Mass Shootings

It’s a tricky one. On the one hand, I can understand their freeze reaction especially if local cops have not had SWAT/military training; on the other hand people complain about the over militarisation of police. It does seem a bit over the top to have fired them, considering what some cops seem to get away with, and who are put on paid leave of absence instead (can’t quote a particular article, but there are plenty of such cases on SoTT). Once again though, it deflects from the real perpetrators and just creates media frenzy to deflect attention, as always.
 
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad is responding to reports of a drone that has fireworks attached to it and is on top of a building in the downtown Los Angeles area.

Traffic is being shut down in the area of the 1000 block of W. 7th Street for the investigation, according to the LAPD.

DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available
 
So much going on with this situation than meets the eyes's! PIO's divert.

News | July 26, 2019
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A chaotic afternoon that involved a manhunt and five-hour closure of a highway on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore due to a bomb threat has come to an end.

As of Friday evening a male suspect, 24-year-old Hobie Gregory, was in custody while a female suspect, 21-year-old Alana Blakemore, was at Barton Memorial Hospital for a possible drug overdose, according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

The incident started with a call to the FBI field office in Las Vegas regarding a woman threatening to harm herself and others, according to Sgt. Anthony Prencipe of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. The call was forwarded to the FBI field office in Reno.

Sometime around 2 p.m. Friday, federal authorities alerted the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office that a suspected bank robber in a gray Mazda was heading toward Stateline, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies responded but the vehicle changed course and headed into South Lake Tahoe.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department was then notified that a possible fugitive was in the city and threatening to set off explosive devices if stopped, according to the police department.

Eventually, a California State Parks ranger spotted the suspects near the Vikingsholm parking lot in Emerald Bay, Prencipe said. The ranger followed the vehicle without lights or sirens in an attempt to surveil the suspects until law enforcement arrived.

That’s when the vehicle stopped just north of Vikingsholm on California Route 89.

Gregory got out and fled on foot toward the lake, according to South Lake Tahoe police.

Blakemore emerged from the vehicle with what she alleged was an explosive device around her neck, according to Prencipe. She threatened to set off the device.


Sheriff’s deputies arrived and, with the goal of bringing her into custody, fired a bean bag at her, Prencipe said. The bean bag brought her down and deputies moved in to arrest her.

As she was arrested Blakemore said the vehicle contained additional explosives, which triggered a response by explosives experts from El Dorado and Douglas counties. The FBI and other law enforcement entities also arrived on the scene.

Blakemore, was arrested and transported to Barton Hospital for drug ingestion and possible overdose, according to South Lake Tahoe police.

Meanwhile, Gregory was at large and there was a concern he could have an explosive device.
A helicopter circled over Emerald Bay and law enforcement scoured the area. The beach and park area were evacuated.

During the manhunt, a driver noticed a suspicious individual, who turned out to be Gregory, hitchhiking near Camp Richardson, according to South Lake Tahoe police. That driver reportedly saw Gregory get picked up and proceeded to follow him. Eventually Gregory was dropped off at Raley’s at the Y.

South Lake Tahoe patrol officers and SWAT team responded to Raley’s and located Gregory with the help of store staff, according to police. Law enforcement searched the store and found no explosive devices.

Gregory was booked into the El Dorado County Jail on charges of resisting arrest.

At about 7:30 p.m., authorities determined there were no explosive devices at the scene near Vikingsholm. No weapons were found in the vehicle, according to Prencipe.
California State Parks is leading the ongoing investigation into the matter. Park officials were not available for comment at the scene Friday evening.

This story will be updated as additional information is made available.
UPDATE 8:30

California Route 89 has reopened. No explosive devices were found.
This post will be updated.

UPDATE 6:40 p.m.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has located a man “who was outstanding” and added that nobody else is being sought at this time, according to Sgt. Anthony Prencipe through Twitter.

EDSO also tweeted that they are handling a suspicious device on California State Route 89.
Caltrans District 3 confirmed on Twitter that the highway remains closed around Emerald Bay due to police activity.
The road is expected to be closed for roughly 4 hours.

The Record-Courier, a sister paper to the Tribune, reported that around 2 p.m., Douglas County deputies were alerted that a 2006 gray Mazda containing two bank robbery suspects and driven by a woman was headed through Stateline, Nevada.

Reports were the vehicle turned onto Kingsbury Grade, prompting deputies to close the road while they prepared for a felony stop.
But the vehicle turned back around and headed through South Lake Tahoe toward Emerald Bay.

The Mazda was stopped around 3 p.m. and the driver was taken into custody, but the men took off into the woods headed for Lake Tahoe.

Original post

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — California State Route 89 is closed just north of Emerald Bay.
The Tahoe Douglas Bomb Squad arrived on scene at 4:20 p.m. just north of Vikingsholm.
A second bomb squad truck arrived at 5 p.m.

Eight to 10 law enforcement vehicles sped through town heading south on Lake Tahoe Boulevard.
There is heavy law enforcement activity on scene including the FBI, CHP, South Lake Tahoe Police Department and El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

No vehicles are being allowed to leave the area or pass through at this time.
This post will be updated.

July 24 at 12:37 PM



Media vultures circle the sky's.

 
2 dead, 2 wounded in shooting at Walmart in Mississippi
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (AP) July 30, 2019 — A gunman described as a disgruntled Walmart employee fatally shot two co-workers and wounded a police officer before he was shot and arrested Tuesday at a Walmart store in northern Mississippi, authorities said.

Southaven Police Chief Macon Moore said the man, whom he did not name, shot a Southaven police officer, who was protected by a bulletproof vest and suffered minor injuries. The chief said a second Southaven officer shot the suspect, who was then taken for surgery to a hospital in neighboring Memphis, Tennessee.

Both the people killed were Walmart employees, Moore said. Employees told The Associated Press that the first was shot in the parking lot, and the second was shot inside the store.

Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite described the suspect as a disgruntled worker with a grievance against his employer. Travis Jones, an overnight stocker, said the suspect had gotten in trouble after pulling a knife on a customer.

"It wasn't an accident," said Jones, who was working when he heard shots. "He knew what he was doing when he came in there."

Jones said he saw the body of store manager Anthony Brown on the floor as they ran out of the store. "It was an ugly scene," he said. DeSoto County Coroner Joshua Pounders said the 40-year-old Brown, an Olive Branch resident, appears to have died from a gunshot wound.

Nicholas Gales said the other slain worker was his brother, 38-year-old Brandon Gales of Hernando. Jones called Brandon Gales his best friend and an "all-around good guy," saying he was the father of multiple children.

The shooting at about 6:30 a.m. brought a massive police response to the shopping complex, at a busy exit off Interstate 55 in Southaven, a suburb of 55,000 people.

"Our police really showed their guts today," Musselwhite said, noting Southaven officers recently undertook active shooter training, "If it hadn't been for their efforts there would have been more lives lost."

Officers kept working to clear the store hours after the shooting, Moore said, in part because they found a suspicious package and called a bomb squad.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will handle the inquiry into the officer's shooting of the suspect.

Moore said about 60 employees were working at the time. They were taken to the parking lot of an adjoining Chili's restaurant and interviewed by officers, remaining there for hours. Some embraced, while one was placed in an ambulance. Others gathered in a circle to pray. Finally, authorities brought employees back into the store after noon, spoke to them and released them to go home. The store remained closed, even as businesses operated as usual elsewhere on the high-traffic suburban strip.

"The entire Walmart family is heartbroken by the loss of two valued members of our team," Walmart U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "We feel tragedies like this personally, and our hearts go out to the families of our two associates and the officer who was injured."

The company is relieved the suspect was apprehended, and appreciates the quick response by authorities and its employees, Foran said.

"We'll continue to focus on assisting law enforcement in their investigation and on supporting our associates," he added.
 
As many of you've probably seen already, there is/was a shooting incident in El Paso at a local Walmart. As usual, first reports said that there were multiple shooters, but now the narrative is morphing into 'one shooter'.

I'm copying a tweet here for archiving (I took a screen shot of it just in case it disappears). Notice how it says multi [sic] reports of multiple shooters:

 
One more...


El Paso shooting at Cielo Vista Mall: What we know now
El Paso Staff Reports
Published 3:34 PM EDT Aug 3, 2019
Police reported a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso near Cielo Vista Saturday.

The El Paso Police Department on Saturday tweeted an alert about an "active shooter" in the area of Hawkins and Gateway East boulevards, which are the two roads flanking a Walmart store. A police department official confirmed the shooting was at the Walmart.

Later, the police department tweeted to stay away from the Cielo Vista Mall area and that the "scene is still active." The police also said to avoid the area from Airway Boulevard to Hawkins Boulevard to north of Interstate 10, near the Walmart.

The shooting is no longer active.

Multiple fatalities reported

An El Paso police officer at the scene said there were multiple fatalities in the attack, although the number was not confirmed. He said the number was not official, but he had been inside the store.

A spokesman for University Medical Center of El Paso said the hospital has received victims from the shooting, but did not have a number.

Several shooters reported, 3 in custody

Police reported via radio around midday that they had a suspect in custody.

An El Paso police spokesman said the shooting has ended, and Mayor Dee Margo said three suspects have been taken into custody.

Police say there were reports of multiple shooters in the attack.

Check back for more on this developing story.

Published 3:34 PM EDT Aug 3, 2019
 

This one isn't available for me already. Twitter says it doesn't exist... but the link to the CBS article is working, yet the title says "El Paso police say multiple people killed in shooting at shopping mall", nothing about multiple shooters, except this bit:

Earlier, El Paso police tweeted that they had received reports of "multiple shooters" but police later said they did not believe there was more than one gunman.
 
I was watching the live stream on YouTube from the local NBC station, and they put some witnesses on air that were calling in on the phone, and they were giving really interesting accounts, and then they said something like : (talking to the reporter) 'you are really a dumbf***'. And so the reporter says that apparently he had been pranked, and that this wasn't the time to be pulling such stunts.

Another site showed a picture of a person entering the store with a dark short sleeve shirt and camouflage pants and earmuffs. And glasses (or safety glasses). I though the earmuffs were kind of weird. He had no ammo belts or backpack or other guns, besides the rifle he was carrying in the ready position, and his cargo pockets didn't seem loaded with extra ammo, so that's another thing.
 
RT reports:

As many as 18 people are feared dead after a man armed with an AK-style rifle stormed a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. One man is in custody but police are searching for more suspects amid reports of up to three attackers involved.

[...]

Alleged manifesto: Anti-Hispanic, mentions Christchurch shooting
Ahead of the massacre, the suspected shooter allegedly posted a 4-page manifesto online on the notorious image board 8chan. The document, which has emerged on social media and is currently being studied by the FBI, was apparently influenced by the manifesto of the Christchurch mosque shooter, who massacred over 50 people in New Zealand in March.

The author of the alleged manifesto calls the attack on the Walmart a “response to [the] Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expresses extreme-right views, voicing his support to the Christchurch shooter.

Meanwhile, a relative of a shooting witness told KTSM-TV that the shooter was raving about “gamer revolution” – a reference to an obscure online meme – during the rampage.

Sounds fishy.
 
Here we go:

20 confirmed killed in El Paso Walmart shooting rampage
20 confirmed killed in El Paso Walmart shooting rampage31076
The suspect has been identified in the media as Patrick Crusius, a Texas native from Allen, near Dallas. There have been reports of a Christchurch massacre-inspired manifesto the attacker allegedly left behind, espousing anti-Hispanic extreme-right views.

I can already see the divisive discourse in the media in the upcoming days.
 
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