Harry Potter, Fenrir, Haskell, and Norse Name Games

FedEx Again

In two recent postings, the FedEx came up as an organizing reality: "Rambo-Style Shooter Goes Postal at FedEx" and "Aurora Name Game & FedEx." In the latter case, several instances of FedEx events were detailed.

In the last week, the FedEx connection and mayhem combined in the news again.

Six people died in a Spring, Texas shooting Wednesday, July 9, 2014, when a gunman opened fire at 711 Leaflet Lane in suburban Houston. Four children were among the victims, who had been tied up and shot in the back of the head.

“It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us,” assistant chief deputy constable Mark Herman of the Harris County Precinct 4 constable’s office told reporters.

Haskell "came to this location yesterday afternoon … and came under the guise of a FedEx driver wearing a FedEx shirt,” Hickman said in a news conference. “[He] gathered up the children that were here and awaited the arrival of the parents. Sometime later the victims were shot in this residence, and we now learned that Mr. Haskell was married to a relative [the wife and mother of the children] of this home.”

Haskell, 33, was disguised as a FedEx delivery worker when he went to the suburban Houston home of his ex-wife’s sister, Katie Stay, on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Oldest child Cassidy was home alone and answered the door. She told Haskell her parents weren’t home. He later returned, forcing his way in and tying Cassidy up, police said.

Minutes later, her parents and her four siblings, ages 4 to 13, returned. Haskell allegedly tied them up as well, and demanded to know the whereabouts of his ex-wife, Melannie Lyon. They said they didn’t know, and they were each shot in the back of the head.

Stephen and Katie Stay and four of their young children were found dead from gunshots. The victims included 39-year-old Stephen Robert Stay; his wife, 33-year-old Katie Stay; and their four children: Bryan, 13; Emily, 9; Rebecca, 7; and Zachary, 4. One of the Stay children, 15-year-old Cassidy, survived the rampage with a bullet fracture to the skull by playing dead. She called 911, and told police that the shooter planned to target her grandparents next.

The suspect led law enforcement officers and SWAT team members a car chase late Wednesday. They later cornered the suspect before he surrendered several miles away from the scene of the initial shooting. Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, surrendered after a three-hour standoff.

One resident who lives close to the scene of the crime said he was shocked by the tragedy. “I’ve lived here 20 years. It’s a very quiet neighborhood,” Wesley Carr told the Houston Chronicle.

"It was a Mormon family," one neighbor told Houston Chronicle. "They were very sweet and their kids were very shy. This is a sad, sad day."

Ronald Haskell had previously had domestic violence situations occur between himself and his then wife in Logan, Utah (a Mormon community).

.

Harry Potter links

While in the hospital, Cassidy Stay talked about angels she had learned in Sunday school are sent to "protect his children in times of great need," according to her grandfather Roger Lyon.

Cassidy Stay recovered and appeared at a public memorial service for her parents and siblings on Saturday, July 12, 2014. The ceremony occurred outside Lemm Elementary School in Spring, Texas. The 15-year-old lone survivor of the mass shooting quoted Dumbledore, the wise man from the Harry Potter series, in hopes of finding some good amid the horror. "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times," Cassidy said, citing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, "if one only remembers to turn on the light."

At the end of the memorial service, Cassidy Stay flashed a hand signal for those who could translate it. The "Hook 'em Horns" is associated, in Texas, with a greeting saying "Good-bye." But in some European cultures, the identical corna gesture, the "Sign of the Horns," is used to suggest Satanic association. In 1985, five Americans were arrested, due to its satanic connotations, after dancing and displaying the gesture in front of the Vatican.

By coincidence, the same day that the media spotlighted Cassidy's quotes from Harry Potter, it was revealed a Harry Potter actor's body had been found earlier in the week, in Death Valley. David "Dave" Legeno (October 12, 1963 – July ?, 2014) was an English actor, boxer, poet, and mixed martial artist (of Muay-Thai). Legeno's first major film role was in Guy Richie's Snatch. Since then he has had roles in Batman Begins (he played a League of Shadows Warrior), Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Centurion. 

Legeno's body was found by a pair of hikers on July 6, 2014, in Death Valley, California, United States. Due to the remote area, a helicopter was called in to retrieve his remains. It appears Legeno died of heat-related issues and may have been dead for three to four days before his body was discovered. The temperature in Death Valley on July 6, 2014, was 177 degrees. (As Red Dirt Report's AWG reminded me, Legeno's body was found near Zabriskie Point, Death Valley. Zabriskie Point is also the name of a 1970 movie by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni; its soundtrack features music by British band Pink Floyd and Jerry Garcia.)

Dave Legeno was mostly well-known for having played werewolf Fenrir Greyback in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

In Norse mythology, Fenrir (Old Norse: "fen-dweller"), Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse: "Fenris wolf"), Hróðvitnir (Old Norse: "fame-wolf"), or Vánagandr (Old Norse: "the monster of the river Ván") is a monstrous wolf. Fenrir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, Fenrir is the father of the wolves Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson, is a son of Loki, and is foretold to kill the god Odin during the events of Ragnarök, but will in turn be killed by Odin's son Víðarr. In the Prose Edda, additional information is given about Fenrir, including that, due to the gods' knowledge of prophecies foretelling great trouble from Fenrir and his rapid growth, the gods bound him, and as a result Fenrir bit off the right hand of the god Týr. Depictions of Fenrir have been identified on various objects, and scholarly theories have been proposed regarding Fenrir's relation to other canine beings in Norse mythology. Fenrir has been the subject of artistic depictions, and he appears in literature.

Haskell Name Game

Ronald Haskell has been accused of the killings, and was in court last week. He almost passed out, and authorities kept him from falling, eventually using a wheelchair.

Earlier in his life, Haskell appeared to have an ordinary upbringing. He went to high school in Alaska, played on the football team and was even voted prom king and class clown his senior year, according to The Alaska Dispatch.

He was quoted in his yearbook: “Why did they pick me to be class clown? I think it’s because I'm so darn good looking.”

The Anchorage Daily News reported Ronald Lee Haskell Jr. lived in Alaska until 2004. He attended Chugiak High School and was part of a tight-knit Mormon community in Eagle River, about 10 miles north of Anchorage.

Drew Nevitt attended the same Mormon church as Haskell and says Haskell was an older peer he looked up to. Nevitt says Haskell was just “a funny, red-headed, freckled guy with a good personality.”

Nevitt described Ron Haskell as “the Chris Farley of Eagle River.”

Haskell? Haskell? Why does the name sound vaguely familiar. Ah, yes, Edward Clark "Eddie" Haskell (also referred to as Edward W. Haskell) is a fictional character on the Leave It to Beaver television situation comedy, which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957, to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to 1963. Eddie Haskell was the smart-mouthed best-friend of Wally Cleaver. The character recognized as an archetype for insincere sycophants. Eddie exhibited a two-faced style, polite to parents and adults, but always up to no good behind their backs—either conniving with his friends or picking on Wally's younger brother, Beaver.

This unusual name Haskell is of Norse origin, dating from the time of the settlement of northern and eastern counties of England by Scandinavian people, mostly during the 8th Century. The modern surname Haskell, which can also be found as Ashkettle, Askel, Axtell, and Astell, among other forms, drives from the Olde Norse personal name Asketill, which is composed of the elements oss or ass, meaning god and ketill, meaning a kettle or sacrificial cauldron, the latter being a common element in Olde Norse names. Arkle or Arkell derive from Arnkell, arn being eagle, with ketill, as above.

In rarer cases, Haskell is a Jewish surname derived from the equivalent of English Ezekiel [Hebrew יְחֶזְקֵאל (God strengthens).]

Spring, Texas, School Stabbing

Spring, Texas, has been a focus of violence before. An event took place at Spring High School, in Spring, Texas, around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. Harris County (Texas) Sheriff's Office said one person died after a stabbing in cafeteria at a Spring ISD high school. The incident happened at the high school on Cypresswood at North Freeway. A 17-year-old student was killed, and three other teenage males were injured during a stabbing attack at the school. Luis Alonzo Alfaro, age 17, was charged with murder. Alfaro admitted pulling a knife during the fight and stabbing four people.

This is the Spring High School's patch of their mascot, the lion.

One last sync: Ron Haskell's intended prime target was the former Melannie Kaye Lyon.

H/T to Xenkenito, Robert S., and Steve L.

Read More

Schoolboy Q's SUV Targeted At Red Rocks Shootings

UPDATE: ScHoolboy Q was briefly detained following a shooting in the parking lot of Red Rocks Amphitheater after his Colorado show with Nas last night. The shooter was firing at his SUV.

Police, looking like they had stepped from a military action movie, are shown searching a parking lot at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, after a shooting the night of June 19, 2004. Apparently, the shooting was an attempt on ScHoolboy Q. (Photo: Glen Ross)

Rapper Schoolboy Q was inside of the vehicle that a gunman opened fire on late Thursday outside of Red Rocks Amphitheater, injuring three other people, authorities said Friday.

Earlier...

The uniforms of the responding officers to the Red Rock incident appeared to denote this as a SWAT-worthy reaction. SWAT (acronym for "Special Weapons And Tactics") is a commonly used proper name for law enforcement units, which use military-style light weapons and specialized tactics in high-risk operations that fall outside of the capabilities of regular, uniformed police.

It was August 1, 1966, a tragic event occurred in Austin, Texas. A man named Charles Joseph Whitman, a honor student, used a high-powered rifle to randomly kill over a dozen people and wounded over thirty more from the University of Texas Clock Tower Building in Austin. This incident is best known as the Texas Tower Sniper and is credited as being the sparking event for "The Birth of SWAT." Source

The Jefferson County (Colorado) Sheriff's Office investigated a triple shooting late Thursday night that happened following a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Three victims (all alive) were found in a Chevy Suburban stopped by police at 7th Avenue and Kalamath Street at about 11 p.m. Red Rocks was shut down afterwards, with no one being allowed in or out of the park.

Police put this man (which turns out to be ScHoolboy Q) in handcuffs during an investigation into the shooting that occurred at Red Rocks Amphitheater Thursday night. No arrests, said The Denver Post, (the photograph above shows Q being detained, apparently) have been made in the shooting. (Credit: Karl Gehring, The Denver Post) 

Nas

Schoolboy Q

Flying Lotus

The Red Rocks concert, noted the Denver media, featured Nas, Schoolboy Q and Flying Lotus.

Jefferson County Sheriff's officers, Denver Police, the Lakewood and Morrison Police Departments and the Colorado State Patrol were searching the cars of all concertgoers. Almost two hours after the conclusion of the concert, there were still many people on the scene.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, 10 miles west of Denver, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a huge vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a seating area for up to 9,450 people in between. The amphitheatre is owned and operated by the City and County of Denver, Colorado and is located in Red Rocks Park, part of the Denver Mountain Parks system.

Originally the place was known as the "Garden of the Angels" (1870s-1906), and then as "Garden of the Titans" during the Walker years (1906–1928). The park, however, had always been known by the folk name of "Red Rocks", which became its formal name when Denver acquired it in 1928. The amphitheatre's rocks are named "Creation Rock" on the north, "Ship Rock" on the south, and "Stage Rock" to the east. Red Rocks Amphitheatre was designed by Denver architect Burnham Hoyt.

Read More

Vancouver Starbucks-Telus World of Science Shootings

Another shooting has occurred. This one happened in Vancouver, British Columbia. A recent concentration of shootings has occurred in the Pacific Northwest. On Friday, June 6th, there was one at the Seattle Pacific University, and earlier today, June 10th, there was a school shooting in Troutdale, Oregon, near Portland. In Vancouver, specifically, local law enforcement officials noted that today's shootings "followed two other public shootings that injured two people and killed a third since Saturday night."

Reacting to the events of the week, President Obama said on June 10, 2014, the nation should do "some soul-searching" over its epidemic of deadly gun violence and "should be ashamed" it has been unable to address it.

"We're the only developed country on Earth where this happens," Obama said during a question-and-answer session on the social media website Tumblr.

"And it happens now once a week," Obama added. "And it's a one-day story. There's no place else like this."

The CTV had this summary for today's shootings:

Shortly after 11 a.m., police receive reports of shots fired in the city’s Yaletown neighbourhood, at Davie Street and Marinaside Crescent, outside a Starbucks coffee shop (pictured)
Police arrive to find a 61-year-old man suffering a gunshot wound. He is rushed to hospital in serious condition
A 52-year-old male suspect flees the scene. At least part of the way he is riding a bike
Second shooting scene

Vancouver police officers follow the suspect to an area outside the Telus World of Science, at the edge of False Creek
Two officers were looking for the suspect when gunfire broke out just outside the building
Construction workers near the scene report hearing up to 12 shots fired
An unmarked police car remained parked at the scene with its back window smashed out. What appeared to be a pool of blood could be seen behind the vehicle.
Dozens of people are trapped inside the science centre, a popular family attraction
A female officer is hurt. She was treated in hospital for a minor injury and released from hospital
The suspect is taken into custody, and police say they aren’t looking for anyone else
1:30 p.m. Vancouver police press conference
VPD Spokesperson Const. Brian Montague says hundreds of people witnessed the shootings
Police are inundated with videos and photos of the incident
Police ask witnesses to hold onto their photos and videos, police will want to see them all
Say it’s too early to know whether the event is targeted
Police say they will not release any information into the suspect or victim identities
The Independent Investigations Office takes over the probe into the officer-involved shooting

When Vancouver was awarded to host the transportation-themed 1986 World's Fair (Expo 86), a Buckminster Fuller-inspired geodesic dome was designed by Expo's chief architect Bruno Freschi to serve as the fair's Expo Centre. Construction began in 1984 and was completed by early 1985. After the World's Fair closed, this dome and its buildings became the Science World, now the Telus World of Science.

Read More

7:20 Wednesday: Justin Bourque, St. Hubert, and Don Zimmer

From L-R: James Larche, Fabrice Gevaudan, Joseph Ross, were the Mounties killed in Wednesday’s shooting in Moncton, N.B. They are profiled here.

+++

UPDATE: A gunman who killed three police officers and wounded two others in Canada is in custody after more than a day on the run, authorities said Friday. 

Police took Justin Bourque, 24, at 12:10 a.m. Friday (11:10 p.m. ET Thursday), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

The suspect, dressed in fatigues and armed with a rifle, went on a rampage Wednesday evening in Moncton, New Brunswick, authorities say.

The time was 7:20 pm Atlantic Time, and something was going badly wrong in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Justin Bourque was beginning a shooting rampage, and within minutes, he would kill three Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and injury two others.

Heavily armed RCMP officers patrolled the small east coast city overnight in the search for 24-year-old Justin Bourque, a Moncton man who was wearing military camouflage and carrying two rifles in a picture (above) released by police on Twitter. Thursday, Bourque was still at large.

Police said he was armed and dangerous and urged anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward.

Moncton, a city of about 69,000 people, is about 95 miles northeast of St. John, New Brunswick.

Justin Bourque's name game...

Justin is a boy's name of Latin origin, meaning "just, upright, righteous." Variant of Justus.

Bourque is French, a reduced form of Bourrique, from a personal name, probably a derivative of bourre "tawny, fawn" (from Latin burrus), hence denoting a man with tawny hair.

An alternative meaning for Bourque is "a dweller at, or near a stronghold or fortified place."

Local Moncton eyewitnesses snapped photos of Bourque as he walked through their city on his shooting spree.

 Bourque posted images of himself and a friend on Facebook, heavily armed.

 Justin Bourque's last Facebook message, reportedly, was lyrics from a Megadeath song.

Armed and dangerous: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police tweeted an image of suspected cop killer Justin Bourque, 24, wearing military camouflage and wielding two guns. He was still on the run Thursday. The manhunt continues for the tawny-haired righteous dweller, who may now be at a fortified stronghold.

7:20 on Wednesday Night. Different time zones, the same numbers.

At 7:20 pm Eastern, 4:20 pm Pacific, a Harrier AV-8B jet crashed into a residential community in Imperial, California, about 90 miles east of San Diego, Wednesday. It went down in a front yard, damaging three homes. The pilot ejected safely and no one on the ground was hurt. Also, on Wednesday at about 10 pm Pacific, another U.S. Navy jet, a F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed into the ocean off the Southern California coast while the pilot was attempting to land on the San Diego-based carrier USS Carl Vinson. The pilot ejected safely, but the plane was not recovered.

Police Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce spoke about the St, Hubert case during the news conference.

At 7:20 pm Eastern, a New York news conference was beginning, detailing the stabbing of two young children and a teenager in Brooklyn this past weekend. Police say Daniel St. Hubert, 27, was the suspect. Sources say St. Hubert had served the maximum sentence of five years before being released on community supervision on May 23. They also say he was denied his initial conditional release on September 6, 2013. Police say the suspect fatally stabbed Prince Joshua Avitto "PJ" Avitto, 6, and wounded his friend Mikayla Capers, 7, Sunday inside an elevator at the Boulevard Houses public housing complex in East New York. It is thought the same man fatally stabbed Tanaya Copeland, 18, last Friday, but said at the press conference that St. Hubert was only being sought in connection with Sunday's stabbings. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton released a photo of St. Hubert and asked for the public's help finding him. The official briefing ended, and St. Hubert was apprehended by detectives shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday in the vicinity of 145 Street and 133 Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.

7:20 in Florida? A couple hours after Don Zimmer's Wednesday night passing, the Tampa Bay Rays announced to their baseball crowd during the fifth inning that the legendary baseball man had died.

Donald William Zimmer (January 17, 1931 – June 4, 2014) was an American infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball. Zimmer was involved in professional baseball from 1949 until his death, a span of 66 years. Zimmer was a figure of some controversy, once charging the mound in 2003, swinging at, but being thrown to the ground by Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez. Zimmer was nicknamed "El Galleguito" (The Gallegan) in Cuba and "El Soldadito" (The Small Soldier) in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Tampa Bay Rays third base coach Tom Foley, is shown wearing a jersey in honor of senior baseball advisor Don Zimmer, during the first inning of an interleague baseball game Wednesday, June 4, 2014, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Foley had been wearing the jersey for a few weeks. Photo credit: Chris O'Meara.

Meanwhile, in and around Yellowstone National Park, two days of earthquakes shook the area.

Read More

Teacher and Gunman Die in Sparks School Shootings

Michael Landsberry is a victim of the Sparks Middle School shooting.

This morning, Monday, October 21, 2013, two shootings in Nevada and one in Detroit have started off this week's news cycle.

Police said the first shots in the Sparks, Nevada, shooting were fired from a semiautomatic handgun at 7:16 a.m. (9:16 a.m. ET), just before classes got underway.

The school shooting in Sparks, left two students wounded, and the gunman dead from his own suicide. One teacher was also killed.

A family member of a [math] teacher killed in a shooting on the campus of Sparks Middle School in northern Nevada identified him as 45-year-old Michael Landsberry.
Landsberry was one of two people who died after gunfire rang out on the campus about 7:15 a.m. Monday, shortly before began. A student, who police said was the likely shooter, also died, while two other boys students were critically injured.
One was out of surgery and the other was doing well, according to police.
...
Police said the shooting happened on the school's campus, but outside the school building itself.

Michael Landsberry served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard and was well known in the school community.

According to Landsberry's sister-in-law, the teacher was a military veteran.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said he was saddened to learn of the horrific shooting.
...
Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, said he sends his condolences to the victims' families.
"No words of condolence could possible ease the pain, but I hope it is some small comfort that Nevada mourns with them," Reid said in a statement.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-District 1, called Monday a harrowing day for the state.
"My thoughts are with the victims' families and all those affected by this morning's tragic shooting at Sparks Middle School," Titus said in a statement.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, also extended his condolences.
"Today's events at Sparks Middle School are unsettling and concerning," Heller said in a statement.
The school enrolls about 700 students in 7th and 8th grades. Source.

Yes, the name Reid popped up again.

The meaning of the name Landsberry is worthy of examining:

Recorded in various spellings including: Landsbury, Lansbery, Lansberry, Langsbury, and Lansbury, this is an English surname of conjectural origins. It appears to originate from a place called 'Lang byrig' or similar, Olde English pre 7th century words meaning 'the long fort', however no such place, or any similar spelling, is to be found in any of the known gazetters of the British Isles. This is not in itself wholly unusual. An estimated five thousand surnames of Britain are believed to derive from 'lost' medieval sites, of which the only reminder of the place in the 20th century is the surname itself. This is often, as with this one, in a wide variety of spellings, itself a further indication of a 'lost' site. As to why places disappeared is a subject of a separate study by the Historical Monuments Commission of England and Wales. This survey indicates that changes in agricultural practice in the 17th century are the usual reasons, but the plagues of medieval times, and even civil war in a few instances, have played their part. In this case examples of the surname recordings have been taken from the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater London. These include William Lansberry at St Olaves church, Southwark, on September 27th 1657, John William Landsbury at St Johns Hackney, on June 3rd 1787, Thomas Lansbury, who married Mary Parsons at the famous church of St Mary-le-Bone, on March 13th 1810, and Elizabeth Langsbury, who married Daniel Kite at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on June 11th 1821. Source.

(See this other earlier source.)

In 2006, a boy using his father’s .38-caliber pistol opened fire at another Reno-area middle school and wounded a boy and girl, both 14, a local newspaper said. A gym teacher was honored later for ending the episode by telling the boy to drop the gun and bear-hugging him. James Scott Newman, 14 at the time of that shooting, pleaded guilty to battery with a deadly weapon and got house arrest until he completed 200 hours of community service.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Nevada on the same day as the Sparks shooting,

Police say one person is dead and two others are injured in a shooting in a Las Vegas Strip nightclub inside Bally's casino.
Las Vegas police Lt. Jay Roberts said a suspect is in custody. The victims were taken to University Medical Center.
Roberts says the shooting happened before 6 a.m. Monday at Drai's, an after-hours club. Source.

And there was also a shooting in Detroit:

Police say two women are dead and a man is in custody after a shooting at a Detroit senior center.
The shooting happened Sunday evening after police say the 65-year-old suspect had an argument with his girlfriend that ended their relationship. They say the man went to his apartment at the Pablo Davis Elder Living Center, got a rifle and started looking for two residents he blamed for the breakup.
Police spokeswoman Kelly Miner says the man shot the first woman, who was in her 50s, as she sat on a bench outside the apartment building. Miner says he then went inside and shot the second woman, who was in her 60s.

Read More

Lone Star Shooting: Wall-to-Wall Media Attention

Wall-to-wall media went wild today with the reports out of Texas of a "college shooting."

Did they go overboard?

I remain convinced my hypothesis in The Copycat Effect is a valid factor, among many, in linking this kind of media attention to fostering an environment of future shootings.

This shooting, for example, does not appear to have been a random, senseless mass shooting. This was a confrontation between two individuals who apparently got into a verbal disagreement where guns were drawn. Two people started shooting, two bystanders (one white, one black) in a hallway got wounded, and one other person collapsed with an apparent heart attack. This is not to diminish it, but the processes of these kinds of school shootings are much different than homicidal-suicidal forms of school violence.

One federal official said the Texas incident was a "gang-related" shooting (read, "African-American" in this location*) versus a random school mass-shooting (read, "Caucasian"). That hints at more than the media wanted to look at, for the comparisons to Newtown, the debate on gun control, and the horror of the incident were reinforced often today.
Police descended on the campus. Lots of law enforcers. People and police are supersensitive from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The media flew overhead, on many flybys.

In North Harris, Texas, two "people of interest" (AfricanAmericans, one with a red shirt) were seen by news helicopters as having apparently already been arrested (in handcuffs).

Now the television cable news channels are interviewing students who were only marginally involved, but most are naming all their friends with whom they ran from the area. And seem to be "enjoying" the media attention.

Aerial footage from local television stations showed police cars and ambulances parked on the Lone Star College System campus about 20 miles north of downtown Houston. Emergency personnel could be seen tending to people on stretchers, while others ran from a building led by officers.
Mark Smith, spokesman for the Harris County Emergency Corps, said four people were taken to two hospitals. He said at least two had gunshot wounds, and one appeared to have had a heart attack related to the shooting. He said one was in critical condition. Source.

At least three people were shot in a shooting at Lone Star College in north Houston, Texas some time before 12:30 PM. Witnesses on the scene say the shooting may have escalated after a heated argument, possibly over a bad grade. At least two victims were caught in the crossfire and suffered “multiple gun shot wounds,” KTRK reports, and are in serious condition. They were brought into surgery at Ben Taub General Hospital. One of the victims — who was shot in the leg — is a school employee. The other, a younger student, was found on the ground unconscious, with his eyes closed. Another person on the scene suffered a heart attack. Source.

*Gang-related: In 1996, 50 percent of gang members were juveniles (i.e., younger than 18) and 50 percent were adults (i.e., 18 and older). In 1999, these numbers were 37 percent and 63 percent, respectively. In 1999, respondents reported that 47 percent of gang members were Hispanic, 31 percent African American, 13 percent white, 7 percent Asian, and 2 percent "other" (National Youth Gang Survey Trends From 1996 to 2000, 2002).

Read More

A Pope Kills Three

Three are dead in a courthouse shooting in the Philippines. Above is a photograph of the shooter's gun found at the scene.

The official Philippines News Agency (PNA) has reported that a gunman identified as John Pope "went berserk" at the courthouse in the city of Cebu, Philippines, on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

John Pope, a Canadian national, entered the Palace of Justice at about 8:10 a.m. clad in jogging pants, long white shirt and with a body bag.
He was body-frisked and his bag was inspected.
Pope went directly to MTC Branch 6 as he has a scheduled hearing for malicious mischief case.
According to Prosecutor Noel A. Cellona, Pope greeted him when they met at the stair near the court room.
Cellona noticed nothing unusual in Pope.
Before the start of the hearing, Cellona heard two successive gun bursts.
He saw the complainant Dr. Rene F. Rafols and private prosecutor Juvian Achas lying dead on the ground.
After shooting the victims, Pope went out of the court room and proceeded to MTC Branch 1 opposite the building about 50 meters away.
While walking towards the lobby of MTC Branch 1, Pope met Prosecutor Ma. Theresa C. Casino, the public prosecutor handling his grave threat case.
Casino was point blank shot and was hit in her neck. She was immediately rushed to the hospital and is now in critical condition.
Pope was found dead at the stair of the ground floor with gun shot at the head.
He allegedly shot himself, according to PNP SOCO-7.
Recovered from Pope is a 6-shot 357 revolver with four bullets spent. He was declared dead and his body was brought by the PNP SOCO-7 in Cebu City. (PNA)

Facing a criminal case in the courts, the gunman fatally shot the complainant in the case, who was a doctor, and the doctor's lawyer. The gunman also took his own life.

The scene at the courthouse on January 22, 2013.

According to the website of the City of Cebu, the name Cebu came from the word “Sebu,” meaning "animal fat."

The Supreme Court has now tightened security measures on all courts nationwide following the incident in the Palace Hall of Justice in Cebu where three people were killed including a lawyer, doctor and the gunman.

Other violence has swept through the Philippines in recent gun violence. Earlier this month, a gunman went from house to house in a town near the capital, Manila, killing at least 9 people. On New Year's Eve, a 7-year-old girl died after being shot in the head amid celebratory gunfire.

The country's Firearms and Explosives Office says there were 1.2 million registered firearms in the Philippines as of last year. Also, the office estimates there were 600,000 unlicensed firearms in circulation nationwide.

American John Popes

The name Pope is from the Latin: papa; from Greek: πάππας (pappas), a child's word for father. The familiar terms "Pop" and "Pops" for "father" are derivatives.
The name of the Cebu courthouse shooter, Canadian John Pope, is one that has a prosaic sound in America, in relationship to the military and spying, in reality and in fiction. This appears to be related to the founding nature of the Pope family in US History.

Some insights into the linkages of a Kentuckian named John Pope (February 1770 – July 12, 1845), U.S. politician, senator for Kentucky (served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Eleventh Congress), and governor of Arkansas Territory, gives a notion of the Pope power family. 

Pope practiced law in Washington, Shelby, and Fayette County, Kentucky. This John Pope was married to the sister-in-law of President John Quincy Adams. He was also the brother of Nathaniel Pope, a prominent figure in early Illinois Territory, and the uncle to both John Pope, Union General in the Civil War and Daniel Pope Cook, another prominent politician in the early history of the state of Illinois.

The Kentucky's John Pope's uncle was John Pope (March 16, 1822 – September 23, 1892), who was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) in the East.

Another John Pope (December 17, 1798 – January 14, 1876) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, Pope was appointed midshipman from Maine, May 30, 1816. Prior to the Civil War, he served in the Mediterranean, West Indian, Brazil, African and East India Squadrons.

From July 1 to October 24, 1861, he was attached to the Gulf Squadron commanding Richmond. He participated in the search for CSS Sumter in the West Indies while on his way to join the Gulf Blockading Squadron, assisted in the blockade of the passes of the Mississippi River and took part in the engagement with Confederate States’ vessels at the Head of Passes October 12, 1861. He died January 14, 1876, in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Fictional John Popes

John Pope is a fictional astronaut character in James A. Michener's 1985 novel Space. One of the main figures in the book is this John Pope. Small town Pope is swept from naval warfare in the Pacific, through air combat in the Korean War and his test pilot life at "Pax River," to his astronaut selection and training.

Another character in this book, according to this summary, is "a highly intelligent but cynical cult leader calling himself Leopold Strabismus who exploits first the UFO craze and then an anti-scientific creationist agenda to increase his fortune...The novel closes with Pope retired from NASA and a respected professor of astronomy, his wife Penny in the Senate, and [aeronautical engineer Stanley] Mott consulting on 'Grand Tour' unmanned missions to the outer solar system. The two men finally attending a NASA workshop discussing the possibility of extraterrestrial life, at which Strabismus privately drops the creationist/fundamentalist persona he has adopted and joins in the intellectual debate on the inevitability of life elsewhere in the Universe."

Also in 1985, in the fiction movie Agent On Ice, the lead character, ex-agent John Pope (Tom Ormeny) was unwittingly involved in a deadly conspiracy, and in the film, the Mafia, the police, and the C.I.A. all want him.

A Real Pope Spy

The name "Pope" is one that some remember from CIA flights over 50 years ago in Asia.

Allen Pope, 1960, Indonesia, shot down flying a B-26 bomber in Indonesia in May 1958, flying for the CIA in support of Indonesian rebels and against the Government of Indonesia. Sentenced to death, the US brokered his release, but he spent four years in an Indonesian jail. Source.

Read More