Gunman shoots dead six at son's 11th birthday party at Texas roller rink

[HipChick]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/24/us-texas-shooting-idUSTRE76N0JR20110724

A gunman opened fire at a family birthday party at a North Texas roller rink late on Saturday, killing five people and wounding four others before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Police were called to Forum Roller World in Grand Prairie, about 20 miles west of Dallas, at 7:10 p.m. following reports of a shooting, Grand Prairie Police Department spokesman John Brimmer said.

The incident began when an unidentified man drew a gun during an argument at a birthday party at the rink. He opened fire, shooting five people dead and wounding four others, and then shot himself, Brimmer said.

"This was a domestic situation that went south in a hurry." Brimmer told Reuters. "The shooting lasted only seconds."

Five police officers were on the scene within a minute, Brimmer said. The wounded were taken to a local hospital for treatment, although their condition was not immediately known.

A private family group had rented the entire skate rink for the evening to celebrate a child's birthday, Brimmer said. All the dead and wounded were teenagers and adults attending the gathering.

The police department has made crisis counselors available to treat victims and others who witnessed the shooting.

"There are going to be a lot of hurting families," Brimmer said.

[hlthe2b]

1. Damn...

:cry:

[leveymg]

2. OMG. Not again.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Getting to where I hate to click on my local papers main page any more. This is every day

http://www.suntimes.com/news/index.html

Crime

Woman, 53, fatally shot on West Side street

Four dead, six wounded by gunfire in citywide violence

Two hurt, one critically, in Austin shooting

Shooting suspect holds police at bay during Roseland barricade situation

Two men shot on Southwest Side

Man fatally shot in Woodlawn

Shootings by Chicago cops on rise in 2011, but why?

Boy, 15, killed in Far North Side shooting

[bluestate10]

4. Of course gun nuts will find a reason why not having more guns loose in Texas

was why the shootings happened. But mention of the importance of funding good mental health and family counseling will set their ears on fire. The people did not have to die. Bless their souls.

[petronius]

21. I can't speak for "gun nuts," but pro-RKBA liberals are quite vocal about

the need for mental health services, family support, ending the War on (some) Drugs, etc. Most of us believe that using an incident such as the in OP to call for more gun control is treating the symptom rather than the illness (while causing harm to uninvolved parties), and the things you mention are the truly appropriate focus...

[DFW]

5. This will happen more and more

Texas has very liberal guns laws. This is what happens. Sure we're all shocked when it does. For about 5 minutes.
Then we forget about it--until next time. But no worries. That shouldn't be for at least a week or so.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[DFW]

11. LOL!!

Right-wingers back home get premature grey hair when I tell them that, but it's not my fault
if they are too lazy to consult a dictionary rather than Fox Noise to find out what English
words mean. Gun laws in Texas ARE extremely liberal. The article illustrates what comes of it.

[Speck Tater]

7. The human race is losing its collective mind. nt

[ladjf]

15. I agree with you. I've been thinking about a meaningful name

for what essentially seems to be a steady decline of cognitive abilities. One name came to mind,
"dis-cognition".

In any event, our society needs to fully recognize that Americans, for whatever the reasons, are trending toward a mental disorder that attacks their ability to think objectively. Once their behavior is defined, strategies would need to be developed to cope with the disastrous consequences for us all.

[Speck Tater]

18. Thinking is hard work. These days the media tells people what to think...

so they are relieved of that awful burden of actually using their brains.

[ladjf]

24. Good point. Sort of like giving your child an electric bicycle rather

than a pedal job. nt

[LonePirate]

9. I thought all of these loose gun laws were supposed to prevent events such as these.

How many more people have to die before America wisens up to this nonsense?

[Initech]

12. WTF

[theHandpuppet]

13. Who the hell brings guns to a child's birthday party?

Are there no events where it might be polite to leave one's guns at home?

[slackmaster]

14. A gang-banger

Who has a chip on his shoulder and is looking for trouble.

HTH

[HipChick]

16. No...by all accounts, this was an Vietnamese family man..

Sorry to dispel the stereotypes...they are still identifying all the victims

[slackmaster]

17. Gang membership is not limited to any specific racial or ethnic group

We have Vietnamese gangs here in San Diego.

The victims in this incident weren't random. They were all known personally to the (alleged) shooter. That's consistent with gang activity.

Sorry to dispel the stereotypes...

Who is doing the stereotyping here?

[HipChick]

22. a middle aged man..dispute between him and his wife that went south?

How does that translate to gang-banging?

[slackmaster]

23. I don't consider 35 to be "middle aged". Some gang-bangers reach that age without being killed...

...or incarcerated.

The guy has an 11-year-old child.

...dispute between him and his wife that went south?

How does that translate to gang-banging?

The fact that he shot people who weren't involved directly in the dispute strongly suggests that the guy at the very least has some serious anger-management issues.

Sounds like an older gang member to me.

[HipChick]

26. Reach much for a domestic dispute?..

[slackmaster]

28. I am not able to parse HipChick's reply

:shrug:

[Lucky Luciano]

19. Vietnamese gangbangers often have very itchy trigger fingers. nt

[MyrnaLoy]

25. WOW

you are wrong once again! You're getting as bad as a Murdoch owned newspaper at guessing who the shooters are.

[Vinca]

20. Well, once again, let's hear it for guns, guns, guns everywhere.

:banghead:

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. 10 or 20 years ago this would have been a major national story. n/t

[Danger Mouse]

29. It takes a special kind of evil to intentionally harm a child.

Either evil or severely fucked up in the head.

Sigh.

I just can't take many more stories like this. :( The Norway story itself was just too... :cry: