Reporter And Photographer Shot, Killed During Live TV News Report In Virginia

[+Red King Subscriber²]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/26/black-lives-matters-deray-mckesson-assumed-virginia-tv-shooter-was-white/

[DocM]

 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/26/black-lives-matters-deray-mckesson-assumed-virginia-tv-shooter-was-white/

 

So says the village idiot. 

[techbeck]

This whole story is getting annoying.  I feel for the people who died families, but the media really needs to back the ###### off.  There is no need to interview teachers/friends/other people for a story on who these people were.  They plaster images of the shooter all over the place and it seems he is getting way more attention than the victims and he will be the one remembered.  All the media is doing is showing other potential crazies that if they do something like this, they will be famous.  The only  reason this is such a big issue anyway is because it happened on TV.  Otherwise, this wouldn't have gotten nearly as much attention.  Was watching the news last night, the idiots was showing Flanagan's apartment which provided nothing to the store and had nothing if significance to what happened.

[Hurmoth]

WDBJ staffers pull together after attack on 'our family'

Leo Hirsbrunner arrived at work early Thursday promising himself he would keep it together.

The murder of two of his WDBJ (Channel 7) colleagues on live television numbed him Wednesday. He slogged through his weather forecasts during the noon news, maintaining his composure as the realization was still sinking in that reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward had died from gunshot wounds.

“There was shock, there were tears, but I just kept pushing through,” said Hirsbrunner, a 15-year weatherman for the “Mornin’” and noon newscasts on WDBJ.

However, when he pulled into the employee parking lot before 3 a.m. Thursday, he saw something he could not bear: Parker’s and Ward’s vehicles were still where they had left them the day before. Hirsbrunner burst into tears.

More at http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/wdbj-staffers-pull-together-after-attack-on-our-family/article_a3113638-d961-5138-ac98-628784e678a8.html

[DefyTheOutcome]

Another day, another shooting, this one in real time and live TV. It illustrates plenty of things on the violence in the society, the hunger for the 15 minutes of fame and the total inaction that will follow. Nothing happened after Columbine, after Aurora, after Newtown, why should any lessons learn from this tragic murder be learned compared to the others?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Another day, another shooting, this one in real time and live TV. It illustrates plenty of things on the violence in the society, the hunger for the 15 minutes of fame and the total inaction that will follow. Nothing happened after Columbine, after Aurora, after Newtown, why should any lessons learn from this tragic murder be learned compared to the others?

What lesson is to be learned from this tragic incident? Please enlighten me. If you say "ban guns", then I'll say people will use knives. If you say "ban knives", then I'll say people will use stones. This is the result of one man's actions and it isn't something that happens regularly. The harsh truth is that violence will always exist and people will always kill each other.

[DefyTheOutcome]

What lesson is to be learned from this tragic incident? Please enlighten me. If you say "ban guns", then I'll say people will use knives. If you say "ban knives", then I'll say people will use stones. This is the result of one man's actions and it isn't something that happens regularly. The harsh truth is that violence will always exist and people will always kill each other.

One man's action? There was a shooting in Savannah, Georgia yesterday: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-college-on-lockdown-after-shooting-1-hurt/

The week-end begins, there are going to be other shootings elsewhere. Sadly, shootings are a rather almost every day event in the US.

You said that violence will always exist and people will always kill each other. May be the US is a society that glorifies too much violences, too much exposures.

Violence in the everyday life: we like sports like fottball or MMA. In the corporate world: we have be aggressive, to have a sense of urgency, we have to be apex predators to beat the competition to win clients. We watch TVs series or movies where the 'heroes' punch their way to victory. The media debate is completely polarized: you get audience by shouting the loudest, most outrageously things, by vilfying the other side. Note that I have said 'the other side', my first sentence was 'the opponent'. There is even violence in the vocabulary and I am not counting the everyday discriminations, fears, outburst of rages.

We have a 24 hours insane news network who feed us our insatiable hunger for emotions and shocks . That murderer knew exactly what to do to get the most shock value and be the center of attention. From the faxed manifesto to the actions itself during a live broadcast, he did prepare very carefully his 15 minutes of fame infamy.

After that, what about guns? What are guns? hunting equipment? sport accesories? or just facilitators of more violence? The guns for that murder were bought legally during mid June from a regular dealer and there was nothing in his background check that prevented from buying then. Yet, he was already planning his assassination.

One lesson that could be taken from that is that background checks are useless. They did not prevent Flanagan from getting his guns.

But, since the US is already in election mode, absolutely nothing will come from that tragedy

[techbeck]

 

After that, what about guns? What are guns? hunting equipment? sport accesories? or just facilitators of more violence?

Ask that question here....

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1144670-big-gun-control-debate/

[chrisj1968]

last report I saw yesterday did it because of the Charleston shooting.

[techbeck]

What lesson is to be learned from this tragic incident? Please enlighten me. If you say "ban guns", then I'll say people will use knives. If you say "ban knives", then I'll say people will use stones. This is the result of one man's actions and it isn't something that happens regularly. The harsh truth is that violence will always exist and people will always kill each other.

There has been several knife attacks in the news and several that resulted in deaths.  Seems like more frequent ones as well.  But no one likes to talk about that.  Odd how that is....and also "odd" is that if the shooter was white and the victims black, then this would be an even bigger story than it is now.  Also, probably going to really ###### me off how the parties spin this during the elections to try and gain support.  In reality, the only one who cares about the victims are friends/family of the victims.  Everyone else has an diff reason why they care whether it be political gain, ratings, or to push an agenda.

 

[chrisj1968]

this is why we have so many radical nutjobs in the US The inoffensive everyday phrases used by reporter Alison Parker that earned her a death sentence because Flanagan deemed them 'racist'

[DefyTheOutcome]

last report I saw yesterday did it because of the Charleston shooting.

Because loaded weapons are stricly forbidden by the organizers? http://www.myfloridagunshow.com/gunshow_terms.php

 

2. Absolutely NO LOADED FIREARMS will be permitted inside of Show. 

3. ALL FIREARMS must be secured with plastic tie wraps and free of any clips or magazines. That includes an Exhibitors personal gun, as well as any guns displayed inside of glass cases.

Or am I missing Something?

[FloatingFatMan]

The problem here isn't guns, the problem is a total lack of social healthcare, especially mental healthcare, in the US.  The only folks who get diagnosed are those who act out and are caught before they do real harm, or those who can afford to see a shrink.

No money = no help, and eventual kaboom.

[DocM]

Pretty much. This guy is the poster boy for involuntary committal being too difficult and mandatory reporting far too weak.

Homicidal nutjobs will find a way even if it's driving a pickup into a crowd, using a homebrewed flamethrower (easy), or using "a few common household ingredients in the proper proprtions" to do a rapid unscheduled disassembly (easier.)

This assassination could have been done several ways. Finding ways to kill people in bulk is very simple for the warped but dedicated mind.

[FloatingFatMan]

Don't get me wrong, I think the proliferation of guns in the US is a problem, but it's not the cause of all the killings. They're an enabler, that's it. They make it easier for the nutters to carry out their insane ideas and kill as many as they can in a short space of time. It's something that definitely needs to be sorted out, but it won't be until the majority of US citizens decide for themselves to do so.

But doing that isn't going to help with the deeper problem; that there's no support system in place to spot these sick people in time and get them to somewhere where they're not a danger to others. Without a social healthcare system, and a means of sharing data between various health departments, these nutbars will continue to dodge the system and kill indiscriminately.

[ATLien_0]

Don't get me wrong, I think the proliferation of guns in the US is a problem, but it's not the cause of all the killings. They're an enabler, that's it. They make it easier for the nutters to carry out their insane ideas and kill as many as they can in a short space of time. It's something that definitely needs to be sorted out, but it won't be until the majority of US citizens decide for themselves to do so.

But doing that isn't going to help with the deeper problem; that there's no support system in place to spot these sick people in time and get them to somewhere where they're not a danger to others. Without a social healthcare system, and a means of sharing data between various health departments, these nutbars will continue to dodge the system and kill indiscriminately.

This!

The guy in this shooting, (not mentioning his name for a reason) had a serious mental breakdown, he felt the world was out to get him and could not handle rejection...That was the core issue, and in many cases with these shootings its the same. The problem though is that this is always over looked, people reach their breaking points all the time, some snap, some don't. Some might say its human nature, others might say mental illness. The question is and in any violent case how do you help those people, that don't want help or realize they need help. How do you recognize the  warning signs before it happens. 

Guns as you said are just an enabler, to help carry out these violent acts easier when people do snap. If a gun isn't available these kinds of people will just resort to the next best weapon, plain and simple. As an example at GT a few years back we had a grad student go after a professor with a Machette over a another woman.   Are guns to readily available for these kinds of people, yup sure are. But we have to be realistic, would any gun measure other than just stopping gun sales all together have prevented these people from purchasing or carrying out a violent act,,nope. 

These are the kinds of things we have to recognize, the fact that there is no easy fix at all to the "gun issue" at all, but rather we need to focus on the first aspect. Who knows maybe this is why we need something like minority report.  

[DefyTheOutcome]

The guy in this shooting, (not mentioning his name for a reason) had a serious mental breakdown, he felt the world was out to get him and could not handle rejection...That was the core issue, and in many cases with these shootings its the same. The problem though is that this is always over looked, people reach their breaking points all the time, some snap, some don't. Some might say its human nature, others might say mental illness. The question is and in any violent case how do you help those people, that don't want help or realize they need help. How do you recognize the  warning signs before it happens. 

I remember reading news articles 90% similar to this after the Virginia Tech shooting of 2007 and there were signs too of the shooter's mental illness. We had shootings in malls, in cinemas and in churches. The South Carolina Charleston shooting is a good example too: there were signs too.

On the other hand, you have perfectly normal looking people who blow a fuse during a road rage incident or at a pizza restaurant.

You mentioned Minority Report. Let's have a more plausible proposal: what about a monitoring of social medias/network and a search for people with murderous tendencies? The monitoring part is actually what is done by intelligence agencies to try to find terrorists or by secret service who has to investigate threats against the president for example. You are going to find only people who expresses their lifes on the internet. Once you get the first ones, the others crazies wil hide away from the Internet and you will not catch them anymore. This is going to go to the courts as a free speech/hate speech issue. It does not address the craziness/paranoia/fear level all around either.

 

[Hurmoth]

So more information is coming out about Flanagan in the past year:

In February 2014, a friend from Atlanta called the Roanoke Police Department and asked officers to do a well-being check on Flanagan at his apartment, police spokesman Scott Leamon said. The friend had tried to call him, concerned that he had taken too much medication. Officers found Flanagan at home, and he spoke cordially and coherently.

“Flanagan stated that he had moved to Roanoke for a career which fell through and he was having financial issues,” Leamon said. “Flanagan advised he had no intention to harm himself. Flanagan stated that he would call if further assistance was needed after officers apprised him that resources to assist were available.”

In late December, Flanagan began work at Risk Management Programs Inc., President Chris Carey said Flanagan was one of several temporary employees staffing organization Randstad USA provided to the company for 90-day projects. A message left Friday with Randstad was not returned.

A few months ago, Flanagan wrote a rambling 15- to 20-page letter to Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint in downtown Roanoke. Among other things, he criticized restaurant employees for saying “have a nice day” to departing patrons, instead of “thank you.”

Source: The Roanoke Times

It is really clear that, even though this poor guy wasn't actually targeted by others, he really felt like he was (in his mind). I'm not defending his actions, my entire community is devastated by his actions, but that doesn't mean that he isn't a victim, in a sense, either.

[DocM]

Yes, he is also a victim. Of mental health and legal systems so blindly concerned with the civil liberties of the mentally ill and political correctness that they prevent their being expeditiously and proactively identified and treated, and if necessary institutionalised for the protection of themselves and others.

The deinstitutionalization movement started in the 1970's as both a civil liberties and money saving policy, and now has reached the point our ability to interdict such events is dangerously lacking teeth. Legally we lost the tools to act on reports of someone in a downward spiral, and we no longer have the inpatient beds to handle all of those who really need long term evaluation and care.  And I don't mean the near useless half way houses which unstable people can easily walk away from.

Time to rethink it.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

When someone brought a watermelon to work, he thought that was racist
He believed the fruit was placed in a 'strategic location' to harass him

[DocM]

[FloatingFatMan]

When someone brought a watermelon to work, he thought that was racist
He believed the fruit was placed in a 'strategic location' to harass him

I'm confused as to how a watermelon could be thought of as racist... Maybe if you're green, and have a head shaped like a melon...

[+Red King Subscriber²]

 

I'm confused as to how a watermelon could be thought of as racist... Maybe if you're green, and have a head shaped like a melon...

Racist trope - black people like fried chicken, watermelon, and purple "drank".

[FloatingFatMan]

Racist trope - black people like fried chicken, watermelon, and purple "drank".

Right. Must be an American thing...  I knew about the fried chicken, but not the other two.

[DocM]

Regardless of the stereotype, this guy was predisposed to taking every-and-any-thing as a racial or gay taunt regardless of intent. A ticking time bomb.