One Week Later

It’s been a week since the Connecticut school massacre and today I’m reading about another mass shooting. Four dead, including the shooter, and 3 injured. This mass shooting was at least the 62nd in the last 30 years.

This shooting began in rural Frankstown Township near Altoona, Pennsylvania. A man entered a tiny church hall and fatally shot a woman who was decorating for a children’s Christmas party. He got back into his vehicle and drove to the tiny village of Geeseytown where he shot two men who were standing in a driveway. Then he drove off, passing two police cars headed to the crime scene and running head-on into a third. He then engaged the officers in a gun battle. One officer was injured from the collision, another was shot in the chest but was protected by a bullet proof vest, and a third officer was hit in the face by bullet fragments and shattered glass. The officers managed to shoot and kill the perp. I call this kind of shooting your typical ADG – Angry Dumbass with a Gun.

By the way, this was the second church shooting in western Pennsylvania this month. On December 2 a man shot his ex-wife, a church organist, during a service in Coudersport. Churches and schools: not having a good year.

Meanwhile, Florida – not wanting to be outdone in the dumbassery department – had its own ADG shooting. According to news reports, a customer named Michael Jock was waiting in line at a pizza restaurant when another customer named Randall White began complaining about the slow service. The two men exchanged words, which escalated to a shoving match.

( In my mind I can see it happening now …
Man 1: “Don’t like it? Do something about it!” and shove… 
Man 2: “You do something about it!” and shove…
Man 1: “No, you!” and shove… )

Finally Jock pulled out a revolver and shot White in the gut. White tried to grab the gun and was shot in the gut a second time. Jock told officers he was justified under Florida’s “stand your ground” law. He said he believed his life was in danger. It didn’t help; the officers charged Jock with aggravated battery with a weapon and shooting within a building. He was released on bail.

I think the lessons here are:
(1) if you visit Florida … don’t look at anyone, don’t speak to anyone, if anyone speaks to you, run away. And if you go out to buy pizza, wear body armor.
(2) if you visit Pennsylvania or Connecticut … well, don’t visit Pennsylvania or Connecticut.