Virginia shootings leave several dead, police say

[demoleft]

Source: bbc

A lone gunman has killed and injured a number of people in central Virginia, police in the US state say.

They say more than 100 police officers have surrounded the suspect in a wooded area just outside of Appomattox.

The violence began shortly after noon on Tuesday local time when an injured man was found on a rural stretch of road, the Associated Press reports.

A police helicopter that responded to the incident was fired on and forced to land with a ruptured fuel tank.

The officers were not injured.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8469314.stm

[FunkyLeprechaun]

1. Was going to post this

Its sad that the BBC website breaks this. Shootings are so common in the US that people barely give stories like this a second glance.

[zanana1]

2. True. People are becoming numb to gun violence.

A mass shooting by a lone gunman in the U.S. today is like a robbery at the 7-11.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. Nice to see you back you probably should have changed your name a little more.

[Doctor_J]

12. yes, it seems the president's efforts to "grab all of the guns"

is going much more slowly than the NRA thought it would.

[Recursion]

9. Violence is at historically low levels, actually, nationwide NT

[Ian David]

3. Virginia shootings leave several dead, police say

Source: BBC

A lone gunman has killed and injured a number of people in central Virginia, police in the US state say.

They say more than 100 police officers have surrounded the suspect in a wooded area just outside of Appomattox.

The violence began shortly after noon on Tuesday local time when an injured man was found on a rural stretch of road, the Associated Press reports.

A police helicopter that responded to the incident was fired on and forced to land with a ruptured fuel tank.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8469314.stm

---

See also:

APPOMATTOX, VIRGINIA (BNO NEWS) -- Several people were killed and one person was injured in an apparent mass shooting in Virginia's Appomattox County, officials said on Tuesday.

Sergeant Thomas J. Molnar of the Virginia State Police said several people had died in the shootings, but was not able to provide a number of fatalities. It was not immediately clear what took place. Molnar was not able to say where the shootings happened.

Molnar said the suspect, a male, is believed to be cornered in an area near Route 703, also known as Snapps Mill Road. He said the suspect also fired at a state police helicopter, which sprung a fuel leak after being hit. "The helicopter landed safely nearby," Molnar added.

The Appomattox County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation.

http://wireupdate.com/wires/416/several-dead-in-appomattox-va-shootings/

[IndianaGreen]

4. A sniper on the lose!

This is terrible!

[sakabatou]

5. Devastating

[superconnected]

6. And in 2010 the job market was so bad that people didn't have office to go to for their office

shootings.

Okay, not funny in lieu of the dead. But strange he did it on a rural road.

[bossy22]

7. sounds like a sniper type shooting

if he was able to hit a helicopter he must be using a rifle with a scope

[Ian David]

8. Rambo could do it with a bow and arrow.

[ManiacJoe]

10. Way too many assumptions being made.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. AP finally picked up the story

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34943571/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Finally. :eyes:

[underpants]

14. I heard this on the local radio on the way home- he hit the copter 4 times

but the State Trooper pilot was able to land it.

[shadowknows69]

15. Anyone know of a Roam or Rome VA and how close it is to this?

I have a dear friend down that way, but I'm not sure of the exact city she's in.

[dgibby]

29. I'm from Va.

You're probably thinking of Roanoke, in SW Va. I grew up near there. There's no Roam/Rome, Va.

[shadowknows69]

31. I was totally off, I remembered she told me the town was North, VA.

On google maps it looked like it would be easy to drive through without noticing.

[shadowknows69]

32. Thanks for the reply though. Still a little nervous. She has other family in the State.

And still haven't heard from her. That said, the woman never checks her voice mail so...

[Blandocyte]

16. Total ban

and yes, I realize durgs are banned and you can have a speedball delivered to your door at any hour, but, staying on topic, a total gun ban would be a great start.

[bossy22]

21. its an impossible start

politically and legally

you would have to change the constitution

[slackmaster]

22. A total ban, except of course

For guns used by government employees.

[bossy22]

23. like chicago aldermans?

[hack89]

24. Why do you hate civil rights?

after 8 years of Bush, do you doubt the dangers of not protecting the Bill of Rights?

[TheWraith]

25. So you recognize it wouldn't work, but you support it anyway?

Despite the fact that it's completely contrary not just to the idea of a free country, but to the actual bill of rights?

Sounds like you desperately need to read a few books about Prohibition, about the drug war, and all the other attempts to suppress things in the history of this and other countries. You can't just ban something you don't like.

[leftynyc]

30. And what to do about

that pesky constitution?

[proteus_lives]

36. A great start....

To the total destruction of our rights.

[onehandle]

17. .

.

[shadowknows69]

18. Fuck, can we spare the politics for an hour? I have a friend down that way I can't reach.

[onehandle]

19. You're right.

Sorry. The whole Massachusetts situation has me on edge and ready to lash out.

Hope your friend is ok.

[shadowknows69]

20. Still can't reach her, but have determined she lives 130 miles from Appotomax

My wife just hooked with her sister down there and she's ok too.

[demoleft]

26. UPDATE jan 20 - Suspect held after eight die in Virginia shootings

A gunman who shot and killed eight people in the US state of Virginia has given himself up, say police.
At one point, police say a helicopter was fired on by the suspect and forced to land with a ruptured fuel tank.
...
The suspect, named by police as Christopher Speight, 39, approached officers at about 0700 (1200 GMT) after the all-night drama.


source: bbc, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8469931.stm

[raccoon]

28. Any word yet on why he went postal? nt

[Blue_Tires]

27. unconfirmed report that two of the dead are the shooter's wife and son

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21virginia.html

[Blue_Tires]

33. UPDATE: Police check for explosives after arrest

APPOMATTOX — Bomb squad members today combed the home and surrounding property of a man suspected of killing eight people and attempting to shoot down a Virginia State Police helicopter before surrendering without incident early this morning.

Christopher B. Speight, 39, “managed to conceal himself overnight in the wooded area” guarded by officers before surrendering at 7:10 a.m., said Appomattox Sheriff O. Wilson Staples. He was unarmed, though authorities said they believed he used a high-powered rifle, and was wearing a bulletproof vest.

With the capture made, crime scene technicians, bomb squad members and SWAT officers combed the log cabin-style home on Snapps Mill Road/state Route 703 and a large area surrounding the dwelling...

---SNIP---

But in interviews with the Lynchburg News & Advance and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a co-owner of a Lynchburg market where Speight occasionally worked as a security guard described him as recently troubled over a dispute involving his home and land, which he inherited along with his sister from his mother. Connie Anderson said Speight had a married sister who at some point had moved into the house with him.

“Chris felt like they were trying to get him out of the house, and it was his (house), too,“ said Anderson, the co-owner of Sunshine Market, where Speight, employed by Old Dominion Security, was described by an employee as a good security officer who seemed to have changed after leaving for about five months following the death of his mother in 2006.

“He seemed like a zombie when he came back to the job,“ Tonya Maddox, a cashier, told the Times-Dispatch. “My boss was joking around. He said, ‘He’ll probably kill us all,‘“ Maddox said.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/article/fatalities_reported_in_appomattox_incident/318637/

[Blue_Tires]

34. UPDATE: Names of the dead released

APPOMATTOX—Authorities released the names of the eight victims killed in Tuesday’s shootings here and said suspect Christopher Bryan Speight has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in the deaths.

Meanwhile, officials expect to continue hunting today for more explosive devices at Speight’s home, where they detonated at least seven bombs yesterday.

State police Sgt. Thomas Molnar said a “multitude” of devices were discovered at the home 3½ miles from state police headquarters here. No immediate details were given on the nature of the explosives found inside and outside the home.

Speight is being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg without bond.

The victims were identified as Speight’s sister, Lauralee Sipe, 38; her daughter, Morgan L. Dobyns, 15; Sipe’s husband, Dwayne S. Sipe, 38; and the couple’s son, Joshua Sipe, 4.

Other victims were Jonathan L. Quarles, 43, of Appomattox; his wife, Karen Quarles, 43, of Appomattox; their daughter, Emily A. Quarles, 15, of Appomattox; and Ronald I. Scruggs II, 16, of Dillwyn.

Scruggs’ relationship to the other victims was not clear last night.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/article/fatalities_reported_in_appomattox_incident/318637/

[wordpix]

35. another guy with mental problems has a gun---wonder if it was registered?

Honestly, I have no problem with people having a gun to defend their homes but there's something wrong with a system when people with mental problems can easily get guns.

[Blue_Tires]

37. he had a legit concealed carry permit...