El Paso And Dayton

From the BBC:

“US mass shootings: What we know about El Paso and Dayton attacks”

In distant parts of the country, just 13 hours apart, two mass shootings rocked the US over the weekend. The first, a massacre in the Texan border-city of El Paso, left 20 people dead. Nine people were later killed in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio.

Here's what we know about the attacks.

The El Paso shooting:

Police in El Paso, a large city on the Mexico-US border, first received reports of gunshots at 10:39 local time (16:39 GMT) on Saturday.  A gunman had opened fire with an assault-style rifle in a crowded Walmart on the city's east side. Nearby businesses were placed on lockdown and shoppers were evacuated. The store is near a retail park, the Cielo Vista Mall, which is popular with El Paso residents as well as shoppers from just across the Mexican border. In addition to the 20 fatalities, 26 people were injured in the shooting. Six Mexican nationals were among the dead and the victims' ages range from two to 82. Officers arrived on the scene within six minutes and the attacker surrendered after he was confronted by police outside the store. Security camera images from inside the Walmart show an armed man in a dark T-shirt wearing glasses and what appear to be ear protectors. He has been named by US media as Patrick Crusius, a resident of the city of Allen, in the Dallas area, which is about 650 miles (1,046km) east of El Paso. He purchased the weapon legally, police say, and was able to carry it into the Walmart because of the state's "open carry" laws. The 21-year old has been charged with capital murder, meaning he could face the death penalty. He is believed to be the author of a text posted on 8chan, an online message board frequently used by the far right, which says "this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas" and rails against a "cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by invasion". The vast majority of El Paso's 680,000 residents identify as Hispanic or Latino. The four-page document, reportedly posted some 20 minutes before police received the first emergency call from the Walmart, also expresses support for the gunman who killed 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March. The US Attorney for the Western District of Texas, John Bash, said prosecutors were considering bringing hate crime charges against the gunman.

The Dayton shooting:

Hours later, almost 1,600 miles away in Dayton, Ohio, shooting began at 01:07 local time (05:07 GMT) on Sunday in an area popular for its nightlife. Security camera footage shows dozens of people racing through the doorway of the local Ned Peppers nightclub on E 5th Street. Nine people were killed and 27 were injured. Just seconds later, the gunman is seen running towards the venue and being hit by police gunfire as he reaches the door. Police have confirmed they killed the gunman at the scene within 30 seconds of him opening fire. Had the gunman made it through the door, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said. the loss of life would have been "catastrophic". The suspect, 24-year-old Connor Betts, used a .223-calibre assault rifle with high-capacity magazines that he had ordered legally from Texas. There was nothing in his history that would have stopped him from buying the gun legally, police said. He was wearing a mask, body armour and had additional ammunition with him, law enforcement officials said. A second weapon, which the suspect left in his vehicle, was bought locally.  He fired dozens of rounds in the attack. His 22-year-old sister, Megan, was among those killed. Police searched his house on Sunday and his motives remain unclear. When responding to questions about a possible racial element to the killings, Mr Biehl said there was nothing to suggest a "bias motive". FBI agents are assisting police with the investigation.

^ This is the first time I am posting since the weekend started (the other posts that posted on my blog during that time were scheduled for future dates. I do that with holidays, anniversaries, etc.) These mass shootings are horrible (as are all mass shootings regardless of where they occur around the world or who are targeted.) Sadly, we have become so desensitized to these kinds of shootings that after a few days of showing support and calling for change things will go back to the way they always do until the next mass shooting occurs when everything repeats itself. There are many reasons for people to commit terrorism and mass shootings. To place all the blame on one thing over another won’t stop the shootings from happening. A major part of the blame is due to the mental instability of the shooters. There is very little being done in the US (and around most of the world) to identify those with mental disorders and helping those that can be helped and locking-up those that can not be helped. The majority of people with mental illness can be helped with medications and consistent monitoring, but there are a few people that need to be kept locked-up in mental health institutions to receive 24/7 care and monitoring. Of course it is hard to determine who needs the latter, but sometimes there are so many signs that were evident before an attack that friends, family, strangers and government officials decided to overlook and only acknowledged after innocent people were killed or wounded. That tends to be the case for most of the school shootings. Another part that is to blame are the lack of real checks on buying weapons and items that can be used to build bombs  - especially in large quantities. Even when there are checks in place they don’t always check the right databases and so are all but obsolete from the start. Another  reason is the desire to escape reality and to achieve their 15 minutes of fame. People who commit terrorism or mass murder should automatically get the Death Penalty. I know the trend recently has been for US States and Countries to do away with the Death Penalty, but there is no rehabilitating a murderer that pre-planned an attack. Keeping them in jail for life (when oftentimes a life sentence doesn’t even mean the life of the murderer and they can be released) where they can have the good life of 3 meals a day, exercising, getting an education and degrees, having contact with the outside would (through letters, phone calls and e-mails) and even being allowed people to visit them so they can have sex is a constant “slap-in-the-face” to their victims and the victims’ families. It also gives the murderers more power since they can continually talk about their murders and bring back the fame they crave. Until we fix the different reasons mass shootings will continue to happen. Fixing one reason and not dealing with the others is just placing a temporary band-aid that the would-be shooters will simply find a way around. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49235818