You may have heard about the mass shooting in El Paso, TX today

[thewayne]

I had planned on being at the mall next door.

The initial reports was that there were multiple shooters and included the mall, Cielo Vista. Last weekend I planned on getting the battery for my iPhone replaced at the Apple Store at that mall, but I didn't get arrangements made, so I didn't go and spent the day in Las Cruces instead. My wife called me while I was at lunch and told me what happened. Regardless, lazy bones that I am, I would have arrived well after the shooter did the deed.

The fucking psychopath drove 650 miles across the state from Allen, TX just to shoot up a Walmart. This weekend is a tax-free holiday before the start of school, so lots of people from Mexico came across from Juarez to shop here, which describes any weekend. But today a lot of the stores were especially packed.

20 dead, 26 wounded. Wouldn't surprise me if those numbers changed slightly, not uncommon for people to move from the right column to the left.

Three Mexican nationals were among those killed and another six are among the wounded, including a 10-y/o girl.

The waste of space who did the shooting is 21 years old, apparently wrote a racist screed and published it online. Reportedly the state of Texas will prosecute it as a hate crime and will probably seek the death penalty.

Because of the initial reports of multiple shooters, the mall was locked down for a period of time, merchants closing their gates. No one was hurt at the mall, all of the violence was at the Walmart which has a connected, contiguous parking area but is about half a mile away.

The mall that I was at in Las Cruces opened an impromptu blood donation center that had people lined up outside the door waiting to give. Unfortunately with my immune disorder I cannot donate.

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/03/747888743/el-paso-police-respond-to-active-shooter-at-walmart


My friend in England knew I was going to Las Cruces today and texted me to make sure I didn't go to El Paso. I told him this was one of the three reasons why I wanted to leave this country, he said it was one of the reasons he wanted to stay in England.

Comments

[falena]

My God. That must have been scary, just knowing you narrowly missed this horror.

What I can't understand is how lawmakers don't act. How many more mass shootings would it take for them to try and do something?

And yeah, as a European, I'd never want to move to the US precisely because of the lack of gun control and public healthcare. It's one thing to be born there, but something else to choose it, you know?

[thewayne]

And those are two of the three reasons why I’d like to move to Europe.

[kraig]

I was talking to some folks I've known for several years. Their reaction was "but then you'd have to ban sandwiches" and "we're still the freest country!" I'd... thought... they weren't completely heads-up-asses.

As long as there's otherwise rational-sounding idiots thinking like that, nothing will change.

(I decided last night since I won't talk to anti-vaxxers, why would I choose to spend time in their company any more either?)

And yeah, I know several Canadians who've moved south of the border, at least two before Trump and one since. I really, really don't get it. Is it *really* worth the paycheque? They all work in tech so they're very well-compensated, but it's not like that doesn't exist in Canada either.

[thewayne]

It's mind-boggling, it really is.  I have a file on my phone called Phrases, and I came across an Aristotle line: It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.  You could simply substitute the word 'open' for educated. This is the third mass-shooting event in Texas in two years, for a total body count, IIRC, of right at or slightly over 60.  But this isn't a case for gun control, this was calculated, pre-meditated murder.  I expect he knew this was tax-free weekend and would draw large crowds, and it being a border town, from Juarez.  The problem is Our Beloved Leader energizing and not repudiating the neo-nazi movement.  "There's fine people on both sides" - like hell there is.

[moxie_man]

There was a time I thought they'd only act if they were the ones who got shot-up. Then a bunch of them did get shot-up a year or so ago. The shooter didn't know how to aim as all the politicians survived the incident. Low and behold! Nothing changed. I don't think this country will ever act to reduce the violence.

[thewayne]

This problem is Our Beloved Leader's constant spewing of enabling rhetoric that fuels the now resurgent neo-Nazis that eat that shit up and are now acting on it.  The only person who can't stop that is him, and he won't because it fuels his narcissism.  Therefore, this shit is not going to stop, and considering that we had two mass shootings in one day - the second in Ohio, it's only going to get worse.

[elayna]

A friend of mine was at the Gilroy Garlic Festival though thankfully on Saturday. There are way too many of these shootings.

[thewayne]

Wow, I’m really glad your friend was there Saturday!

Yep, far too many. And I don’t know that a change of POTUS will change the frequency of them, at least initially.

[howsmyenglish]

Did you read about the next one? In Dayton? It's totally out of control.

I'm glad you weren't there, I thougt about you, when I read about it in the news.

[thewayne]

sigh. IIRC, my wife was born in Dayton.  Thank you for thinking of me.  My wife and I visit El Paso regularly, but we have no need to visit Walmarts when we're away from home, unless perhaps we're on a major road trip.  I remember doing that once when I was on my way from home to Omaha and needed a wrist brace. It's just insane.  And the Republicans won't do anything to tell Our Beloved Leader to tone down his damn rhetoric when he's speaking in public!

[bibliofile]

FYI, Target and pharmacies also carry wrist braces. (Just saying.)

[thewayne]

Agreed, the town I was in was pretty small and had no Target, and I didn't have time to go looking up local pharmacies.  WM has a specific wrist brace that I'm quite fond of, aside from one that I got in Berlin, it's the best that I've ever had for a quick elastic-type wrap.  I'm kinda particular and was needing a specific type.

[conuly]

I'm glad you weren't caught in that mess, though of course sad and distraught that this fucking happens.

[thewayne]

It definitely affected my sleep last night and my mood today.

[lydy]

I am glad you were not hurt or killed. It seems to weird to say that. I'd add, "Stay safe," but I have no practical advice as to how to accomplish that, short of moving to another country.

I am too old and too poor to immigrate. I have three Candadian grandparents, but I don't think that's sufficient to get me Canadian citiizenchip.

[thewayne]

Thank you.  I think today is going to be a very bad day.

[lydy]

Hugs if you want them.

[thewayne]

I'm definitely going to be in need of a cuddle party.  I see a B-movie being plugged in tonight while my wife is at work and probably walking down the hill for a pizza. Thank you very much, you're most kind.

[foreverdawning]

Oh geez that's horrible. I'm glad that you weren't anywhere nearby when the tragedy took place, but it makes me so sad. But mostly I'm just angry. How sick do you have to be to target families shopping before the school year starts? El Paso is right on the border. Even if there are Mexicans there, they're more than likely "legal" (as if that matters) because hello borders aren't there to prevent people from coming in and out of countries.

Most of all, I hate that I actually didn't hear about this on the news. I tend to watch the news pretty regularly but I must have missed this in between the fluff stories on ASMR channels and viral Youtube videos.

Sorry about my rant but I hate that these tragedies take place and it's just so commonplace.

[thewayne]

It really makes my head hurt.  It's going to make for a very fucked up day for me, I don't know what it's going to do for my week.  Maybe I should go down to White Sands for the sunset.

[seasonoftowers]

How horrifying! I'm glad you weren't there!

[thewayne]

It’s been a weird day. I'm feeling better, but not 100% - and I wasn’t there.

[devilc]

How utterly unsettling. Glad you are okay.

[bibliofile]

Holy crap! I've never been that close to the site of a mass shooting, myself; it must boggle the mind.

Some TV news people were talking about how they should refer to the guy's post as an essay or rant ("screed" is good too), rather than giving any positive spin by calling it a "manifesto." A tiny bit of progress in a horrifying trend.

[thewayne]

Definitely the rant of a deranged mind. I'm doing fairly well, only slightly shaken.  But yeah, I was almost next-door.  My wife and I were having dinner talking about it, and I was talking about the active shooting drills when I worked at the blind school.  Then I told her to consider AS drills at deaf/blind schools.  She didn't know we had one in our state, much less that they'd have such drills, which I'm sure they do.

I'm reminded of an Oregon, IIRC, school shooting where the local sheriff refused to name the suspect.  He said he was a coward who deserves to never be named again.  I think that's a good treatment.  Of course the name later leaked, but that's how these people should be treated.