Woman, 21, shot dead in mall skate shop by ex-boyfriend armed with shotgun

[stg81]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2545893/Three-dead-gunman-opens-fire-suburban-Baltimore-mall-food-court.html

Two of the three people dead after a possible love triangle ended with shots fired at a suburban Baltimore shopping mall have been identified.

Police say the gunman killed Briana Benlolo, 21, and Tyler Johnson, 25, with a shotgun before turning it on himself just before 11:15 a.m. Saturday morning in an upstairs Zumiez skate shop at the Mall in Columbia.

The shooting may have been the climax of a domestic dispute between Benlolo, her boyfriend and an ex-boyfriend who fired the shots, WBAL reported on the air. No identifications have yet been made.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. domestic violence

[tblue]

2. And, I want to add, those are not the only victims.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who were not shot but who went through a horrifying experience just by being at the scene. They were terrified in ways I can only imagine, and now they have memories that will haunt them for years, if not forever. Some will need professional help to cope with this trauma, but few of theme ill get that help. Some of those people are young children. It's not fair.

More guns = More tragedy and trauma

Since when is that a right???

What we're doing is obviously not working.

[mopinko]

17. friends sister was working in the mall

safe, far from the action, but the whole family was scared to death all morning.

[Warpy]

3. They just can't stand seeing their property get away from them

Pity Johnson didn't relieve us of his company without taking two worthwhile people with him.

[crazylikafox]

6. Johnson was a shooting victim, not the shooter

By the way, police are still not verifying that this was a domestic violence shooting.

[elleng]

4. Full story from Daily Mail.

Story from NYT/Reuters:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/01/25/us/25reuters-usa-maryland-shooting-names.html?hp

[onehandle]

5. Gun culture doing what it does best. nt

[Loudly]

7. Guns are about freedom.

The freedom to settle personal grievances.

[Straw Man]

20. Wrong again.

Guns are about freedom.

The freedom to settle personal grievances.

There is no such freedom granted under the law. But you knew that.

[Loudly]

21. Of great comfort to the dead, disabled and grieving.

The Sandy Hook shooter killed himself. Was justice served?

[Straw Man]

22. Pre-emptive policing, then?

Of great comfort to the dead, disabled and grieving.

The Sandy Hook shooter killed himself. Was justice served?

What does "justice" mean to you? The elimination of the possibility of evil acts? Absolute recompense for all wrongs and the alleviation of all pain? The answer to that kindergarten formulation, then, is "no." Justice was not served. If "justice" to you means the application of whatever palliatives the state has it in its power to grant, then it may yet be served in civil courts as the families of the deceased seek recompense for the failure of the institution to which they entrusted their children to keep those children safe.

Perhaps you believe he should have been killed before he committed his heinous acts?

Underlying all your pseudo-ethical hijinks is the foolish notion that without a gun, Adam Lanza would have been incapable of inflicting massive death and destruction. For your edification and disabusement, I suggest you Google the "Happy Land social club fire."

Can society perfectly protect itself from the actions of the homicidally insane while letting them walk among us on a daily basis? Only by applying the rules of the asylum to the society at large. Line up here for your meds. No guns or pointy scissors allowed.

[Little_Wing]

8. Didn't there used to be a few steps

between a) getting mad and z) blowing someone's head off with a shotgun? How did that become so truncated? The tragedy of people obliterating each other is immense, and still the answer eludes us. I really hope we figure this out soon. So sad.

[liberal_at_heart]

9. I was listening to Amy Goodman the other day and she was talking to someone

who works as a hostage negotiator and her expertise is in domestic violence. She said that most people wouldn't even realize that the majority of hostage situations whether on a small scale or a mass shooting are most often due to a domestic violence situation.

[stg81]

10. so happy the NRA keeps ensuring that we arm the crazies

[otohara]

11. When The Middle Finger & Shooting Yourself Just Isn't Enough

My neighbor's ex-husband took their only kid - a beautiful 9 year old to the mts. and blew their brains out.
The ex was of course not a criminal - just a pathetic 60 year old man who decided to play God with a Gun.

The gun folks fail to mention the murder part of the suicide stats.

[caraher]

12. The only shooting I have personal acquaintance with was "domestic"

Thank goodness the shooter didn't attack his son. Seemed like the nicest guy in the world - very charming, and was a small game hunter, so there was nothing creepy about his use of firearms.

One morning he shot his wife dead, then himself. If one had to keep guns in some secure, out-of-home location I wonder whether the time it would have taken to get the gun might have allowed whatever impulse drove him to it to pass...

[Straw Man]

13. It's a very old story.

It predates the existence of firearms by many millennia.

[7962]

14. This, along with several recent incidents, involved a shotgun not a handgun

For all who will blame the gun nuts and nra, no gun laws advocated by pretty much anyone involves regulating shotguns. Domestic violence is the issue here, and "men" who cant get over their wife/girlfriend leaving them.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

23. Yup. Everything else is always the issue, except the gun. nt

[hack89]

24. So what law would have prevented this short of an outright ban? Nt

[7962]

26. My point exactly. It could also be a sign that some handgun laws ARE working;

and the people involved had a harder time getting a handgun. Dont have any info on that, just a possibility.
But its also evidence that idiots like this will find a way regardless.

[Bad Thoughts]

15. Another suicide shooter. eom.

[Beaverhausen]

16. no one knows yet for sure what the circumstances of this shooting are

and it's irresponsible to post a story that "may have been".

[mopinko]

18. cook county sheriff started confiscating guns from abusers.

picked up a few hundred guns.

[Straw Man]

19. Something he should have been doing all along.

cook county sheriff started confiscating guns from abusers.

picked up a few hundred guns.

The laws that allow him to do so have been in place since 1997. Why has he been so delinquent?

[mopinko]

25. who wants to do that?

it's a big thing for them to do. a dangerous confrontation with a convicted idiot.

we have a decent sheriff these days.

[Straw Man]

27. It's their job.

it's a big thing for them to do. a dangerous confrontation with a convicted idiot.

Um... That's law enforcement in a nutshell. If they can't stand the confrontation, they should get out of the profession.