Mount Airy, NC, 11/01/09: The shooter killed four people outside a television store before eventually surrendering to the police.  

Shooter Name: Marcos Chavez Gonzalez, 29  

Gun details: Assault rifle. 

Ammo details: Unknown 

Gun acquired: Unknown  

Prohibiting criteria: The shooter was a prohibited purchaser, having been convicted of kidnapping a minor in 2002.  

Not a gun-free zone: It was lawful to carry a firearm in the area of the shooting.

Indications are that the attack was part of gang related crime.  As I have explained before, that would exclude it from the cases that Bill Landes and I examined.

Just in case MAIG decided to rewrite their report, I have saved a pdf copy of it available here.  Possibly MAIG might have been more successful in their task if they had bothered to look up how my past research with Bill Landes has defined these gun-free zones is available here.

There are a few other cases that I have collected that I will link to here.

The Azana Salon & Spa shooting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (November, 2012).
Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting (July, 2012).
Another shooting in a another gun free zone: Binghamton, NY (April, 2009).
Trolley Square Mall in Utah (February, 2007).
Omaha, Nebraska mall shooting (December 2007).
I have about 327 postings on gun-free zones available here.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the MAIG "report" has gotten coverage without those who have looked at it doing any additional research.  Here is something from the MinnPost by Susan Perry and the MinnPost kindly puts up the report on their site.

Read More

Sean Hannity on Fox News: "Celia Bigelow vs. Zerlina Maxwell Debate DHS Video Lesson"

There were a couple of points that I wanted to make about Zerlina's comments.  The main way that gun control regulators argue is usually through hypothetical cases.  In Zerlina's case, she just asserts certain things as true.  For example, the case of the person with the permitted concealed handgun being more likely to be shot by police.  In fact, there is not a single case where a permit holder has stopped one of these multiple victim public shootings that has occurred.  Nor in her example of the permit holder will shoot bystanders has that ever occurred in these multiple victim public shootings.

Read More

Two multiple victim public shootings have taken place where guns were concealed handguns are allowed

I had put this in my previous post on the consensus that these attacks are occurring where guns are banned, but it is important enough that I have included the relevant part as a separate post here.

Based on Jake's research it appears that I had one case classified incorrectly (the attack at the International House of Pancakes restaurant in Carson City, Nevada in 2011) so that there was a second case in the US where an attack occurred where guns weren't banned. What appears to have happened there is that one of the five who died was the killer himself and I don't count the death of the killer in my totals of those killed.  Secondly, the fourth victim who died after the attack (the original story that I used was here (original post here)) and I hadn't gone back to double check on that case, as I admittedly should have done.

My statement on multiple victim public shootings should now read:

Since at least 1950, with two exceptions, all the multiple victim public shootings in the US in which more than three people have been killed have taken place where guns are banned.  All the shootings in Europe since at least 1980 also fall into that pattern.

Read More