Vallejo man allegedly shoots friends to death

[kimbutgar]

Source: SF Chronicle

A Vallejo man shot and kills 2 neighbors Wednesday night shortly after the televised Presidential debate. The shooter, Martin Hohenegger got into an argument with Mike Scally and another man Doug Kahley "possibility over politics". Hohenegger identified himself as a proud republican and Scalley leaned Democrat. Before Hohenegger shot Scally and Kahley they heard Scally tell Hoehengger "You're not going to shoot me Martin, you'd go to jail".



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Vallejo-man-allegedly-shoots-friends-dead-3918812.php

---

What do you bet this guy was an avid Fox viewer and listened to Rush? This is the kind of stuff I fear as it appears that President Obama has a good chance of being re-elected and some of these types will become unhinged. I blame Fox and the right wing media for ginning up the hate to make a guy like Hohenegger shot and kill his neighbors.

[htuttle]

1. I'm thinking that alcohol was probably involved

[Brother Buzz]

10. But, but, but, "He was a happy drunk,"

"He was a happy drunk," Dowd recalled, noting that Hohenegger said he took painkillers for old injuries.

[slackmaster]

19. Basic gun safety should be taught in public schools

One thing my dad taught me, in addition to the basic rules of safe gun handling, was NEVER to handle firearms while drinking.

Everyone who graduates from high school should be taught that lesson.

[Brother Buzz]

20. It should be taught in first, second, third grade...

Never, ever, hang around 'big' people drinking alcohol and handling firearms.

[slackmaster]

21. Yes, that is a good way of looking at it

The rules are pretty simple, but there are stupid people who violate them. Staying in the presence of an intoxicated person who is handling a weapon is a very bad choice.

[primavera]

36. Given that he was an ex Marine...

... I suspect that he'd had rather more than just basic gun safety instruction already.

[uh clem]

18. There was certainly a gun involved.

n/m

[onehandle]

2. Sounds perfectly normal for the GOPNRA core. nt

[julian09]

3. Extreme voter suppression. nt

[jsr]

4. We all know they're stupid AND dangerous

[DFW]

5. I'm thinking that the guys who start these shootouts are ALWAYS Republicans

I hope he spends the rest of his days in a maximum security prison where the rest of the inmates in his bloc are all dark-skinned minorities he hates, and who are all at least a third bigger than he is.

[Chorophyll]

6. As effed-up and horrible as this story is in every possible way,

I still can't get past "Hohenegger identified himself as a proud Republican and Scalley leaned Democrat." "Leaned Democrat." This is acceptable language for a journalist to use now.

Also, Hohenegger's front door, festooned with Marine ribbons and a "no solicitors" sign, is a bit creepy. Might as well put out a sign that says "I'm paranoid and sitting on an arsenal."

Sorry, and no offense to any DU Marines. But I'm just disgusted.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. So now that idiot has his voting rights revoked for life AND

can expect a lifetime of incarceration.

[vduhr]

29. My thoughts exactly.

[upaloopa]

8. Just another one of those safe law abiding gun

owners up until he shoots people. Thank god we are so much more safe because of gun owners who protect us from the bad guys.
So how many died this past week who were shot by law abiding gun owners? I think a few in Minnesota and these and how many more?

[primavera]

37. My thoughts as well

Every person who goes on a homicidal rampage is immediately dismissed by gun proponents as clearly a dangerous madman who should never have been allowed to have had a gun in the first place, yet, right up to the very instant that that same person committed the crime, they were an ordinary, law abiding gun owner whose 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms gun proponents will fight to the death to defend. That gun deaths are the provence of "criminals" is central to argument of gun proponents that the rights of law-abiding gun owners should not be infringed, yet this argument is built upon the faulty assumption that gun deaths are the product of criminals, when, in reality, a great many such deaths are caused by "ordinary, law-abiding gun owners."

[valerief]

9. At least the batshit crazy-ass Republican gun fetishist had his freedumbs.

That's all that matters, after all. Guns=Freedumbs.

Now if EVERYONE there had guns, they'd all be dead and we'd all be safer.

[struggle4progress]

11. ... Police say Martin Hohenegger walked from his house to the neighbor's across the street

and gunned his two friends down in the front yard. While police would not discuss a motive on Thursday, friends and neighbors tell ABC7 News that the men would often argue or debate over such things as sports or politics, but that it didn't seem mean-spirited and certainly wasn't violent until Wednesday night ...
Those who knew the two men killed are still trying to figure out what made their neighbor snap and apparently turn so violently on his two friends, "They were great, great friends, and they were amazing men," said family friend Kathy Guziejka. "It's just, something triggered. I'm not sure. We just have no details yet" ...
After shooting the two victims, police say Hohenegger went into his house and kept a swat team at bay for 45 minutes before a negotiator talked him out ...
Ex-Marine accused of killing two friends
Thursday, October 04, 2012
Laura Anthony

[struggle4progress]

12. ... Neighbors described Hohenegger as an affable character who waved to every passing car,

offered to pick up newspapers and mail for those who went out of town, and took out trash cans on Sunday nights for those who'd forgotten. He mowed lawns for elderly neighbors and pitched in on home-improvement projects ...

Hohenegger was a welcome presence who was always around and often had a glass of gin in his hand.

"He was a happy drunk," Dowd recalled, noting that Hohenegger said he took painkillers for old injuries.

Five years ago to the day Wednesday, neighbors said, Hohenegger's wife died, and the retiree was seen drinking a bit more frequently ...

Vallejo man allegedly shoots friends dead
Justin Berton
Updated 10:38 p.m., Thursday, October 4, 2012
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Vallejo-man-allegedly-shoots-friends-dead-3918812.php

[struggle4progress]

13. ... Dowd said even though she knew Hohenegger had guns and sometimes wore one in the waistband

of his sweatpants, though she never thought he’d used them.

“(Hohenegger) is very opinionated and strong-willed, he's an ex-marine, but just the nicest guy,” Dowd said.

“Mike (one of the victim) just blew it off,” she said. “He says – ‘You’re not going to shoot me Martin, just shut up.’ I mean they were best friends. They spent every day together for 10 years.”

The shooting happened just minutes after the presidential debate began, so it is unclear if that's what sparked the argument ...

Posted: 8:43 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012
Neighbors stunned by best friends' fatal confrontation
KTVU And Wires
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/neighbors-stunned-best-friends-fatal-confrontation/nSTC8/

[happerbolic]

22. sounds just like such a splendid citizen

[crim son]

34. If my neighbor was an ex-marine who carried a weapon in the waistband of his sweatpants (sweatpants?

I don't give a shit how cheerful and happy he appeared, he was clearly damaged goods.

[struggle4progress]

35. "I'm so happy and cheerful that I'm not in the least bit upset by the possibility

that I might accidentally shoot myself in the dong, carrying my gun around in this stupid way!"

[struggle4progress]

14. ... The incident occurred around 6 p.m., with neighbors reporting they heard six to eight shots ...

Police: Two fatally shot in Vallejo front yard; neighbor arrested
Vallejo Times-Herald
Posted: 10/04/2012 06:50:47 AM PDT
Updated: 10/04/2012 01:24:22 PM PDT
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21697054/police-two-fatally-shot-vallejo-front-yard-neighbor

[struggle4progress]

15. ... “We attempted to interview the suspect, but he declined and was booked into county jail,”

said Vallejo police Sgt. Kevin Hambrick ...

“Typically, the harder part is the who done it. Most times, we figure out the why relatively quickly,” said Hambrick. “But this is the opposite. We have the who done it but we don’t have the why yet” ...

Vallejo Police Investigate Mysterious Confrontation Which Led To Two Dead
October 4, 2012 2:31 PM
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/10/04/vallejo-police-investigate-mysterious-confrontation-which-led-to-two-dead/

[KamaAina]

16. Second Amendment solutions

[Remmah2]

23. That cliche has already been copywrited.

Your post must be withdrawn.

[Bucky]

33. Please change to read "a well armed society is a polite society"

copywrited, maybe, but has it been copyrighted?

[slackmaster]

17. Some people take stuff, and themselves, way too seriously

[glacierbay]

24. Maybe so

but what's your solution? Muzzle Fox and Rush?

[Duer 157099]

25. "'Mike was the only person who looked after Martin after his wife died,' he said."

Kind of epitomizes the right vs. left mentality right there doesn't it?

[bettyellen]

31. he must have been really ashamed to have accepted help from his liberal friend

if he's a republican who spews everyone should take care of themselves, no safety net- and argues those points with a guy who had helped keep him afloat in rough times- the cognitive dissonance might be a bit much to handle.

He wanted to be a "winner" and this guys existence was a reminder to him that he was no better than the rest of the 47%. And now he's much worse.

[montanto]

26. Alcohol is such a great drug.

[trailmonkee]

27. yikes, sounds like half my neighbors here in CO

[jwirr]

28. Or he is a gbeck fan.

[coldwaterintheface]

30. A Teaching Moment - Many life Lessons to be learned from this:

ALL Pubs without exception need to be treated as a physical threat to your well being at all times.

Liberals, Progressives and those who even ‘Lean Democrat’ need to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights or they will become a victim.

Never ever be friends with a Pub, they are not only dangerous to your physical wellbeing but your financial wellbeing as well.

If Scally and Kahley had followed these very simple and common sense rules they would be alive today.

[Bucky]

32. OK, there was booze. But RW arguments *depend* on playing on our lurking paranoias.

One reason conservatives and liberals don't talk to each other anymore is that politics has become so toxic in the last 30 years. You're a not a liberal b/c you support higher taxes and want to help unionize workers. You're a liberal because you want black convicts to rape Kitty Dukakis, and you want to kill unborn babies, and you want to turn America socialist, and you support death panels and FEMA camps and secret Shariya plans to take over Oklahoma.

So after years of getting riled up and freaked out by secret Muslim presidents and the ACLU protecting the terrorists who lurk under his bed, a normal guy gets drunk, gets into a heated argument with a neighbor (a guy who blindly leans Democratic and thus unwittingly supports the Marxist takeover of America and maybe something about Saul Alinsky) and in a booze and paranoia-fueled stupor guns his neighbor down.

And pity Mike Scally too, of course, who somehow thought he could reason with a man drunk on beer and Fox. He had no notion how deep that hatred ran, how far deep into his neighbor's psyche Limbaugh's psychotic coils had latched. You never know what a man's breaking point is, when he can go when his reptilian stem takes over, when his buttons have been pushed.

Normal housewives on the open prairie in the 1890s, driven mad by the ceaseless wind, would kill their whole families. Crazed ex-boyfriends hunt down and harass and stalk the women they profess to love. Normal American kids, under unimagineable stress and inadequate leadership gave us Abu Ghraib and My Lai and dozens of other undiscovered atrocities in the blink service of "freedom." Driven stupid with worry, I once pulled a man twice my size out of his pick up and was ready to boot stomp him before my daughter screamed at me to stop--he was her Church's youth minister and he wasn't trying anything; they'd just left his and his wife's house ten minutes earlier and she was just needing to talk to a non-parent adult person.

I understand the tipping point. What pisses me off is that the conservative media establishment does too. I think being a better person means learning to navigate around it to find the right solutions in life, while Fox and Beck and Clear Channel and Limbaugh and all their ilk try to better their lives by toying with people's lurking reptilian stems, tickling their darkest fears and insecurities just in order to win a few elections and secure a few more tax breaks or lucrative government contracts.

I think Martin Hohenegger is a fool and was a dangerously deluded drunk that night. But I won't pretend he was only a victim of one sort of drug. Fox News killed his neighbor every bit as much as Jack Daniels did.