Several People Shot Outside Empire State Building

[Viking]

if true this is creepy

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/viewsday-1.3683911/filler-after-shooting-near-empire-state-building-we-are-besieged-by-violence-again-1.3925159

Filler: After shooting near Empire State Building, we are besieged by violence again
12:59 PM By Lane Filler

For New Yorkers, hearing that a shooting rampage has occurred at an iconic city spot like the Empire State Building can't help but tap into the emotions they still have about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. To some extent, this is probably true of all Americans.
Two people were killed and nine others shot early Friday morning near that landmark on 33rd Street after a gunman opened fire, according to reports coming from a still chaotic crime scene. The shooter, identified by police as Jeff Johnson, 53, was a former designer of women's accessories at Hazan Imports, where he had been laid off about a year ago. Johnson killed a former co-worker with a .45-caliber handgun, and then was himself killed by police officers.
Thursday, The Onion, probably the world's foremost distributor of satirical, fake news, jumped the gun. The website, which parodies current events, politics and culture in a style so sharp it often feels more thought-provoking and apt than the real stories, ran a piece with the headline "Nation Celebrates Full Week Without Deadly Mass Shooting." Friday morning, The Onion revised the story with a second headline: "UPDATE: Never Mind"
Over the coming days and weeks this shooting will be dissected in great detail. The point will be made that unlike the Aurora movie theater shooter, this was not a random killing. It appears to have been, instead, a revenge attack. The provenance of Johnson's gun, and the legality of it (or lack thereof) will be cited. His state of mind will be probed, his recent past sifted for clues that, perhaps, someone should have picked up on.
It's still a developing story. There's a lot we don't yet know. But we do know we have become a nation, even as the murder rate has declined, that is besieged by high-profile, seemingly maniacal gun attacks.
And we know it's become so frequent and even commonplace, that even the most savage attempts to lampoon these outbursts of violence suffer from the sin of understatement in comparison to the savagery and frequency of the attacks.
What can be said when the violence in our society outstrips the ability of satirists to depict it?

'

http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-celebrates-full-week-without-deadly-mass-sh,29293/

[MadImmortalMan]

Yeah I have no idea if that's true or not, but if this guy had a .45 and if 10 or 11 people were killed or wounded then it's questionable that they were all shot with his one gun. My .45 can only hold seven rounds in the mag.

It's just rumor at this point on Twitter, but they are saying a bunch of the people wounded were hit in the crossfire by police returning fire at the shooter.

[Admiral Yi]

Maybe he's a 58 year old disgruntled ex fashion designer with teleportation ability.

[Ed Anger]

I'll make a prediction. Those shot by the Police didn't RUN THE FUCK AWAY or hit the deck when the first shot rang out. Idiots likely got their phones out to take pictures.

Just a guess.

SIRI! WHAT DO I DO----- *Bang*

[Ed Anger]

Speaking of New Yorkers, too bad they didn't go to Brooklyn and shoot a bunch of fucking Hipsters.

[Syt]

Actually, I would like to ask the Americans here in this forum how is it like to actually live your day to day life, knowing an 'Active Shooter Event' can happen at any time... (I mean, that's what, three or four shootings in the last 10 days?).

How do you cope, kowing that the guy that is being fired can come back tomorrow and shoot the beejeezus out of everybody in the company?

It's really mind-boggling to me...

There is actually very little gun violence in this country outside of a few urban hotspots.  I have never actually heard or seen a gun fired outside of a sports context.  And I live in Texas.

I've seen that El Paso has a homicide rate similar to Germany (0.8 per 100,000 people). My guess is that prospective killers take their victims across the border to Juarez.

[Caliga]

I asked my phone what the most dangerous city in the world is yesterday, and it said Juarez.

[garbon]

if true this is creepy

Why is that creepy?

[Syt]

I asked my phone what the most dangerous city in the world is yesterday, and it said Juarez.

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like the police were responsible for the other injuries.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/48784504/

[Viking]

if true this is creepy

Why is that creepy?

I don't need to justify my emotions to you.

[The Brain]

Disgruntled police?

[garbon]

if true this is creepy

Why is that creepy?

I don't need to justify my emotions to you.

I wasn't asking for a justification - just trying to understand.

What I saw was that the Onion had made an article about Americans being happy there had been no shootings - and then the next day there was.  As MSil's post here pointed out - not so surprising that the Onion would run such a piece as shootings have been a common news item for the US in the last few weeks.

[garbon]

Btw, the one part I find creepy is the news bit that most if not all of the injuries to bystanders came from bullets fired by the police and the killer...

[CountDeMoney]

Btw, the one part I find creepy is the news bit that most if not all of the injuries to bystanders came from bullets fired by the police and the killer...

It happens.  Gunfire exchanges rarely go according to script, particularly with bystanders around.

But we'll just go ahead and continue with the incredibly popular "why-couldn't-they-just-shoot-the-gun-out-of-his-hand" criticism to police-related shootings.