7 dead in Santa Monica College shooting spree

[Valigarmander]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... 6014.story

Seven people -- including the gunman -- are dead after a shooting rampage that ended at Santa Monica College, police said.

Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks described a violent shooting rampage that appears to have begun in the 2000 block of Yorkshire Avenue just before noon.

Two people were found dead on Yorkshire Avenue and a home was on fire, authorities said.

The gunman then moved west along Pico Boulevard, firing at cars, including a bus and a police vehicle.

One person died at Cloverfield and Pico boulevards; two died at 19th Street and Pico Boulevard. Another woman died at the hospital.

Seabrooks said the gunman may not have acted alone.  A second "person of interest" is in custody.

"We are not convinced 100% that the suspect who was killed operated in solo or a lone capacity," Seabrooks said.

The suspect fled onto Santa Monica College, where he was pursued by police. He shot a woman on campus and ran into the library, where he continued to fire rounds from an assault rifle.

Authorities shot and killed the gunman on campus. He has not yet been identified, but police described him as being 25 to 30 years old.

They have detained a second man, who has not been identified. He is considered a person of interest.

Santa Monica College and all schools in the city were placed on lockdown.

The shooting rampage sent Santa Monica into chaos -- just as President Obama was attending a fundraiser a few miles away.

Many college students were on campus studying -- or taking finals.

Stephen Bell and his classmates were preparing for the final tap performance when two women ran into their Santa Monica College classroom, next to the campus library.

They just saw a woman get shot in the library, they said.

"When she said that word -- shot! -- we immediately shut the door, laid down on the floor and shut the lights," Bell said.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my god, Columbine High School," he said. "First thing that crossed my mind."

Joey Letteri, the tap instructor, was running a few minutes late and was walking to class from his office upstairs. When he got to class, the door was shut and the lights were off.

"I thought it was a surprise and that the class got a cake for me or something," he said, shaking his head at the innocent thought that had crossed his mind at the time. 

Letteri led the class through a meditation and told them to stay quiet. They tried to calm the two female students down. One couldn't stop throwing up, Letteri said, and the other was crying and shaking. 

Finally, a SWAT team arrived. Letteri told them to slide their badges under the door. Each person in the classroom had to come out individually with their hands up, he said, and they were searched before they were all escorted off campus. Officers took the two witnesses from the library aside. 

[Colanth]

Well it's easy enough to see what the problem is - our gun laws are way too restrictive.

[StupidWiz]

When is this going to end exactly?  :(

[Colanth]

When we commit species suicide and cockroaches take over the world.  Or when we invent a better personal weapon than a firearm.

[stromboli]

Hey, if everybody had been strapped, this wouldn't have happened.

[Shiranu]

When is this going to end exactly?  :(

When is this going to end exactly?  :(

When ever we don't insist on having 90 guns for every 100 households, most likely.

[stromboli]

When is this going to end exactly?  :(

When is this going to end exactly?  :(

When ever we don't insist on having 90 guns for every 100 households, most likely.

You haven't been to Utah. More like 100 guns for every 90 households.

[Solitary]

It will all end after the third world war when Neanderthal thinking people like the ones we have now survive by having humongous children, and then they will be using sticks and stones like our ancestors did.  :(  Bill

[stromboli]

It will all end after the third world war when Neanderthal thinking people like the ones we have now survive by having humongous children, and then they will be using sticks and stones like our ancestors did.  :(  Bill

Firearms are old technology. I have known probably nine guys that could build a weapon in their garage. AK-47's are built in primitive conditions in shops all over the Middle East. I built a black powder rifle from a kit. You can buy-swap parts in "swap parties" where members build guns, full auto weapons, that are untraceable. The Genie has been out of the bottle for centuries. I even have a recipe for making gunpowder from chicken manure. You can get online and buy parts from different dealers and assemble a non-automatic weapon without much notice by the ATF, if you are careful. If you own a metal lathe and a drill press and a few other tools, you can build working revolvers. I knew a guy that did it.
(edit) oh, yeah; with some more tools you can also turn brass and make ammunition.

We would have to be literally at the level of morons to not have the ability to build or recreate firearms.

[Colanth]

If you own a metal lathe and a drill press and a few other tools, you can build working revolvers.

Then you can kill someone, retool the barrel, and they can never trace the murder to you.  Diabolical, Strom.

[WitchSabrina]

1300 rounds of ammo ready to go..............

jesus
*shakes head*
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/0 ... 08305.html

[SilentFutility]

Rampage shooting is a social problem, exacerbated by easy access to firearms. Simply having more control over firearms will not make these events disappear. The underlying reasons behind people ending their lives just to kill people have to be addressed.

I live in a country with some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the world, and yet if I really, really wanted to, I could still legally obtain as many weapons as I wanted to and go on a rampage.

I'm not saying that having little or not gun control is a good thing, but it is absolutely not the root of the problem. If someone stuck a gun in your hand you wouldn't automatically go and kill as many people as possible. Shooting sprees occur because there is something wrong with the person.

Until policy-makers realise that firearm control can ease the situation, but that it can't go away and that something needs to actually be done about the cause of shooting sprees, they will continue to happen. Likewise with firearms-related homicides and crimes, yes, lower availability of guns might reduce firearms-related crime statistics, but these people don't automatically become model citizens and never hurt anyone. Something needs to be done to address the social and economic issues behind firearms crime as well.

In summary, yes the people who say guns need to be regulated are correct, but this won't solve anything, only help a bit. Some long, hard thinking has to be done about what causes people to use firearms in anger, seeing as how they are absolutely abundant and that isn't going to change in the forseeable future. Just my 2cents/euros/pennies from someone outside the country. The same goes for places the world over though.

[WitchSabrina]

Welcome to America where the only way to stave off random gun attacks is to give every American a gun to carry at all times.

*shakes head*

Yep---- see those gun laws working Soooo well.

We popped into a little country store up here in n.e. PA last week where I've never my whole life seen such a large array of guns for sale in one place.  Sweet jesus.  Just for kicks I eavesdropped on the conversation of a gun buying a rifle, an semi-automatic and a hand gun.....    He filled out some paperwork which took him a few mins.  The salesman behind the counter said "You can probably pick these up in about a week".
Guess those FBI background checks are easy-peasy and of course NObody ever LIES......... and there's still no Medical background check - aka - did you take your bipolar business today?

*sigh*

[Shiranu]

On the topic of gun laws...

Open carry is the worse. As a cashier, seeing someone walk in with a pistol on their waist never gets easy. I don't know if I am suppose to call the cops, but he hasn't committed a crime till he pulls it on me. So I get to stand up there wondering if this guy is about to hold me up or just an idiot who thinks he is a chingon just because he can show he is packing heat, and there isn't shit you can do about it.

But America, that's why.

[Aletheia]

I've been to quite a few gun shows in Texas, and as a general rule, the vast majority of the people there have no intention of killing anybody. Most are interested in using the guns for hunting, while others like having a personal weapon for scenarios that are unlikely to ever happen (home defense, etc), and the rest, simply like using the weapons for target practice as a favorite pastime. I was more interested in the weapons from the old wars (WWI, WWII, etc) from the perspective of a collector.

Most people can handle weaponry without having the slightest inclination to kill those around them. This idea that having the gun available will somehow encourage a person to do bad things is simpleminded at best. With that logic, stabbings should go up due to the vast availability of kitchen knives not to mention hit-and-run scenarios involving readily available cars.

No, it's the lack of funding for the mentally ill which causes these scenarios. Quite a few of the killing sprees involve people who are mentally unstable using weapons which aren't registered to them (a.k.a. stolen). In other words, it's unlikely anybody who knew them would've given them a weapon to begin with, and for good reason, obviously. I've had to deal with the mental health outpatient facilities here in Texas, and for the most part, they are a joke. I remember seeing particularly violent and deranged patients being released because insurance wouldn't cover the cost or the family members felt they could do a better job of caring for the individual. Many of these individuals would end up returning after having hurt themselves or others - as in the case of one woman with a schizoid disorder who tried to saw off her arm because it "annoyed" her.

It's individuals like this who have a skewed perspective on reality that need to be addressed. You can try to remove all the guns you want (unlikely proposition considering the black market and homemade technologies), but until you address the motivation behind those who even consider using guns on their peers, you're not going to get very far.