craziness hits close to home

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/us/santa-monica-college-shooting.html

So I get a call from my son at 10:55am saying he's done with finals and can his friend come home with him. I say yes and they are walking from Santa Monica High School to my house.

At 12:45pm I get a call from the school district saying that all the schools are on lockdown as of 12:24pm due to "police activity in the area".

Then the stories start to break. His walk home is about 8 blocks from the last shootings. The bike loop that my wife and I ride actually goes right past the location (she was off today). Crazy. I'm still on the other side of town but they've been home all afternoon with non-stop helicopters overhead.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Wow. Hope everyone is ok. You must have chewed your fingers down to the knuckles. You're a good guy. I pray everyone in your life is safe.

genrex · 06-07-2013, 06:18 PM

Thank you for posting, Todd. The story is on the national news, and of course our first thought is of you and your family. Scary stuff...

__

Don Plumley · Don Plumley's Garage

Yipes. That is too close to home.

tabs · 06-08-2013, 02:46 PM

I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED that this sort of thing can happen in Santa Monica????? Santa Monica is the last place in the world one would think this sort of thing could happen. Why all the people who live in Santa MOnica are ENLIGHTENED LIBERALS (Jane Fonda) who espouse the evils of gun violence. They to the man, woman, child, dog, cat, the things that slither and even the bugs that crawl are gun control advocates in Santa Monica. AS SUCH Santa Monica has some of the strictist Gun Control laws on the books, that are SUPPOSED to see to it that things like this sort of random senslless violence does not occur, and that in the Peoples Republic of Snat Monica people are safe to walk the street at anytime of the day or night. After all this is the utopian Liberal bastion of of Californai liberalism second only to the City by the Bay, San Francisco.

Baz · Baz's Garage

Saw this in the news as well. Glad you and yours are OK Todd.

Crazy is the right word. This guy was a lunatic!

Looks like law enforcement did a good job in responding.

I know we'll know more about the shooter in the coming days. They aren't releasing his name until his family (mother) is notified. She is out of the country right now, it was reported.

Santa Monica Shooting 'Premeditated,' Shooter 'Ready for Battle' - ABC News

herr_oberst · 06-08-2013, 02:55 PM

I'm happy that everyone in your family is safe, Todd. Too many what-ifs and close calls these days.

Hugh R · 06-08-2013, 04:30 PM

Glad everyone is OK. Grist for the gun control mill in Sacramento.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabs

I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED that this sort of thing can happen in Santa Monica????? Santa Monica is the last place in the world one would think this sort of thing could happen. Why all the people who live in Santa MOnica are ENLIGHTENED LIBERALS (Jane Fonda) who espouse the evils of gun violence. They to the man, woman, child, dog, cat, the things that slither and even the bugs that crawl are gun control advocates in Santa Monica. AS SUCH Santa Monica has some of the strictist Gun Control laws on the books, that are SUPPOSED to see to it that things like this sort of random senslless violence does not occur, and that in the Peoples Republic of Snat Monica people are safe to walk the street at anytime of the day or night. After all this is the utopian Liberal bastion of of Californai liberalism second only to the City by the Bay, San Francisco.

Lame attempt. You're off your game.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Weaker than a newborn kitten.

mikester · 06-08-2013, 09:44 PM

Yep, i wasn't far from there when it was going down and had been at that intersection the night before.

KevinP73 · 06-08-2013, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nostatic

Lame attempt. You're off your game.

Please don't feed the troll.
P.S. Seems like no where is safe any longer. Glad everyone is OK.

sc_rufctr · 06-09-2013, 01:31 AM

Fuchen madness...

Brando · Brando's Garage

Glad your son is safe. However, putting a school on "lock-down' is the stupidest thing ever. Practically fish in a barrel a that point.

KNS · 06-09-2013, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinP73

Please don't feed the troll.
P.S. Seems like no where is safe any longer. Glad everyone is OK.

A friend of mine is considering travelling to South Africa and Zambia. Someone had asked him: "Really, are you sure it's safe there?".

My friend replied: "Where are all the shootings happening..?" That made the guy stop and think.

- No, I'm not a gun control nut, just an interesting observation.

Baz · Baz's Garage

Now we know this all started with a domestic dispute....

Santa Monica shooting suspect ID'd; father, brother among victims

Quote:

Santa Monica, California (CNN) -- The suspect in a shooting spree that left four people dead in Santa Monica has been identified as John Zawahri, sources told CNN.

Authorities say he killed his father, Samir "Sam" Zawahri, and brother, Chris Zawahri, in a Santa Monica house before carjacking a woman and firing at a public bus on Friday.

Scant details are trickling in about Zawahri, who was killed by police at Santa Monica College on Friday -- the day before his 24th birthday.

The superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu school district said Zawahri attended a high school for students behind in academic credits in 2006.

John Zawahri in a 2006 yearbook photo from Santa Monica High School.

Quote:

A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Saturday that the gunman had suffered mental health issues. A few years ago, he was hospitalized for treatment after allegedly talking about harming someone, according to the official.

Santa Monica shooting suspect ID'd; father, brother among victims - CNN.com

speeder · speeder's Garage

Just another "emotionally disturbed" and extremely angry person who was able to easily accumulate an arsenal that included a military style semi-auto rifle and 1000s of rounds of ammo...nothing to see, move along...

KaptKaos · 06-09-2013, 08:59 AM

Todd - glad everyone is ok.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baz

Looks like law enforcement did a good job in responding.

I'm not so sure of this. From what I had heard at the time, they were slow to respond due to multiple calls (fire, bus, shooting, etc..) and didn't realize that they were related. I had heard that it took them more than 15 minutes to respond and find the guy. I am sure that information will make its way out in the news shortly.

I am thankful that there weren't more people hurt.

Baz · Baz's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

Todd - glad everyone is ok.

I'm not so sure of this. From what I had heard at the time, they were slow to respond due to multiple calls (fire, bus, shooting, etc..) and didn't realize that they were related. I had heard that it took them more than 15 minutes to respond and find the guy. I am sure that information will make its way out in the news shortly.

I am thankful that there weren't more people hurt.

15 minutes? That seems pretty quick. I also feel that taking the guy out was a plus, given all the circumstances.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Looking at the incidents and knowing the area well, I think their response was fast. Consider that they were getting hundreds, if not thousands of 911 calls once things started and they had multiple crime scenes. And this was not a static situation. What is amazing is that there weren't more casualties on campus. Evidently he emptied a couple of magazines in the library but had limited hits. They're reporting that he was carrying 1300 rounds. That seems high - almost 50 29-round magazines. I'm betting is was closer to 300 rounds but even still that is someone who is out to kill people. Crazy person plus gun is not good...