Four Shot, One Dead at Korean Calif. Retreat Center
TEMECULA, California — A gunman opened fire at a Korean Christian retreat center on Tuesday night, killing one and wounding three others, authorities said.
The gunman was believed to be among the injured at the Kkottongnae Retreat Camp, and investigators were unsure what prompted the attack, sheriff’s spokesman Dennis Gutierrez said.
“We have some nuns that are very distraught,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said at least two of the victims were critically injured. A nursing supervisor at the Inland Valley Regional Medical Center near the retreat said she had no information on any of the victims.
Police and emergency crews converged on the rural area off Highway 79 after receiving reports about 7 p.m. that a gunman had shot his wife, said Mario Lopez, a spokesman with the California Highway Patrol. He said one person was dead when they arrived and the other three were hospitalized.
Law enforcement officers interviewed people at what appeared to be a triage center for injured victims, but Gutierrez said the language barrier was making it difficult to get all the facts. He said investigators believe all the victims are over age 40.
The retreat is one of four U.S. branches of the Kkottongnae Brothers and Sisters of Jesus, a Catholic organization dedicated to serving the poor and homeless. It was founded in the city of Cheongju, South Korea, by Father Oh Woong Jin in 1976.
A woman who answered the phone at the group’s Lynwood branch on Tuesday night said she did not speak English well and declined to discuss the shooting.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Pittsburgh Gunman Kills 3 Police Officers
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and “lying in wait” opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday, killing three of them and turning a quiet Pittsburgh street into a battlefield, police said.
Police Chief Nate Harper said the motive for the shooting isn’t clear, but friends said the gunman recently had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.
Richard Poplawski, 23, met officers at the doorway and shot two of them in the head immediately, Harper said. An officer who tried to help the two also was killed.
Poplawski, armed with an assault rifle and two other guns, then held police at bay for four hours as the fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them, according to police and witnesses. More than 100 rounds were fired by the SWAT teams and Poplawski, Harper said.
The three slain officers were Eric Kelly, 41, Stephen Mayhle, 29, and Paul Sciullo III, 37. Kelly had been on the force for 14 years, Mayhle and Sciullo for two years each. Another officer, Timothy McManaway, was shot in the hand and a fifth broke his leg on a fence.
Poplawski had gunshot wounds in his legs but was otherwise unharmed because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Harper said. He was charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault and a weapons violation.
The shooting occurred just two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. The officers were the first Pittsburgh city officers to die in the line of duty in 18 years.
“This is a solemn day and it’s a very sad day in the city of Pittsburgh,” Harper said. “We’ve seen this kind of violence happen in California. We never would think this kind of violence would happen in the city of Pittsburgh.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Gunman killed 13 people
April 3. Binghamton, New York – A gunman killed 13 people at an immigrant counselling centre where many of his victims were studying to become US citizens. The carnage at the American Civic Association, a language and help centre for immigrants settled in New York state, had all the hallmarks of being premeditated. The gunman drove his car to the back of the building and parked it tight against the rear door – preventing those inside from escaping. He then entered the front door armed with two handguns, shot both receptionists, one fatally and the other in the stomach. More on Guardian
2008
November. California – Engineer, Jing Hua Wu, is accused of shooting to death three executives at chip-maker SiPort a few hours after being fired.
2007
October. Tampa, FL – Grimes brandished a revolver in a dispute at Club Fluid, 2016 Town Center Blvd., with a man who Grimes accused of stealing his car and burning it. The initial melee was broken up by the man’s friend, Jayfrey Williams. Witnesses said Grimes went after Jayfrey Williams later. The pair scuffled, witnesses said, and Grimes was forced back on a pool table. It was then, witnesses said, that Grimes pulled his gun and started shooting at Williams. More on TBO.com
2003
December. California – On Benton Street, 37-year-old Todd Vernon shot dead his 39-year-old wife and his three children who were visiting from Orange County, then climbed back into bed next to his wife and turned the .357 Magnum on himself.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Gunman Kills 8 in Nursing Home
Carthage, North Carolina – North Carolina police are investigating whether the man accused of killing eight people in a nursing home shooting spree may have targeted the home because his estranged wife worked there, according to The Associated Press.
At 10 a.m. Sunday morning, while many residents of Carthage, N.C., were sitting quietly in church, police said 45-year-old Robert Stewart entered a local nursing home armed with multiple guns. Stalking from room to room, he shot several residents, even those bound to wheelchairs.
By the time the only on-duty officer for the Carthage Police Department arrived at the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center and put a stop to the massacre, seven nursing home patients and one nursing home employee had died.
“He came in with a shotgun, a rifle and a couple other kinds of weapons and he just went around shooting people, people in wheelchairs and this type of thing,” Sen. Harris Blake of the North Carolina State Assembly said. “This could not be any more barbaric.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )4 police officers killed in Oakland shootings
Oakland, California – At least three police officers in Oakland, California, were shot and killed Saturday afternoon after a man pulled over for a routine traffic stop opened fire and then battled SWAT officers at a nearby building, police said.
A fourth officer — also shot — remained in critical condition, and was pronounced dead two days later.
The man, a 26-yeoar-old Oakland resident, was later fatally shot in a shootout with a SWAT team in an apartment complex where he hid.
Authorities discovered the alleged gunman, 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon, had an extensive criminal history. At the time of the shooting, he was in violation of parole for assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
The incident began about 1 p.m. in east Oakland when two motorcycle officers tried to pull over a car for a “fairly routine traffic stop,” said Dave Kozicki, the deputy police chief.
Immediately afterward, emergency call dispatchers received reports that two officers were down at the scene and needed attention. They had been shot, Kozicki said.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Gun Nut Kills 11
A CRAZED gunman killed 11 people then himself as he went on a shooting spree in two towns at night. Cops in Alabama found the body of the killer’s girlfriend in his burnt out home.
Two of the dead found earlier were a cop’s wife and child and others were members of gunman Michael McLendon’s own family. The 27-year-old was also found dead – having shot himself – after he was chased by cops to an industrial estate.
McLendon burned down his mother’s home, killing her, before taking the lives of his grandparents and an uncle and aunt. More on The SUN
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Gun Deaths in the United States 