General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLatest mass shooting happened close to me.
I lived in Raleigh from 2007 to 2016; now I live in Durham.
So WTF happened? All I have learned is that a 15-year-old white kid got a gun and started killing people. He is unnamed and in critical condition, somehow.
I just tried to watch a news conference and it simply enraged me. thoughts and prayers, Raleigh Strong, blah blah blah...I didn't watch it all because it frustrated me too much.
Aren't press conferences held to inform the public about events that are important to them? Instead they turn it into a pep rally?? For as long as I watched, I can say that not one of the speakers mentioned the glaring fact that A 15-YEAR-OLD was holding a deadly weapon in a public place - how did he get it? What kind of gun was it? Who is he? All i know about him is he's a white boy in camos killing people.
I want more. I want to know where he got the gun. I want to know if it was an assault weapon with no other function but to kill humans. I want to know how he came to be in critical condition.
I hurt for the victims and their families. I am beyond pissed at this culture, this sick, sick, culture, that we are all being forced to live in. Don't tell me how to feel. Just fucking tell me what happened and come as close as you can to WHY, because I'm thinking this kid may have been brainwashed by right wing and/or incel media. I'm also wondering how close he may be to the PTB, because of his continued anonymity.
I'll have to check out twitter and reddit. Maybe I'll get some answers there. seriously, the News and Observer and the people running that press conference did not provide them.
/rant off
ETA: Reddit did give me the shooter's name and also the news that the 16-year-old who was killed was his brother. so, go reddit.
pwb
(11,275 posts)Like TFG. Money buys silence today.
barbtries
(28,798 posts)found out his name and that one of his victims was his 16-year-old brother...haven't learned much more yet
https://www.wral.com/a-shooting-spree-an-hours-long-search-and-a-neighborhood-on-edge-5-killed-two-injured-in-east-raleigh/20520757/
but yeah, that was my thought. Media these days does seem to really know who butters their bread if you know what I mean.
Bev54
(10,052 posts)silly me I thought I could get the information from the local news source. Reddit has been stellar, they have users listening to police radios and everything.
I will try to keep in touch with this story because I have a strong feeling that this may have been a troubled kid radicalized online. I don't know though. Maybe he accidentally killed his brother and decided to go finish a bunch more before himself. He did shoot himself in the head and my guess is he will either die or be permanently incapacitated.
Also only learned that it was a "long rifle" - I don't know enough about guns to know if it was an AR-15 or something along those lines. I need to have it spelled out for me.
Bev54
(10,052 posts)where everyone gets to take a turn at the mic, whether they have any important information or not, but rather to thank everyone else, no matter what.
barbtries
(28,798 posts)another sick aspect of life in the USA is that "public" servants never stop campaigning.
TheProle
(2,178 posts)tanyev
(42,559 posts)thats gone through something is really annoying. Just saying My Town Strong! over and over fixes nothing. Its not a magic incantation.
llmart
(15,540 posts)I live near the Oxford high school shooting. They had a piece on our local news tonight interviewing the county sheriff who is always campaigning for something. They asked him how many of these incidents happen with threats of shootings and how often. His response was "every day". How sick of a country do we live in where kids can make threats (I don't care if they're valid threats or not) that they're going to shoot up the school?
In my opinion, this gun fetish culture we now live in should be our #1 priority and issue. Stop pandering to the right wing Republicans and their stupid "Democrats will take your guns away" crapola.
LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)Shooter's name has not been released.
People at least want answers. Who was he? Did people know him? Why all the silence? Why are they not releasing his name?
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)A murderer, yes, but authorities have to tread carefully with those variables.
GreenWave
(6,757 posts)And is a blueprint ad nauseum from many other communities:
#1. Municipal authorities will praise the brave responders (even if time to respond was long)
#2. They will offer prayers and condolescences to the loved ones of the deceased.
#3. They will say this mass shooting does not occur in our area.
#4. Fill in the blank with community name Strong! Signs to that effect spring up.
#5. Speeches about how strong we are and promises to do more to prevent it.
#6. NRA will schedule a gun show near the tragedy.
barbtries
(28,798 posts)driving through NC billboards for gun shows are already very common. disgusting.
this mass shooting - i don't know that it's getting any airplay at all across the country. after all, only 5 innocent people were killed.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)of speaking about gun violence.
That was last night; perhaps you missed it.
barbtries
(28,798 posts)but felt it was weak. We have a problem with guns. Actual guns - so much violence that could never have happened if we did not have this problem with guns
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)She spoke about gun violence.
As to information, the shooter is a minor. This is going to take some time. Never mind that their other so was a victim too.
This is tragic, but I'm not knocking the authorities here just yet.
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)something is wrong with our kids