Here we go again - Four dead in shooting at Pennsylvania car wash linked to domestic violence

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/28/five-dead-shooting-pennsylvania-car-wash-melcroft-saltlick-township
<snip>

Two men and two women killed south-east of Pittsburgh
Gunman wore armor and had AR-15 rifle, handgun and another rifle
Four people were killed early on Sunday morning at a car wash in Pennsylvania in the deadliest shooting in the US this year. One person was injured and the gunman was on life support with a gunshot wound to the head, officials said.

Officials said they had not yet established a motive. But local news channels reported that the shooting, in which two men and two women died, was linked to domestic violence.

The gunman, Timothy O’Brien Smith, 28, was wearing body armor and was armed with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, a 9mm handgun and a .308 rifle, Richard Bower, Fayette County district attorney, said at an afternoon press conference.

The four victims were apparently shot and killed with both the AR-15-style rifle and the handgun, Bower said.

Initial reports said five people were dead and one injured. Bower said four were dead and one, the gunman, was “not expected to survive”. It was not immediately determined if his head wound was self-inflicted.

[HipChick]

1. Just had a local case today...2 dead...3 young kids now left without parents...

[malaise]

2. I've lost count of theshootings here in JA

ad we don't manufacture guns. We must be close to 150 and January still has three days,

[Ohiogal]

3. When will our lawmakers stop this insanity

And enforce laws that make domestic abusers surrender their guns!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. What is the typical NRA and Republican rsponse ????????

MORE GUNS!

Disgusting.

[canetoad]

5. Here he is

?quality=65&strip=all&w=782

[dalton99a]

7. So proud of his appendage

[redstatebluegirl]

10. I am sure his appendage is quite small.

[Heartstrings]

26. I'm with you there redstategirl

Teeny, tiny appendage.......

[KG]

14. just another one of those wonderfull law-abiding gun nuts - till the second he wasn't.

[Mc Mike]

56. Agreed 100%, excellent point.

[hatrack]

15. Ooooohhh!!! His gun! It's so . . . . BIG!!!!

Solved all the problems last night, right Big Man?

Fucking asshole.

[workinclasszero]

38. Yup all set up for mass murder

Thanks NRA you fucking assholes.

That weapon is designed to mass kill human beings as quickly and efficiently as possible.

And you can buy it anywhere in America at anytime if you got the money. MAGA baby!

[Kingofalldems]

6. Thoughts and prayers from the GOP.

[Bob Loblaw]

8. Too soon...

[dchill]

49. Maybe we can take it up in 2019.

Here's hoping. (I know that's not soon enough.)

[HopeAgain]

9. Ummm, there has been a lot of guns that don't kill people lately...

killing people. We need to take a stand and to hell with those on the left resistant to an all-out ban of assault weapons. I'm sick of the gunsplaining and excuse making

[Initech]

11. Hooray guns!

[jberryhill]

12. 3AM at the car wash?

[malaise]

13. Washing drugs?

Nice mix with the ARs. Crazy doe snot describe this.

[jberryhill]

18. Crazy doe snot might be a sign that the doe has rabies

I saw one report that he was waiting to ambush them there.

[raccoon]

16. Hope the killer survives and has plenty of time to think about what he did nto

[malaise]

19. Every report says he is not expected to survive n/t

[milestogo]

17. Shooting at a car wash - now there's something you don't hear every day.

Except for the shooting part, you hear that every day.

[Orange Free State]

20. I live in this area

And it used to be dependably Democratic but has flipped over the last decade or so. I call it Deplorablestan, though many call Fayette County Fayettenam. It’s a rural white ghetto. I don’t understand why we don’t have more of this kind of thing. I expect it every day. Everyone supports Trump, and if you don’t you keep your head down. The majority is on both the public dole and oxycodones.
We are preparing to retire when my spouse turns 62. Can’t wait to get out, can’t come soon enough. We’re looking at Ajijic Mexico. I don’t feel safe in the US any more, and I don’t feel safe in my hometown or my home.

[hexola]

22. Its pretty much that way all the way west to Franklin County

A little more affluence on this side of the mountain....Adams county - Gettysburg...Gets a liitte ugly in York - but that's urban...not hillbilly.

I was up in Three Springs the other day - impoverished people, in run down trailers...with TRUMP signs in the yard...wish I had taken photos...hard to believe!

[mstinamotorcity2]

21. They

won't be satisfied until they have nothing left.

[hexola]

23. Here's a little gem from last year...

http://fox43.com/2016/06/07/three-charged-with-killing-maryland-man-during-robbery-in-franklin-county/

Says Franklin County - but these losers were from Fulton County and this happened up on the mountain - about a mile from my house.

Fucking scumbags - everyone of them should get life...or worse.(no DP in PA)

[malaise]

24. Thanks for this

[malaise]

27. They killed an innocent man

for $24. How cynical and heartless was that?

[hexola]

33. Killing from domestic rage seems easier to swallow...hard to believe there are animals like this

walking among us...

We sold all our rentals on that side of that side mountain a few years ago due to the character of tenants we were getting.

Im almost positive the head honcho in this crime was one of our tenants boyfriends - we threw her out after 2 weeks...because he was such a fucking psycho.

Typical PA couple - she worked and got a apartment - he doesnt work - and moved right in...with his dog.

Sad to say - but in south central PA - the young white man is public enemy number one...

So few are ready for life...and end up worthless to themselves and society.

We use a referral service for all the rentals now.

[malaise]

34. The young male everywhere is in crisis

We have 15 year old murderers and lotto scammers. Vast sections of our planet are deteriorating with tasteless haste. Community has been killed by the market and too many folks want their brand name whatever by any means necessary.
They are cold and heartless but when society neglects vast sections of our people and leaves them to live in squalor, we all reap the consequences.

[hexola]

35. Your remarks reminded me of this guy...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/29/he-thought-a-book-would-stop-a-bullet-and-make-him-a-youtube-star-now-hes-dead/?utm_term=.b02d6398dc9e

[malaise]

36. Yep his stunt would have made him a star

Being a star mattered more than life itself.
They both deserved Darwin awards.

[ck4829]

25. But he didn't shout "Allahu Ackbar", so... win.

[malaise]

28. Yep and neither did the Paddock one

[doc03]

29. Timothy O'Brien doesn't sound Mexican or Muslim to me, this isn't

the time to talk about guns.

[malaise]

30. Isn't that the truth

This is a thoughts and prayers moment - then move on.

[doc03]

31. Last year Trump said "This American carnage stops right here right now"

[alarimer]

32. Domestic violence is at the heart of so many of these incidents.

I think white men with anger issues who buy lots of guns deserve a lot more scrutiny.

[malaise]

39. Domestic violence is nothing new

Assault rifles should be banned - period

[workinclasszero]

37. "Gunman wore armor and had AR-15 rifle, handgun and another rifle"

Gee thanks NRA.

[John1956PA]

40. The Guardian is wrong. No local news report used the term "domestic violence."

What the local news has reported is that the slaughter apparently resulted from the shooter having been rejected by his girlfriend, who was one of the victims. Another victim was the man whom the ex-girlfriend was seeing. Those two victims had been traveling in the same vehicle. The other two victims of the shooting had been traveling in a separate vehicle.

If you google the terms "domestic violence" and "Fayette shooting," there are no hits regarding local news sources. However, local news sources mention that the shooting involved a "domestic situation." One local news source states that the shooter snapped over the breakup with his girlfriend.

The Guardian article improperly forces a connection between "domestic violence" and this slaughter.

[malaise]

41. So you're saying that slaughtering an ex, the person she's seeing

and any one else in the way isn't domestic violence?

[John1956PA]

42. Malaise, I got to go to work now.

All I am saying that The Guardian did not use acceptable journalistic procedures in reporting the story.

Take care.

[malaise]

43. I hear you

Have a good time at work

[hexola]

44. Why are you reading the Guardian when there are local domestic resources!?

Read the reporter - ON THE SCENE - Twitter feed - she said domestic violence - the morning of the shooting

Virtually all local sources are saying domestic violence...

[John1956PA]

46. I find no local news report referencing any prior domestic violence acts by the shooter.

Of course, this quadruple murder represents the ultimate act of domestic violence, but that is not the type of domestic violence which the Guardian article expounds upon. The Guardian article seems to exhibit an agenda of attributing many gun murders to an escalating history of domestic violence against the ultimate victim. I can find no report indicating that this shooter exhibited a pattern of domestic violence against his girlfriend whom, after their breakup, he shot to death along with her new companion, and along with two others. If there was in fact a history of domestic violence by the shooter against his girlfriend, I do not believe that such history has been reported yet, which would make The Guardian wrong in stating that local news sources have reported that such history of domestic violence exists.

If, in fact, the shooter did not exhibit domestic violence prior to the killings, then this is a case of a "good guy with gun until he wasn't." In my opinion, the Guardian does a disservice to that stark point by suggesting that the tragedy was the result of a broader background of domestic violence and that it might have been prevented had the authorities picked up on certain signs the perpetrator exhibited prior to the crime.

[Kaleva]

48. I think you misunderstood the article.

The Guardian isn't saying that local news reports that there was a history of domestic violence. It's saying that the reason for the killing was domestic violence. The former boyfriend murdered his ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend along with two other people who happened to be there.

[John1956PA]

52. Thank you. That occurred to me after I posted.

The Guardian article initially led me to my aforestated interpretation because of its ambiguous headline and because of the excerpt which reads: "Officials said they had not yet established a motive. But local news channels reported that the shooting, in which two men and two women died, was linked to domestic violence."

I think the article should have avoided using the word "linked," and instead should have stated that the shooting "was an act of domestic violence." Again, I have googled the term "domestic violence" with respect to the shooting, and I do not see (contrary to what the Guardian article suggests) where any local news sources have used that term.

[Kaleva]

57. I agree. The statement should have been worded as you say.

"was an act of domestic violence." is much more clear. The way it was worded give people the impression there was a history of domestic violence and that appears to be not the case.

[Blue_Tires]

45. Jesus...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pennsylvania-car-wash-shooting-suspect-jealousy-relatives-say/

[ManiacJoe]

50. Good follow-up article. Thanks.

[malaise]

51. Madness

on steroids

[NCDem777]

47. Execute people convicted of domestic violence

They're all killers.

[Crabby Appleton]

53. Here is another local article from Pittsburgh newspaper

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/13236544-74/four-days-before-being-fatally-shot-outside-a-fayette-county-car-wash

[malaise]

54. Thanks

[Hoyt]

55. Typical "responsible gun owner" who loses it.