School Shooting in Randallstown, MD

[davsand]

http://wjz.com/localstories/local_story_128170125.html

May 7, 2004 4:59 pm US/Eastern
Randallstown, MD (WJZ) Breaking News right now from Randallstown, Baltimore County. Baltimore County police now say at least five people have been shot near Randallstown High School.
A Baltimore County police official tells Eyewitness News that two helicopters have landed at the scene to transport the injured. Police say witnesses saw a person leave the scene in a black BMW with tinted glass windows. Right now, one of the victims is believed to have non-life-threatenting injuries, two others have potentially life-threatening injuries and two others are suffering from life-threatening injuries. Police are still trying to determine exactly what happened in the parking lot of the school about 4:30 Friday afternoon. Randallstown High School officials are trying to contact families.

[MrBenchley]

1. Here's more...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-shooting0507,0,6138657.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Anybody in the DC area this weekend should take part in the Million Mom March...Sunday May 9, 2004, 10am-3pm on the West Lawn, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC


http://www.mmm2004.com/

Speakers include

Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr.
Senator Barbara Boxer
Congressman Jim Moran
Congressman Jon Conyers
Congressman Brad Sherman
Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
Mayor Anthony Williams
Dr. Antonia Novello, former Surgeon General
Chief Charles Moose
Marianne Williamson, Author
Richard North Patterson, Author
Kenneth Cole, Designer
Doug E Fresh, Rapper
Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary)
as well as other victims, survivors, advocates, and supporters

[FeebMaster]

4. Nice to see someone using a tragedy to whore for the MMM. (nt)

[Snoggera]

7. The march is to bring back into the public consciousness

the question of gun control. This is a perfect reason to remind people of the MMM.

[MrBenchley]

9. Exactly so

We have between 80,000 and 115,000 Americans shot (about 30,000 killed) every year....and a multi-million dollar lobby that works with the GOP to keep us in the line of fire.

[MrBenchley]

8. Gee, feeb....

If you don't love it, you can shove it. Frankly, I don't care.

[hang a left]

2. I hate stories like this.

kick

[HEFFA]

3. My thoughts are with those in Randallstown....

Has anyone else ever noticed that this kind of stuff never seems to happen in the cities, where all of the other "problems" exist? Why is it always some white suburban community where kids snap and "go postal"?

[bobbieinok]

5. national story when whites kill whites - shooting deaths of blacks in

city - ho hum

[SlavesandBulldozers]

6. because it's so easy

in a suburban school where security is lax.

"White kids? surely they'll behave themselves"
VS
"Blacks? we need metal detectors a security gate, two resource officers and a plan to mobilize SWAT"

[TahitiNut]

10. These shootings occur almost exclusively in repressed/conservative ...

... communities with significant militant Xtian fundamentalism. The fundies waging "culture wars" have selected public schools as the battleground for over 20 years ... so this should be absolutely no surprise.

We're not talking about focused criminality here. This ain't gang warfare. These are suicidal adolescents whose cries for help have gone unheeded except where they themselves were told it was their own fault.

After a kid feels he's totally buried in blame and there's no daylight, it's really not surprising if he offs himself... or as many others as he can.

[Mr. Brown of MD]

11. Not really the case here

I live about ten miles away from Randallstown, so it's kinda in my vicinity. I wouldn't label it one such "repressed/conservative" community in any way, shape, or form. Randallstown itself isn't a particularly well-to-do area. It's lower-class to middle-class. I want to say it's a "black" high school but I'm not sure of the exact demographics.

The shooters (plural) don't appear to have been students at that school. This doesn't really seem to follow the "school shooting" pattern; it seems more like it was a shooting that happened at a school. At least, that's what it looks like at the moment.

The shooting took place after school hours, and the most recent reports indicate that a car drove up and one person started shooting, gave a gun to another person who started shooting and then took off on foot, then the driver got back in the car and drove off. That car has been found in Pikesville, another two exits around the Baltimore beltway from Randallstown. I believe the driver has been arrested (found in a clothing store, I guess he was trying to change his wardrobe.)

This doesn't seem to be a lone suicidal student situation.

-CollegeDude
Will check back in later

[AspenRose]

13. If that's the case, sounds like gang initiation to me.

[KamaAina]

12. Randallstown is a largely black suburban community

not uncommon in Md. (think Prince George's County near DC) Of course, it is still a suburban community, so I guess that makes it national news after all... </sarcasm>

I attended Baltimore County schools through fourth grade. This is just simply not OK. :(

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US2464950&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP5&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on

Geographic Area: Randallstown CDP, Maryland

NOTE: For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/datanotes/expsf1u.htm.

WHITE

Total population (all races)
30,870
100.0

White alone or in combination1
7,432
24.1

White alone
7,156
23.2

White in combination1
276
0.9

Not White alone or in combination1
23,438
75.9

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN

Total population (all races)
30,870
100.0

Black or African American alone or in combination1
22,679
73.5

Black or African American alone
22,259
72.1

Black or African American in combination1
420
1.4

Not Black or African American alone or in combination1
8,191
26.5

[Ruby Romaine]

14. I attended that H.S. for a short while& left the area as soon as I could!

The schools in Baltimore County were horrible in the 60's& 70's, I'll bet they still are!

This is the second "big media" coverage of those schools in a month!

On April 2nd there was a story posted at DU about an Anger Management class turning violent at Woodlawn H.S.-also in Baltimore County.
(my sister attended that school)

[Politicub]

16. It happens in the cities

I know because I live in one. But shootings in cities do not get national news coverage like the ones that happen in the suburbs.

[Blue_Tires]

15. thought now would be a good time to post this

http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=198546

haven't seen mention of it anywhere...also very tragic