Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Update on One of Our Many U.S. Mass Shootings

The fraud and deceptive practices by the Banksters share in the responsibility for this tragedy.  So does whoever let this guy get his hands on a firearm.


I'm always struck by the fact that people with guns believe, deeply, that they have the right to their firearm, and that they are acting reasonably and morally, even when they do the most heinous things.  You NEVER hear someone admit they shouldn't have or had a gun.  You only hear or read their justifications to themselves and others.

It causes me to distrust the gun loons telling me how correct they are in when they would shoot, and then they demonstrate in their comments how poorly they understand firearm safety and how badly they understand when shooting someone defensively is appropriate.  On that basis, they pose a danger to all of us.

This guy NOT having a firearm would have prevented a mass shooting.


From MSNBC.com and news services:

Report: Gunman behind Southern California Edison rampage was facing foreclosure

Ringo H.W. Chiu  /  AP
Police officers at the scene of Friday's shooting in Irwindale, Calif.
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 12/18/2011 6:46:49 AM ET
Authorities were searching for a motive Sunday as they named the 48-year-old company employee who shot four people, killing two, at a utility office east of Los Angeles.
Investigators said Andre Turner of Norco in Riverside County methodically picked off his co-workers with a semiautomatic handgun Friday before turning the weapon on himself inside a complex that houses more than 1,000 Southern California Edison employees.
NBC Los Angeles reported that Turner was facing possible foreclosure on his home.
Citing real estate website zillow.com, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported that Turner's 5,000 square-foot home was purchased in 2004 for $711,000. It was reportedly put up for sale in November for $590,000.
Turner's death was ruled a suicide, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz told The Associated Press. He had worked at Edison for seven years, utility spokesman Steven Conroy said.
The two other men killed were Henry Serrano, 56, of Walnut and Robert Scott Lindsay, 53, of Chino Hills, coroner and company officials said.
Both men were managers in the information technology department and longtime Edison employees, the company said in a statement Saturday. Lindsay had worked for the company for 29 years, Serrano for 26.
Two other shooting victims were taken to hospitals in critical condition, the Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
The injured were Angela Alvarez, 46, of Glendale, an Edison employee, and Abhay Pimpale, 38, of Montebello, Edison said in a statement.
Pimpale, an independent contractor, was released from the hospital Saturday, according to City News Service. There was no new word on the condition of Alvarez.
All five people worked in the same area of the same building at the office park in Irwindale, a small industrial city in the San Gabriel Valley, authorities said.
Authorities have released no information on a possible motive for what the Edison statement called "one of the most horrific events the company has experienced in its 125-year history."
"It's a slow process," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. "There's a lot of people to interview — 1,100 people work there."
However, the Los Angeles Times quoted a source as saying that Turner "did not like management."
"He told some people to leave and he was very deliberate about who he shot," the source reportedly said.
Several cars were parked Saturday in the driveway of Turner's home in an upscale neighborhood near a golf club in Norco, the Press-Enterprise reported.
'A real stand-up guy' Turner's real estate agent Shane Tucker said the home was up for a short sale and he and his wife were moving into a smaller place, but he still couldn't see a motive for something so drastic.
"He seemed like a real stand-up guy," Tucker told KABC-TV as he sat in a car outside the home where Turner had lived for six years as the original owner. "I know he did put a lot of the money into the house, it's really nice. I don't see why short-selling the house would trigger anything negative, so it has to be something else."
Horrified employees barricaded themselves behind locked doors and hid under desks Friday afternoon as Turner walked through the office firing a semi-automatic handgun, authorities said.
The office complex and nearby schools were locked down as the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department's SWAT team responded to several 911 calls.

The company said Saturday it was offering grief counseling for employees and is establishing a fund to support the victims' families. Edison will donate $100,000 and seek employee contributions.
Irwindale is a city of about 1,400 residents, 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It is home to the Irwindale Speedway auto racetrack and large rock and gravel quarries.
Southern California Edison, a huge utility that provides power for most of the region, is one of its largest companies, employing 2,100 people.
The Associated Press, NBC Los Angeles and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

1 comment:

  1. Oh, looky, another post about an asshole wit teh gunz shootin' four perps--nope, I'm wrong, four innocent people--and it gets nary a glance from the brave heroes of teh BBOTIO*.


    * Blessed Brotherhood Of The Inanimate Object.

    ReplyDelete