Shots Fired at University of Texas Austin

[annie aronburg]

[Montag]

Right elfsmiles, the flat affect would raise a flag to any mental health professional. This is a young man who may have benefitted from cognitive behavioral therapy and dare I say pharmaceutical use. Of course had he been using big pharma and still killed himself would those such as Montag then blame the medication? And to add to the conundrum- what if he had been self medicating with alcohol or marijuana? The point is (if I have a point here)that it is the individuals own thought process, in this case, as in many others, that led to the aberrant behavior, however he may or maynot have facilitated it.

Marijuana would probably be better than what the drug pushers will give him. Pills, that I hope I don't have to tell you, can increase suicidal ideation, irritability, hostility, and aggressiveness.

[elfismiles]

Last night I heard UT students on the local UT student run radio station talking about the shooting.

One of the students described what he'd been hearing from other eye-witnesses: that the shooter was actively waving people away, as if to say "stay away from me".

As I've also noted, over and over again I hear witnesses who came face to face with the MASKED gunman, he "smiled and waved", was yelling "woohoo", and generally shooting AROUND the witnesses but not AT them.

Have any other mass shootings like this occurred with a masked shooter?

Meanwhile ... just got a lead on this other incident (2nd suspect in NJ college shooting arrested in Pa. - see below) reading Loren Coleman's latest post at his blog about a Twilight Language / Copycat Self-Immolation ... that occurred just across the street from Loren's Crytpozoology Museum!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Self-Immolation in Maine

BREAKING NEWS: On Wednesday, September 29, 2010, in Portland, Maine, at Longfellow Square, according to eyewitness accounts, a lone man, covered in gasoline, set himself on fire beside the statue of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The individual ran screaming out into the intersection of State Street and Congress Street and then fell to the ground. Emergency crews and police rushed to the scene as immolation sourced smoke filled the air.

Law enforcement officers are investigating, at this time. Eyewitnesses described to me that the individual was in his early 20s, had a small beard or goatee, and was Caucasian. One person who talked to him said the person repeated over and over, "Just let me die."

Several strange things of interest to twilight language students are developing with this event. Longfellow's wife died in a fire. And the the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow statue was unveiled in Portland, Maine, on September 29, 1888, according to a confirmation article published in the Boston Daily Globe.

...

Read entire post here:
http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2010/ ... ionme.html

2nd suspect in NJ college shooting arrested in Pa.
By BETH DeFALCO
Associated Press Writer
Published: Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2010 - 4:12 am
Last Modified: Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2010 - 2:20 pm

NEWARK, N.J. -- A man charged with shooting five people, killing one, at an off-campus party near Seton Hall University over the weekend pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance on Wednesday, hours before authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a second man accused of providing him with a gun.

Nicholas Welch, wearing an orange jumpsuit and with light facial hair visible, answered only "Yes" to whether he understood the charges against him. He faces murder, conspiracy, attempted murder and weapons charges.

Welch's attorney, Gerald Saluti, entered the not guilty pleas on his behalf during the 15-minute hearing and asked that his client remain in protective custody in jail. Essex County assistant prosecutor Romesh Sukhdeo presented Saluti with a request to take a DNA swab from Welch, and Saluti said he would not fight the request.

Wednesday afternoon, police and U.S. marshals arrested Marcus Bascus at an apartment complex in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., about 75 miles west of the gritty East Orange neighborhood where the shooting took place. Welch lives on the same block where the party was held, and Bascus lives a block away, police said.

Bascus, who faces the same charges as Welch, was to be arraigned in Luzerne County, Pa., pending extradition to New Jersey. He was in custody Wednesday, and there was no telephone listing for him in East Orange, about a mile from the campus of Seton Hall, a well-regarded Roman Catholic university with a gated campus in South Orange.

Bail was set at $2 million for each of the men.

Police arrested Welch on Monday night at his house. They said he tried to enter a fraternity party in a privately owned row house, was refused admittance and then returned moments later with a gun and started firing. Jessica Moore, a 19-year-old honors student from Disputanta, Va., who was majoring in psychology at Seton Hall, was shot and died later that day.

The injuries to the other four victims weren't considered life-threatening. Two of the injured were 19-year-old women who go to Seton Hall, and one was a 25-year-old man who attends the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The other was a 20-year-old man from New York City who is not a student.

Saluti said he was retained by Welch's family on Tuesday night and had spoken to his client for only 30 minutes.

"I can't even tell if my guy is the shooter at this point," Saluti said after the hearing.

He said he was awaiting information about witness statements concerning Bascus, 19.

"I'm interested to find out what the interplay is between them," Saluti said, declining to comment on whether Welch was at the party.

He said he thought Welch, a 25-year-old unmarried father of two, was "still in shock over the whole thing."

Seton Hall student Derel Stroud said he saw the suspected gunman as he went to the house to pick up two girls to drive them home.

After an altercation inside the home, Stroud said, he saw a man with a beard walk from the house toward another man standing on the curb. Stroud said he heard the bearded man say, "Give me the burner," which he took as slang for a gun.

With his friends in the car, Stroud said, he drove away but heard two gunshots in the distance.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/29/306484 ... z111KtR9fe

[elfismiles]

On the heels of this week's craziness in Austin ... a mile or two from my house, and within the shopping center where my cats' vet is located, one of two sixteen year old armed burglars was shot and killed this morning by police after he opened fire on them, having tripped the alarm at the BIG LOTS they'd broken into. Traffic was shutdown on IH-35 and neighboring streets.

Police shoot burglary suspect

Police say two armed teens broke into the Big Lots store off William Cannon and I-35 just before 6 a.m. Friday. They set off the store alarm.

VIDEO: http://www.kvue.com/news/Austin-Police- ... 42859.html

[justdrew]

so there's still NOTHING about why this kid did the shooting in Austin? No myFaceSpaceBook pages, no blogs, no web presence at all? No notes?

[elfismiles]

so there's still NOTHING about why this kid did the shooting in Austin? No myFaceSpaceBook pages, no blogs, no web presence at all? No notes?

I've not seen anything yet but searching just now...

Colton Tooley, UT Shooter, Had History Of Interest In Gun Control Policy
The Huffington Post | Leah Finnegan First Posted: 09-30-10 11:46 AM | Updated: 09-30-10 03:55 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/3 ... 45292.html

Police mum on UT shooter
UT police chief said they know where he got AK-47, but inquiry could take weeks.
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/pol ... 47811.html

Few people have come forward with insightful details about Tooley. His own words, contained in some of his classwork and reported Thursday by The Daily Texan student newspaper, provide one of the few glimpses into his thinking.

The Texan reported that "Tooley said he was most interested in researching public perception of gun control in the U.S. over the last 20 years, especially after the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings."

"I have also been to a few gun shows and learned what the people behind the counters, selling AR-15's, Kalashnikovs, Berettas, etc. have to say on the issue, both by talking to them and by reading their T-shirts," the Texan quoted Tooley as saying in his proposal to write a paper for an introductory rhetoric course in fall 2009.

The Texan said that Tooley wrote that he was interested in the subject because he was raised by a mother who was "absolutely appalled by guns" and a father who grew up with them.

Friends of Colton Tooley described him as nice, quiet, polite and respectful -- smart and a talented musician. The question Wednesday remains: Why did he do what he did on the University of Texas campus?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN7DtCDZRcc

[justdrew]

is there proof he even fired a shot? Is it possible he thought he was making some "right to carry" display and crowd hysteria and police gun fire (or gun fire from other people trying to be a hero) account for reports of him firing the gun? In fact, they're calling his death "apparently" self inflicted, possibly some bystander saw him waving a gun around and shot him, now the bystander is being protected or sought. Could be a massive cluster-fuck going on here.

[elfismiles]

is there proof he even fired a shot? Is it possible he thought he was making some "right to carry" display and crowd hysteria and police gun fire (or gun fire from other people trying to be a hero) account for reports of him firing the gun? In fact, they're calling his death "apparently" self inflicted, possibly some bystander saw him waving a gun around and shot him, now the bystander is being protected or sought. Could be a massive cluster-fuck going on here.

Perhaps. Though I doubt it. At least one of the eye-witnesses I have heard who say they saw him up-close say he was firing. I've heard one or two others claim to have seen him firing outside on 21st street.

I'm still confused about his clothing and behavior:

- wearing a suit (and tie according to at least one account)
- wearing a ski mask AND a hoodie

- yelling woohoo, smiling and waving (waving folks AWAY according to some) and then going so far as to say "excuse me" while passing folks in a stairwell.

I don't think I've ever heard of such clothing or behavior in one of these kinds of events before.

[justdrew]

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican, called for guns to be made legal on campuses after a shooting last week at the University of Texas, Austin, arguing that armed bystanders might have stopped the gunman.

[elfismiles]

092810_gunman_Colton-Tooley.jpg

luther-blisset.jpg

Nah!

[justdrew]

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican, called for guns to be made legal on campuses after a shooting last week at the University of Texas, Austin, arguing that armed bystanders might have stopped the gunman.

since the shooter wasn't directly threatening anyone, had a 'bystander' shot him, seems to me it would be hard to claim self-defense.

[Pele'sDaughter]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/stu ... 73038.html

The investigation into the University of Texas shooting spree last month revealed how Colton Tooley was able to bring an AK-47 onto campus, officials said Thursday, but not the motive behind his actions.

At 7:22 a.m. Sept. 28, the 19-year-old UT math sophomore boarded Capital Metro bus No. 333 near his South Austin home carrying a laptop and a backpack concealing the AK-47, a gift from his father several months before.

I caught that bold font bit on the local nooze last night. What. The. Fuck. Really, dad? An AK-47?

UT police said Thursday that the gun was a gift from Tooley's father and was legally purchased. It had not been modified to fire automatically, officials said.

[Simulist]

"But see, if ALL fathers gave their children AK-47s, and if EVERYBODY then carried them around with them, we'd have an armed — but polite! — society."

— Some Probable Gun Nut from the NRA

[MinM]

This is likely more useful...

Google: timeline of rampage shootings 1960-2010

1966 1966 - The "This Day in History" feature in Friday's Observer misstated the year when Charles Joseph Whitman went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin. The shootings happened in 1966. Memo: The following correction refers to original story no ...
From Charlotte Observer, The : CORRECTION
docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/CO/lib00111 ...


From Hate-group chief guilty of plan to kill judge - Related web pages
docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/PI/lib00186 ...

Jul 1999 - A former follower, Benjamin Smith, went on a murder-suicide shooting rampage in July 1999 that injured nine people and killed two, including former Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong. An Illinois House committee last week approved tougher hate-crime ...A former follower, Benjamin Smith, went on a murder-suicide shooting rampage in July 1999 that injured nine people and killed two, including former Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong. An Illinois House committee last week approved tougher hate-crime legislation that is supported by Byrdsong's widow, Sherialyn. Hale said he does not advocate violence, but it does seem to follow him. Police in Connecticut two weeks ago used pepper spray on demonstrators protesting ...

From WOMAN INVITES WHITE SUPREMACIST TO SPEAK HALE PLANS TO … - Related web pages
pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access ...

Jul 2, 1999 - On the night of July 2, 1999, Benjamin Smith began his shooting rampage in the streets of West Rogers Park. My school is located directly in the path that Smith took. I found out the next day that the first person Smith took a shot at was my friend Efraim.On the night of July 2, 1999, Benjamin Smith began his shooting rampage in the streets of West Rogers Park. My school is located directly in the path that Smith took. I found out the next day that the first person Smith took a shot at was my friend Efraim. He and his father were walking back from synagogue when his father saw a man in a car parked in front of their house. He went to tell the man to park the car away from the fire hydrant, lest he get a ticket, when suddenly ...

From How A Madman Changed Our Lives - Related web pages
http://www.newsweek.com/1999/12/12/how-a-madman ...

The Ricky Byrdsong Murder, along with the events that surrounded it, ties elements of a couple of other cases in the news today...

Trayvon Martin and Toulouse:

On July 2, 1999, while jogging near his Skokie, Illinois home with his son and daughter, ages 8 and 10, he was murdered by Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, a member of the white supremacist Creativity Movement who went on a shooting spree. Smith was a disciple of Mathew Hale (leader of Creativity Movement) and his shooting spree took place two days after Hale was denied a license to practice law in Illinois. Over a span of a few days,Smith killed a Korean American student at Indiana University, injured two African American men in Springfield Illinois, a Taiwanese man in Urbana, an African American minister in Decatur, and six Orthodox Jews in West Rogers Park. Smith also attempted to shoot, but missed 9 other potential victims. According to eyewitnesses, Smith pulled alongside the unsuspecting Byrdsong and shot him multiple times. Smith was never brought to trial because he committed suicide on July 4, 1999 after he crashed his car into a metal post during a high-speed chase in Southern Illinois...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Byrdsong

Publication Date: April 16, 2002

On July 2, 1999, a white supremacist killed two and wounded several others–all ethnic minorities. One of the victims was beloved former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong.

A senseless act by a deranged murderer acting alone? Or just the tip of a massive “racial holy war”–one that is now heating up as whites become a minority in our society and hate groups prey on their fears?

No Random Act digs into the origins of the World Church of the Creator and investigates the evil spiritual influences that sent an affluent young white man on a shooting rampage against those with other beliefs, other skin colors. It intertwines the story of a hate group with the life of Ricky Byrdsong–a man free of prejudice, known for his integrity and faith in God. A man who drew people together across all ethnic and racial barriers and held no animosity even against his enemies. Two lives, two paths, two spiritual forces that ended in tragedy...and triumph.

[elfismiles]

Thanks MinM. I've passed your find along to Loren Coleman.