This news always sucks, but at least this officer was saved by his vest and the shooter didn’t escape. That’s a rosy as such stories get. Police were serving a warrant. Get well soon, officer.
Details here: Knoxnews.com
Posts Tagged ‘shooting’
Cop Shot in Knoxville
Friday, September 3rd, 2010Training Opportunity
Friday, April 23rd, 2010Now that the weather is fair, people are either into the groove of work and school, or done with both, I am going to start scheduling some shooting session on the range here on The Cluck-n-Neigh. The goal will be simple: increase proficiency with various firearms and hammer out useful tactics. Please note that I am not an instructor, but do have information to share. I want others to come out with me so we can work together on this stuff.
First up will be Daily Carry practice. That means we will shoot using only the gear you carry every day, no tactical thigh holsters, load bearing vests or thirty round magazines. Unless, of course, that’s your daily load-out, but I don’t recalling hanging out with anyone like that. For me it means a subcompact inside-the-waistband and/or a .32 in the front pocket. This should be fun, or just funny.
After that, extreme close quarters rifle shooting and shooting in low light situations. It all starts this Sunday afternoon at four o’clock. Call or email me for details.
Realer Than Real
Monday, December 14th, 2009Finally, another reality show I should consider trying out for: America’s Top Shot. Why would I consider applying? Here’s why.
…Applicants must be at least 21 years of age, a resident or citizen of the United States and reasonably proficient with shooting and marksmanship. Further eligibility requirements are listed in the casting application…
It’s just me, but I would think that the best shooter in America would be more than “reasonably proficient.” The first show I considered was Junkyard Wars. We even had a team name, “The Idle Hands.”
Bias? Surely you jest.
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009…and don’t call me Shirley.
So it seems there was a shooting involving a college student and it is curiously absent from 24 hour new coverage in all the main stream outlets. CNN has not had a Special Report. MSNBC has not taken us there live. Fox News has not had a single panel discussion on student violence as a result. Why?
Easy. Because the right people got shot, and that doesn’t really send the message that TV & newspapers want. The only coverage I’ve found is local. Details below
College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader
Posted: 4:53 pm EDT May 4, 2009Updated: 6:41 pm EDT May 4, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and they’re thanking the quick-thinking of one of their own. Police said a fellow student shot and killed one of two masked me who burst into an apartment.Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones met with one of the students to talk about the incident.“Apparently, his intent was to rape and murder us all,” said student Charles Bailey.
[more]
Cheerless Holiday
Thursday, December 25th, 2008I swear I don’t just scan the internet looking for depressing topics to blog about, no matter how it seems. The bad stuff is just more apt to get me typing because it pisses me off I guess.
Seldom am I surprised at just how horrible people can be. I’m pretty desensitized to domestic violence and even mass shootings, but when you mix both along with a dash of Christmas spirit you get a truly despicable act.
Suspected Santa gunman takes life, 6 others dead
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Police said they recovered six bodies from a Los Angeles house where a man dressed as Santa Claus fired gunshots and started a fire Christmas Eve.
Police said the suspect, Bruce Jeffery Pardo, committed suicide after the attack.
Police said three others — Pardo’s mother-in-law, father-in-law and wife — are still unaccounted for.
At a news conference Thursday, police in Covina, California, said Pardo knocked on the door of his in-law’s home, where they were having a Christmas party attended by more than 25 people.
After someone opened the door, an 8-year-old child ran towards the costumed Pardo, and he shot her directly in the face, police said.
The 8-year-old, who survived the attack, is in fair condition at a Los Angeles hospital. Police say the girl does have serious wounds, including an entry wound on the right side of her face, and an exit wound on the left side, indicating the bullet likely pierced straight through her face.
Then, police say, Pardo entered the home, holding a gun in one hand and a wrapped Christmas package containing a home-made device to spread fire.
Pardo fired indiscriminately as partygoers fled, hid under furniture, threw items to break windows, and in one case, jumped out a second-story window, police said.
A 16-year-old girl was hospitalized with a gun shot wound and another victim, who jumped out the window, was taken to a local hospital, police said.
After the shooting, police believe Pardo set fire to the home. Covina Police Department Lt. Pat Buchanan said the device was “something we have never seen before.”
Covina Police Chief Kim Raney described it as a pressurized tank attached to another tank filled with accelerant.
Raney said after lighting the fire, Pardo changed out of the Santa suit, went to another relative’s home, in the nearby suburb of Sylmar and committed suicide.
Authorities made a positive identification of Pardo’s body, said Buchanan. Police have not released the identities of any of the victims.
Raney said Pardo’s in-laws regularly have a party Christmas Eve and one neighbor always comes by to visit dressed as Santa. This year, that neighbor was away, police said.
Police suggested marital problems as a possible motive for the attack.
Police said they believe Pardo and his wife of one year ended a contentious divorce with a settlement last week.
Authorities said Pardo’s name was given to them by people who were at the party. Pardo was “going through some type of marital problems,” Buchanan said.
According to police, the gunman changed out of the Santa suit and into regular clothes before leaving.
…a god damned flamethrower for fuck’s sake!
Obviously, this asshole was crazy and the behaviors of grossly disturbed individuals can be hard to predict, but it makes the precautions members of my family chose to take to safeguard ourselves from our own crazy relatives seem somewhat less paranoid. Thankfully, we never had to take any action, and I regret that there was no one to save these unfortunate people.
Certainly I mean no criticism or judgment of the group affected by this horror, but it does reinforce the traditional saying “If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
Less colorful, but no less appropriate, advice,
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.”
Gonna whip out the jammy and flat blast something
Saturday, November 1st, 2008One of the cardinal rules of firearms safety is “Never point a firearm at anything you do not wish to destroy.” It may sound draconian and a bit of a buzz kill until you realize that there are a large number of things that are fairly begging to be destroyed, and that it is usually possible to do so safely.
Remember Mad Libs? My latest idea for the website is a combination of the Mad Libs concept and bullets. I have a healthy collection of guns and ammunition along with a safe place to shoot, while you, dear reader, have an unlimited imagination. Using the blog’s comments feature, I see it working like this:
Hey, Michael! I’d really like to see you shoot a _________ with a _________!
…and if I can get both together I will comply, recording the occasion using video and/or still photography so it can be posted for your viewing pleasure. What say ye?
Giving credit where it is due, this was inspired by the Box o’ Truth website.
Lethal Stupidity
Monday, October 27th, 2008Yesterday I wrote about what I feel was the totally irresponsible parent who took a four year old to a horror movie about cannibalism. That pales, is absolutely overwhelmed, is totally crushed by the stupidity it takes to hand a loaded submachine gun to an eight year old. That really happened, and the results were totally predictable.
Boy Accidentally Killed by Submachine Gun at Firearms Expo
With his father and a firearms instructor standing nearby, an 8-year-old Connecticut boy shot himself in the head with a submachine gun yesterday, killing himself in an accident some say should never have happened.
Christopher Bizilj was testing a 9 mm Micro Uzi at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club in Westfield, Mass., as part of the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo, when he shot himself Sunday.
“The firearm instructor prepped the weapon for him, and once it was ready he handed it to the child,” Westfield Police Lt. Hipolito Nunez told ABCNews.com today. Christopher then pulled the trigger, and the gun’s recoil pulled the barrel upward, causing a round to hit him on the right side of his head, according Nunez. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Baystate Medical Center in nearby Springfield.
Massachusetts law allows a child to fire a gun with parental consent, so long as there’s an active permit for the gun and a licensed firearm instructor is supervising. It is unclear whether the gun had a permit or whether the instructor was licensed, but Nunez said Christopher’s father was nearby.
I don’t even know where to begin. I am a proud member of the Gun Culture in America. I believe in The People’s right to own firearms and use them for sport and self defense. My thoughts are that the basic requirements to exercise this right are to not be a criminal or a fucking idiot.
I’ve been shooting since I was five years old. My family taught me the basics of firearms safety and supervised me until I demonstrated the proper level of skill and responsibility to shoot on my own. Silly me, I gave the benefit of doubt to everyone who owns guns. Man, am I disappointed.
How how HOW! can any grown man -much less a parent! -much less a firearms instructor! -hand a loaded Micro Uzi to an eight year old? It beggars belief. To catch up those of you who don’t know guns on why this is so extraordinarily insane I will tell you a bit about this weapon and why I, personally, would never wish to possess or fire one.
The Micro Uzi is a tiny, pistol-sized, lightweight submachine gun that fires the 9×19 Parabellum cartridge, known in popular culture simply as the nine millimeter. In such a small weapon even the relatively weak 9mm round has significant recoil and a tendency for the weapon’s muzzle to climb upwards as it fires. This is made even worse by the Micro Uzi’s incredibly high rate of fire. When the trigger is depressed the gun will fire at a rate of up to 1250 rounds per minute. Yes, that is over 20 shots per second.
I have fired two of the larger models of Uzi submachine guns and found them exciting and fun but nearly useless for any practical purpose without months of intensive training and practice with those specific guns to learn to control the recoil and muzzle climb. My first two or three shots at a man-sized paper target would hit about where I aimed. After that my shots would climb up and off the target entirely. At that time I was in my mid-twenties, in perfect health, and shooting 1,000 rounds a month in firearms competition or training. An eight year old firing such a weapon has no chance of controlling it. Zero. None. It is nearly miraculous that there was only one fatality resulting from this particular accident.
Watch out for the consequences of this story. In addition to the unparalleled personal tragedy for his family, this story is going to lubricate the wheels of the gun control lobby’s efforts to ban guns or limit the rights of law abiding and responsible shooters.
If you are a shooter I implore you. Do not do stupid shit with guns. You know, like allow your toddler to kill himself because you are an irresponsible moron who wants a nifty snapshot. You’ve just punished yourself almost enough to escape punishment by the legal system. Almost.
If you are a firearms instructor who thinks that untrained and inexperienced kids should shoot submachine guns so dad can get a nifty snapshot, please be an hero.