Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:41 PM Mar 2021

Do you personally know someone who was killed by a gun?

Not just mass shootings, but robberies, assaults, domestic violence, accidents, and suicides too.

Guns of all stripes and sizes kill so many Americans a year it is truly mind boggling that we just shrug and ignore it like it’s normal.

IT IS NOT NORMAL.

There are hundreds of other countries on this planet that don’t have this scourge.

I feel like I am a statistical Anomaly and do not know anyone killed by a firearm.

So if you have known someone killed by a gun in any form please share your story.

105 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Do you personally know someone who was killed by a gun? (Original Post) SoonerPride Mar 2021 OP
Yes. Two. One was a suicide. dameatball Mar 2021 #1
Yes. My son's father was murdered tulipsandroses Mar 2021 #36
How terrible for you and your son. Demsrule86 Mar 2021 #57
That is just terrible. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #68
That is so awful. I am so sorry. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #67
Yes SoCalDavidS Mar 2021 #2
That is just terrible. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #70
The teenage kids were playing with a gun, not locked up... Bluethroughu Mar 2021 #3
Perhaps insurance companies could not insure gun owners SoonerPride Mar 2021 #71
Insurance companies like making money fescuerescue Mar 2021 #102
I've known 5. Three were suicide, one was accidental and one was a drug deal gone bad. Arkansas Granny Mar 2021 #4
Good lord. That's just awful. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #72
Yes. One suicide and another suicide by police DenaliDemocrat Mar 2021 #5
How terrible. I am so sorry. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #73
No. LizBeth Mar 2021 #6
Yes... FalloutShelter Mar 2021 #7
Good lord. I am so sorry. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #74
Thank you FalloutShelter Mar 2021 #88
Two people Siwsan Mar 2021 #8
Oh that is just awful. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #75
Death by firearm rate is about 12 per 100,000 population annually. Klaralven Mar 2021 #9
But clearly a lot of people have been affected by gun deaths SoonerPride Mar 2021 #76
Your OP has far more views than replies. Klaralven Mar 2021 #80
Well, if people erased all their memories each year kcr Mar 2021 #99
Yes. Two. NT enough Mar 2021 #10
Thank you for sharing. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #77
Yes, an MA I used to work with back when I was a Medical Assistant. Aristus Mar 2021 #11
No. But I knew someone who shot and killed four livetohike Mar 2021 #12
Thats is terrible. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #78
My cousin's daughter was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. ZonkerHarris Mar 2021 #13
I am so, so sorry. AwakeAtLast Mar 2021 #104
Yes happybird Mar 2021 #14
My aunt had two young sons and she stepped outside and the kids got the gun and started playing kimbutgar Mar 2021 #15
I am so sorry. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #81
A suicide. I was 19. He was 17. Budi Mar 2021 #16
Yes. My father's death was (probably) a cold-blooded hit. n/t Laelth Mar 2021 #17
Yes mahina Mar 2021 #18
My favorite cousin malaise Mar 2021 #19
Yes, many Yonnie3 Mar 2021 #20
Well damn! The question led me to think and reflect, so yes sanatanadharma Mar 2021 #21
Thank you for sharing your stories. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #79
Unfortunately, yes. bottomofthehill Mar 2021 #22
Three Bayard Mar 2021 #23
my dad Skittles Mar 2021 #24
I can't even begin to imagine that Tree Lady Mar 2021 #35
I think perhaps the worst part was Skittles Mar 2021 #38
My husband's first attempt mnhtnbb Mar 2021 #61
I am so sorry. yardwork Mar 2021 #63
I am so sorry. That is just gut wrenching. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #82
I am so sorry you had to experience this susanr516 Mar 2021 #86
Yes hardluck Mar 2021 #25
My best friend 9 years ago Johnny2X2X Mar 2021 #26
Two, one a suicide and one a murder over a stupid pool table. blueinredohio Mar 2021 #27
Sure. Several suicides. tavernier Mar 2021 #28
A neighbor kid I grew up with was murdered by his father in law (over religious bullshit) Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2021 #29
Girlfriend's brother killed in a street robbery... TreasonousBastard Mar 2021 #30
A few.. luvs2sing Mar 2021 #31
Yes Bettie Mar 2021 #32
Friends son killed himself Tree Lady Mar 2021 #33
My niece. Her step-grandfather kept a loaded gun in his nightstand drawer. He was angry, got CTyankee Mar 2021 #34
My uncle - suicide. BoomaofBandM Mar 2021 #37
Sort of ananda Mar 2021 #39
Yes. yewberry Mar 2021 #40
My principle was murdered and saw his body lying on the ground turbinetree Mar 2021 #41
Personally, no. However... Dave says Mar 2021 #42
Yes superpatriotman Mar 2021 #43
One adult male by suicide Bluesaph Mar 2021 #44
My little-league football coach Shrek Mar 2021 #45
Yes. A former room mate. Mr.Bill Mar 2021 #46
Yes, one of our daughter's friends (15) and the boyfriend phylny Mar 2021 #47
3 suicides. Mariana Mar 2021 #48
Church member was killed by daughters ex bf grantcart Mar 2021 #49
Two: both cops I worked with. Hassler Mar 2021 #50
My cousin JustAnotherGen Mar 2021 #51
Unfortunately, Yes ProfessorGAC Mar 2021 #52
Yes. A childhood friend who grew up and got invovled with drugs. jcmaine72 Mar 2021 #53
I went to high school with a guy that killed his estranged girlfriend and a gas station cashier. tenderfoot Mar 2021 #54
Yes, my cousin owned a small convenience store near Charlottesville VA and he has shot to death. Demsrule86 Mar 2021 #55
Yes ellie Mar 2021 #56
My best friend was shot point blank in the head by her boyfriend. Maru Kitteh Mar 2021 #58
Several, most were suicides. Ligyron Mar 2021 #59
2 suicides, one Xmas eve, best friends one year apart. chowder66 Mar 2021 #60
Good lord. That is terrifying. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #85
Yeah. It was one of the weirder and more terrifying experiences I ever had. chowder66 Mar 2021 #87
Yes, suicides. yardwork Mar 2021 #62
Two suicides by gun mnhtnbb Mar 2021 #64
Two suicides by family friends, one next-door neighbor. nt eppur_se_muova Mar 2021 #65
No, not even an acquaintance. Dial H For Hero Mar 2021 #66
yes suicide demtenjeep Mar 2021 #69
Yes, three of my relatives susanr516 Mar 2021 #83
Yes, a few Withywindle Mar 2021 #84
Yes. Texasgal Mar 2021 #89
On Nov., 21, 1999 Niagara Mar 2021 #90
yes babydollhead Mar 2021 #91
Yes n/t jobendorfer Mar 2021 #92
Yes Lemon Lyman Mar 2021 #93
Yes, but it was YEARS ago. Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #94
At first I thought no, but then I remembered. Rhiannon12866 Mar 2021 #95
I'm 62, live in an area where guns are common and I don't personally know anyone. Kaleva Mar 2021 #96
Yes scarytomcat Mar 2021 #97
Yes. A coworker was shot by his roommate. The raccoon Mar 2021 #98
Yes. My niece and her best friend. displacedtexan Mar 2021 #100
Not personally but I did hear a shooting in my office building about 8 years ago. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2021 #101
I have been reading though all of these replies and cannot help but cry. SoonerPride Mar 2021 #103
Two suicides by gun in my family AwakeAtLast Mar 2021 #105

tulipsandroses

(5,094 posts)
36. Yes. My son's father was murdered
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:07 PM
Mar 2021


Its been 29 years since my son's dad was murdered, every now and then it hits me, and I still tear up.

SoCalDavidS

(9,998 posts)
2. Yes
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:44 PM
Mar 2021

A friend from High School who stayed a friend into my 40's.

She killed her boyfriend, then turned the gun on herself.

I read about it in the paper shortly after it happened.

Bluethroughu

(5,096 posts)
3. The teenage kids were playing with a gun, not locked up...
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:45 PM
Mar 2021

Went off and blinded one of them.

Was not there, but know this for fact.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
71. Perhaps insurance companies could not insure gun owners
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:13 PM
Mar 2021

They are clearly unsafe and make homes less safe.

fescuerescue

(4,448 posts)
102. Insurance companies like making money
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 02:44 PM
Mar 2021

Insurers know EXACTLY how much it cost them. They have this down to a science. literally. Actuary Science.

Ultimately, they have determined that it's more profitable to just pass the cost along in the price of the insurance.

Siwsan

(26,177 posts)
8. Two people
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:51 PM
Mar 2021

My dad's cousin and my uncle's (by marriage) niece and her husband. Lewis was quite a bit older than me but I did know him, and my knew my uncle's niece because I come from one of those very 'extended family' situations.

Dad's cousin was on his porch when he was shot. They never knew who did it, or why. Probably a foiled robbery. My uncle's niece and her husband were dealing with a tenant who was far in arrears in rent, and they were serving him with eviction papers. He left the room, came back with a gun and shot the husband. She jumped up and ran, but there was no way out (he was blocking the front door, and there was no back door.) She ran down into the basement and he followed her, cornered her, and killed her. She had two young sons from her first marriage.

 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
9. Death by firearm rate is about 12 per 100,000 population annually.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:51 PM
Mar 2021

So unless you know thousands of people, you likely don't know anyone who died in a given year.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
76. But clearly a lot of people have been affected by gun deaths
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:34 PM
Mar 2021

This is just a small sample.

Look at all the replies.

Almost no one is unscathed by this.

 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
80. Your OP has far more views than replies.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:39 PM
Mar 2021

Plus, a lot of DU readers, seeing your subject and not knowing anyone, would not have viewed your OP.

kcr

(15,300 posts)
99. Well, if people erased all their memories each year
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 09:02 AM
Mar 2021

You would have a point. And posts on DU almost always have more views than replies.

Aristus

(66,096 posts)
11. Yes, an MA I used to work with back when I was a Medical Assistant.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:53 PM
Mar 2021

She was shot and killed by her abusive boyfriend a year or so after I had left the clinic.

livetohike

(22,084 posts)
12. No. But I knew someone who shot and killed four
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:55 PM
Mar 2021

of his neighbors back in 1981. He died while incarcerated.

ZonkerHarris

(24,156 posts)
13. My cousin's daughter was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:55 PM
Mar 2021

Caroline was 5 years old.
I'm okay with taking everyone's guns away.

kimbutgar

(20,882 posts)
15. My aunt had two young sons and she stepped outside and the kids got the gun and started playing
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:56 PM
Mar 2021

With it and one of the boys shot and accidentally killed his 5 year old brother. He was 7 years. My aunt was A very bitter woman after that and resented the one surviving son. I remember he always looked sad and my Mother used to say he was such a charming child until that accident. My aunt got sucked into the Jehovah witnesses and was terrible to be around. I stayed a weekend with her and couldn’t wait for my parents to pick me up. I remember standing at the door for three hours looking for my parents car to pick me up. My Mother told me my aunt was such a fun loving woman before the accident.

I also lived in this apartment and one morning I was getting ready for work and the guy who lived above me killed himself. I heard the shot and him falling to the floor. At the time I didn’t know what the noise was as I left for work. I was waiting for the bus to go to work and saw the police and ambulance flying down the street and found out later that day he killed himself.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
81. I am so sorry.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:41 PM
Mar 2021

I can see how much the accident totally altered and in all likelihood destroyed the lives of those who it didn’t kill.

The collateral damage was just heartbreaking.

Thank you for sharing your stories.

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
16. A suicide. I was 19. He was 17.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:58 PM
Mar 2021

The impact never ever goes away.
You make your way thru life only to find that memory always re-surfaces with the same degree of heartbreak as the moment you were aware of it happening.

The people left standing to wonder wtf, from a school shooting, to yesterday's murders in Boulder, those who are left to accept & somehow move on from a violent loss that can never be made sense of, have my heart.
Life is never ever the same for the ones who loved them, & all I can say os they will miss their deceased loved ones every day forever.

There is nothing else but that sentiment.
These murders are just so unbearably sad for so many people for a really long time.


mahina

(17,506 posts)
18. Yes
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 06:59 PM
Mar 2021

Girl I knew growing up, a lovely brilliant sweet girl, was shot by her mother along with her sister and dad. All three gone.

Another girl I knew growing up in high school, later

Another boy I knew growing up in high school, but that happened in Spain

💧

Yonnie3

(17,376 posts)
20. Yes, many
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:01 PM
Mar 2021

I lost count of the suicides at three. I am sure there are more.
One in a hunting accident by his own weapon.
One was a store owner in an armed robbery
One trying to breakup a fist fight in a parking lot.
One was killed in his home and his cars stolen.
One a girl I worked with by her abusive husband.

I'm sure I'm not recalling all of them.

I'm going to pass on telling the stories.

sanatanadharma

(3,639 posts)
21. Well damn! The question led me to think and reflect, so yes
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:04 PM
Mar 2021

Decades back, I was detained one evening by police on suspicion of being a killer. It is a separate story.
I have never had or wanted a gun; except once for ten minutes wherein I learned that guns cause a madness of power-desire even when only a thought in mind. That is another story.

I am now remembering a bus driver coworker, a friend who gave me shelter and of whom I have not thought for years. Greg shot himself; with a gun, alcohol and perhaps being egged on (I was not there), he lost a stupid bet with a gun and one irreversible action.

Another coworker elsewhere in time and space wherein I was not, died of bullet in her home. Actions have consequences.

I don't want to think about any more.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
79. Thank you for sharing your stories.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:38 PM
Mar 2021

I know it is painful and a terrible burden for everyone who has had fun violence impact their lives, even tangentially.

I appreciate you sharing your unpleasant memories.

Tree Lady

(11,370 posts)
35. I can't even begin to imagine that
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:56 PM
Mar 2021

I am so sorry you had to live through that. Life deals us crap sometimes. 😡

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
61. My husband's first attempt
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 09:40 PM
Mar 2021

at killing himself was on my birthday 3 years ago. He ended up with injuries from a fall and then spent two weeks on the geriatric psych unit. Police confiscated his guns.

Nine months later, having obtained another gun, he blew his brains out on the day after his 76th birthday.

I had left him about 4 months prior to his first attempt and filed for divorce.

I'm sorry about your dad.

hardluck

(634 posts)
25. Yes
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:19 PM
Mar 2021

Two friends of the family were kidnapped at their house and driven to the high desert where they were executed. Turns out the husband was laundering money for the russian mob and was skimming off the top. Found their bodies because a hiker came across their dog's collar (the kidnappers took and killed the dog too).

Couple old friends from HS committed suicide.

Father was shot by a police officer in the hip but lived. Sure there's more...

Johnny2X2X

(18,745 posts)
26. My best friend 9 years ago
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:22 PM
Mar 2021

Random case of road rage over a fender bender. Not even a fender bender, barely scratched paint. Friend turned to walk away after a verbal confrontation started to get physical and the guy who he was advising with sister pulled out a gun and shot him in the back.

tavernier

(12,322 posts)
28. Sure. Several suicides.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:30 PM
Mar 2021

My father’s brother was one. Broke dad’s heart. Dad didn’t live much longer after that. But my uncle struggled with black lung (mining) and I suppose it was the easiest out.
Also a close friend, but to this day there was some question of it being his wife (who ran off with his best friend days later, who left his wife).

These things often turn out to be more complicated than what you think.

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,272 posts)
29. A neighbor kid I grew up with was murdered by his father in law (over religious bullshit)
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:32 PM
Mar 2021

Our families were really close. My dad said the sound of the neighbor’s dad wailing in the background on the phone when my dad got the call was a sound he would never want to hear again in his life. He was their oldest child and best friends with my oldest brother.

One friend in high school and another acquaintance in high school by suicide with family guns.

My sister-in-law’s boyfriend. Suicide after a brief police chase for what was apparently going to be his third DUI. He was a disbarred attorney from a wealthy family. A loud mouthed repig.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
30. Girlfriend's brother killed in a street robbery...
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:32 PM
Mar 2021

Several friends' suicides.

Not a gun, but a friend killed with a crossbow while at home.

And, I was once almost killed in a hunting "accident". Felt the breeze from the bullet flying past my head.

Of course I knew guys killed in Nam. But that's war, so it doesn't count, right.?

Speaking of war, the military has guns and ammo locked up in the arms room until needed. If the military won't let trained soldiers and sailors get their hands on them, why would untrained civilians have them?

luvs2sing

(2,220 posts)
31. A few..
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:35 PM
Mar 2021

When I was in second grade, the mother of three of my friends committed suicide in the basement of their home.

When I was nineteen, the brother of one of my high school friends was murdered by serial killer brothers (22 caliber killers).

The sister-in-law of an old drinking buddy was murdered at her job. I think she was the only victim.

There are a couple more like this, where a relative of someone I know was killed by a gun, but Mrs. Wells and Larry are the only two I knew personally.


Tree Lady

(11,370 posts)
33. Friends son killed himself
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:46 PM
Mar 2021

Gun was locked up belonged to father but he knew where key was drove car few miles from house and shot himself. He was in mid 20's had just moved back in with parents from loss of job, had depression problems, they were trying to help him.

Wife hated guns and they ended up in divorce a few years after.

CTyankee

(63,771 posts)
34. My niece. Her step-grandfather kept a loaded gun in his nightstand drawer. He was angry, got
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 07:50 PM
Mar 2021

drunk and went for the gun. My niece was there helping her grandmother who was dying of cancer. When he started shooting she called 911 and said "there's going to be a shooting." Then his wild shot to her head killed her instantly. He shot the grandmother and my niece's mother but they recovered. My brother never did get over it. HIs other daughter decided to go into the ministry. Everyone was changed by that act of violence.

ananda

(28,783 posts)
39. Sort of
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:13 PM
Mar 2021

A former friend had a boyfriend who shot himself;
I had met him once or twice at her house. This
happened after she broke up with him and he
had another girlfriend.

He was a very heavy drug user also.

yewberry

(6,530 posts)
40. Yes.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:14 PM
Mar 2021

One rigged up a shotgun and shot himself in the chest. Other one was a former coworker shot in the head during a traffic stop.

turbinetree

(24,632 posts)
41. My principle was murdered and saw his body lying on the ground
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:16 PM
Mar 2021

and the student that did it also shot a fellow student back in the 60's, I can still remember the gun shots sounds.............

Dave says

(4,608 posts)
42. Personally, no. However...
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:16 PM
Mar 2021

I was a candidate for a jury and during qualifications the question was asked, 'do you know anyone personally who was killed by a gun?' I was shocked by how many raised their hand. Easily 1 in 5 and maybe 1 in 4. (I live in a dangerous city, high murder rate.)

Shrek

(3,970 posts)
45. My little-league football coach
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:21 PM
Mar 2021

Committed suicide by cop. Pulled an unloaded gun and several officers shot him.

Mr.Bill

(24,104 posts)
46. Yes. A former room mate.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:22 PM
Mar 2021

I lived with him for four years, and slowly watched him turn into a radical violent gun nut. I moved out because he was getting out of control. He wasn't even 40 when he killed himself, and had a five year old daughter. His family said all things considered, they are glad he turned his violence against himself rather than others.

phylny

(8,353 posts)
47. Yes, one of our daughter's friends (15) and the boyfriend
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:23 PM
Mar 2021

(19) killed themselves back in 2005 in a probable double suicide, based on the notes that they left. The girl’s parents didn’t want them to date so instead of waiting it out until she was an adult, they killed themselves with the boyfriend’s father’s gun.

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
48. 3 suicides.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:23 PM
Mar 2021

Two of the suicides were high school students in my classes, first a young man who walked out from a party into the woods with a gun and shot himself, then about 6 weeks later his girlfriend shot herself at his grave. The third was a former co-worker who was pretty scary - when he was fired we all wondered if he would come back and shoot the place up, but he shot himself instead.

My dad gave me my grandmother's old pictures, and among them were some pictures of a friend who was shot and killed in 1931.

I know some people who've been shot and survived.

grantcart

(53,061 posts)
49. Church member was killed by daughters ex bf
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:25 PM
Mar 2021

Widow married Cathy McMorris Rodgers FIL

My wife's first husband was a policeman killed in the line of duty - but I did not know him

ProfessorGAC

(64,425 posts)
52. Unfortunately, Yes
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:34 PM
Mar 2021

Back in '74.
Friend of mine, a junior college wrestling champion, was stalked by the ex-boyfriend of a young woman he was now dating.
Guy confronted him, violently & in front of witnesses and got the crap beaten out of him.
Guy was arrested, spend a few days in the slam. Got his dad's gun, came to a party we were at and shot my friend in the head.
Also, the year before a guy in my home from shot & killed a 12 year old for throwing snowballs at his car.
I didn't really know the kid, but I knew the dad because he worked with my dad.
So, essentially 2 victims of senseless gun violence.

jcmaine72

(1,773 posts)
53. Yes. A childhood friend who grew up and got invovled with drugs.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:35 PM
Mar 2021

We were friends from grades 4-8. We played a ton of baseball and Atari together. When we reached high school, we started hanging out with different crowds and drifted apart. The dudes he starting hangin' with were always in trouble of one kind or another. All had police records for things like petty theft, auto theft, and, of course, drugs.

My (now former) friend starting dealing pot in 10th grade, and by the time I reached my senior year, he had dropped out of school altogether and was rumored to be selling hard drugs like coke and heroin. I left the town we grew up in for college but we still had common friends, and from time to time I'd get updates. I heard he spent some time behind bars for assault and a some more on a weapon's charge.

A few days after his 24th birthday someone shot my childhood friend in the head an killed him in what was described as a "drug deal gone wrong". As far as I know, they never caught the person who killed him. He had a baby daughter who grew up not knowing him. She would be almost 30 today. Sad stuff.

tenderfoot

(8,424 posts)
54. I went to high school with a guy that killed his estranged girlfriend and a gas station cashier.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:37 PM
Mar 2021

He strangled and stabbed his girlfriend to death because she was sick of his abuse. During his getaway, he shot a teenaged gas station cashier to death. Then he drove a few states over and offed himself with a shotgun in a motel room.

This happened two days before Christmas.

A few years later, a college classmate was shot in the head during a botched robbery. Thankfully, he survived and fully recovered.

ellie

(6,928 posts)
56. Yes
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:39 PM
Mar 2021

I worked with Teri who was killed yesterday. My classmate and neighbor Tom was killed in Afghanistan.

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
58. My best friend was shot point blank in the head by her boyfriend.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:51 PM
Mar 2021

She was 15 years old. She was funny, kind, like most of us a little unsure of herself. She talked about going to one of the coasts to find work on a cruise ship after school. She wanted to see the world.

She didn't die right away. Most of her hair was shaved away in the attempt to save her life. What little remained framed a face that was not recognizable, purple and black with every type of invasive catheter and tube coming from it. We sat by her bedside for 2 days until her body finally gave up.

He found himself some JAYSUS in prison and walked free just shy of 3 years later. The life of a young poor female didn't count for much then and little has changed, I'm afraid.

Ligyron

(7,592 posts)
59. Several, most were suicides.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 08:58 PM
Mar 2021

One was an "accident", apparently while cleaning it somehow. 3 were in the military during combat.

chowder66

(9,011 posts)
60. 2 suicides, one Xmas eve, best friends one year apart.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 09:16 PM
Mar 2021

This is a side-note:

I had a gun pointed at my head from across the street from where I lived during the L.A. riots. It was a looter who was trying to sell stuff out of the trunk of his car. I was outside checking the fires as they were inching up towards Hollywood. Frederick's of Hollywood caught fire and this guy pulled up try to sell stuff to neighbors and they all took off running. I was unaware of what was happening and turned around to see the gun pointed directly at my face. I was alone.

I turned around and walked away. My heart was in my throat for 2 days.

chowder66

(9,011 posts)
87. Yeah. It was one of the weirder and more terrifying experiences I ever had.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 11:16 PM
Mar 2021

I was pissed. No one said a thing to me. My back was to him so I didn't see what was going on. Everyone else was facing him and they split before I finished turning around. Anyone of them could have said run or grabbed me... but nope. They all ran for their lives and left me in the dark with that asshole. I was around 24 or 25.

I didn't know what to do and that is when I just calmly turned and walked back toward my apartment door which was on the ground floor. Once I was inside a flood of adrenaline just shot through my body and I was nearly in shock. At that point I found myself rethinking my relationships with these people. Some of them were close friends or so I thought. I never did look at them the same way again.

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
64. Two suicides by gun
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 09:49 PM
Mar 2021

My husband--see post #61--and a friend of our oldest son when he was in high school. The friend had come to the beach with us that summer. The friend got a gun before Christmas and shot himself in the head in his car in a park across from the high school.

susanr516

(1,425 posts)
83. Yes, three of my relatives
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:43 PM
Mar 2021

My uncle committed suicide. He had ALS and didn't want to be a burden to his family. One of my cousins committed suicide. Some of my relatives said it due to back problems he had, but I'm not sure that's the case. The vast majority of my family are conservative evangelical Christians, so that might just be a convenient excuse. I also had another cousin who was murdered.

Withywindle

(9,988 posts)
84. Yes, a few
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:47 PM
Mar 2021

A friend who was waiting for a bus in the middle of the day killed by a stray bullet. Two teenagers shooting at each other, and hit him.
The kids were on bicycles - couldn't do a drive by because they were too young to drive.


Also my mother's best friend when i was little. Suicide.

An old friend of mine had developed serious mental health issues. During an argument she shot herself right in front of her daughter.

Texasgal

(17,029 posts)
89. Yes.
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 11:24 PM
Mar 2021

My cousin was killed by her boyfriend back in 1987. He shot her as she was coming out of her house.

He was jealous and falsely assumed that she was cheating on him. He was convicted of murder and went to jail. He was released in 2011.

Niagara

(7,407 posts)
90. On Nov., 21, 1999
Tue Mar 23, 2021, 11:49 PM
Mar 2021

A man gunned downed a friend and former classmate of mine, along with 4 others (1 out of this 4 was also a friend and classmate of mine) all because they didn't feel comfortable letting some intoxicated random stranger to join their bonfire gathering. When they told him had to leave, he threatened to come back with a gun.


After this man threatened them and had left, they abandoned their bonfire and went inside an apartment for safety. The guy came back with a gun, kicked open the door to the apartment and started shooting. One of my friends escaped through a window, the other died from her injuries. Three people in total were killed and another victim recovered from the injuries, but only 1 was able to escape completely. The shooter turned the gun on himself after firing and injuring a LEO.


It was a senseless tragedy that never should have taken place, but here we are and this insanity is allowed to continue to occur. It feels like this bullshit is never going to end and people will continue to lose loved ones from more senseless gun tragedies.









Buckeye_Democrat

(14,847 posts)
94. Yes, but it was YEARS ago.
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 04:03 AM
Mar 2021

A young female coworker was shot to death during a robbery.

We both worked at an alcohol drive-thru after high school. (To the people in parts of the country who don't have them, they often look like automated car washes except there's a bunch of alcohol and other products for sale inside of them. Sometimes the places used to be car washes, in fact.)

We both worked at a suburban location that had a low crime rate (although it still wasn't pleasant dealing with drunks), but we'd be asked periodically to fill-in for absent workers at other locations. She was shot to death at a different location closer to downtown Dayton (OH), a place where I had previously filled-in and then later always refused to return.

I was called to fill-in on the same day of the murder, at the more dangerous location, but I refused. She was obviously called to fill-in later, and she accepted.

I heard about her murder the next morning from my mother, who recognized her name as one of my coworkers.

The murderer was caught weeks later after committing another robbery. He was identified by one of the other drive-thru clerks who had survived being shot by him during the previous robbery/murder of my female coworker.

The suspect later confessed that he did it, but he never planned to shoot them. It's just that he recognized my female coworker from about a year earlier when he briefly worked as a grocery store bagger, and they had a long conversation with each other. Thus he assumed that she could identify him, so he decided to kill her and then everyone else there who witnessed it.

EDIT:
Sheesh! My former neighbor was shot to death just a few months ago! I never really knew him, though. To me, he was just a new neighbor who was often noisy as hell and with lots of visitors constantly coming and going. He was supposedly shot to death (miles away) during a drug deal that went bad.

Rhiannon12866

(203,024 posts)
95. At first I thought no, but then I remembered.
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 04:29 AM
Mar 2021

He was not a close friend, but someone I knew and liked. I belonged to a group and he had been treasurer. He had a housemate and I remember hearing that the housemate came home, think he'd been visiting his girlfriend, and the police were there and wouldn't let him enter the house. His friend had shot himself.

This guy's story, which we heard from him, was that his father had been fatally ill and had asked his wife, the mother, to shoot him and she did. And she ended up going to prison. This obviously affected the son quite profoundly, though he was middle aged when I knew him. I remember thinking at the time if only these people hadn't had guns.


Kaleva

(36,147 posts)
96. I'm 62, live in an area where guns are common and I don't personally know anyone.
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 05:41 AM
Mar 2021

I've heard of people getting killed in hunting accidents or they committed suicide by using a gun but I personally didn't know them.

raccoon

(31,091 posts)
98. Yes. A coworker was shot by his roommate. The
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 06:19 AM
Mar 2021

Roommate also shot the guy’s wife and dog. They all three died.

displacedtexan

(15,695 posts)
100. Yes. My niece and her best friend.
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 02:41 PM
Mar 2021

My niece had been openly stalked by a man she didn't want to date for several months. One night, she and her best friend ran into him at a restaurant, and he tried to get her to leave with him. She said no and begged him to leave her alone.
Both my niece and her friend were found in their car, both shot in the head at close range, when a restaurant worker was crossing the parking lot. Despite claiming he had left the restaurant long before the two young women did, nearby security cameras showed the stalker fleeing the scene, and he was later convicted of capital murder. He's spending the rest of his life in a Texas prison.

Tommy Carcetti

(43,085 posts)
101. Not personally but I did hear a shooting in my office building about 8 years ago.
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 02:43 PM
Mar 2021

Murder-suicide.

Husband heard his wife was leaving him, stormed into the office, shut the door and shot her and then himself.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
103. I have been reading though all of these replies and cannot help but cry.
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 02:59 PM
Mar 2021

It is truly horrific.

I am so sorry for everyone's loss and pain.

AwakeAtLast

(14,112 posts)
105. Two suicides by gun in my family
Wed Mar 24, 2021, 03:11 PM
Mar 2021

My Grandfather's Stepson and my Mother's Cousin's husband. Both shot themselves in the head. The latter was a Veteran.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Do you personally know so...