1 dead, 3 injured in MARTA train shooting (felons, home, gated)

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by ronricks

Guns are an issue. Not cars. Cars had nothing to do with this. I drove a car today and didn't get shot in the head. There is also no reason for there to be murders at MARTA stations. None.

Alright, we can try this one more time.

The original statement was one of how 'unsafe' MARTA is (or at least implied as much. Similar comments in other threads were more directly targeted in the sentiment). Driving has far more fatalities, associated crimes including those with shootings, and injuries than transit in general, let alone MARTA.

MARTA has fewer fatalities, and in general, lower crime rates than much of the metro.

This singular event, and those events from earlier this year, don't make that statement untrue as long as the over all crime statistics are generally unchanged, or if the other data set is also increasing (like with a string of car-jackings and associated shootings.

It doesn't matter if someone was shot vs. driving into someone who cut them off at 60 Mph. Both result in someone dead. Both are tragic. Both add a single data point to the collective image.


We are talking about aggregate safety. In aggregate, transit is still less likely to result in an injury or death than driving.

[primaltech]

A quick search on it reveals 68,678,700 MARTA riders in 2016. So, basically, there is a 99.9999% chance that you will not get shot on MARTA. At least that high, if not better. Them's really, really, really good odds. "Unsafe" my @ss.

By all means, avoid MARTA because it's a useless stub of a train system that doesn't go anywhere near where you live or work. But not because it's dangerous.

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by primaltech

And there's not!

For the love of god, people. Did you all fail third grade math? How many people have taken MARTA in a year, and how many of them were shot?

The 'assumed risk' is as negligible as any other normal daily activity, that nobody even thinks twice about.

It's you who is missing the point. People aren't robots. Emotions play a role. Do you remember what happened to airline travel and stocks after 9/11?

Anything violent, tragic, and unexpected creates a negative association. We are numb to driving crashes because we assume that risk already. Getting shot at MARTA may be statistically uncommon, but it happened, and thus there are now negative emotions surrounding it's use.

[primaltech]

Negative emotions are one thing, but Ronricks came in here and said MARTA "isn't safe. At all." And that is simply 100% not true. Love or hate MARTA, it is unquestionably very safe.

As far as how do we prevent any shootings from ever happening, I doubt that we can. We can do a lot in the areas of economic equality, education funding, gun control policy, whatever. That should help reduce violence.

But as has been stated in this thread repeatedly, this happened because of this area of town, not because of MARTA. MARTA can't somehow make areas circa MLK Dr not sketchy. It has no control over any of that.

Also, this was not even a random act of violence. It was a targeted assassination. Sounds like they knew each other. Could have happened at the gas station just as easily.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by ekman243

You do realize at least 10 people have been murdered in the Northern suburbs in the past year. What kind of culture is that?

What were the circumstances?

In the case of this MARTA shooting, I am considering that this happened in the ghetto. Think about that for a moment.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

What were the circumstances?

In the case of this MARTA shooting, I am considering that this happened in the ghetto. Think about that for a moment.

You automatically think because it was on the West Line, that it happened in the ghetto? You know the shooting happened on the rail car, not at the station. The station location has nothing to do with the crime.
This is an opportunity for MARTA to show their quick response and how cameras in the rail car and stations, helped MARTA PD instantly ID the suspect and apprehend the suspect at the next station.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by primaltech

A quick search on it reveals 68,678,700 MARTA riders in 2016. So, basically, there is a 99.9999% chance that you will not get shot on MARTA. At least that high, if not better. Them's really, really, really good odds. "Unsafe" my @ss.

By all means, avoid MARTA because it's a useless stub of a train system that doesn't go anywhere near where you live or work. But not because it's dangerous.

As someone who does use MARTA, coverage, not safety, is a bigger issue. Where I live there is no MARTA, just an Xpress bus to connect to a MARTA station(and it takes an hour to get there). MARTA needs to go more places. However, a shooting like this will get more people to say "see, MARTA brings in the crime".

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You automatically think because it was on the West Line, that it happened in the ghetto? You know the shooting happened on the rail car, not at the station. The station location has nothing to do with the crime.
This is an opportunity for MARTA to show their quick response and how cameras in the rail car and stations, helped MARTA PD instantly ID the suspect and apprehend the suspect at the next station.

I've been on the West Line alot. Anything west of the GA Dome Station gets sketchier the further west you go. Westlake and Holmes are the worst.

And yes, this event showed that MARTA police are very competent and handling situations like this. One reason I don't attribute crime to MARTA. Truth is, I'm more afraid of the buses than the trains.

[cqholt]

Well, it appears the issue was gun related and not MARTA. A convicted-felon in possession of a firm arm?

Daniels, 36, is facing charges of murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

MARTA Police identify suspect in West Lake MARTA shooting - The Atlanta Loop

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Well, it appears the issue was gun related and not MARTA. A convicted-felon in possession of a firm arm?

MARTA Police identify suspect in West Lake MARTA shooting - The Atlanta Loop

If he wasn't suppose to have a gun, but had one anyway, it tells me said person won't obey the law. This person is a repeat criminal. Recidivism rates in the USA are kind of high. Living in Georgia, I understand that this is a "tough on crime" state. If being tough of this guy didn't stop him from committing an egregious offense, then there is a bigger problem, and it isn't so much about guns. Said person was a convicted felon. No gun allowed. He had the gun anyway. He won't learn to just live in this society as a law-abiding citizen. What do we do with people who refuse to obey the law no matter how many times they get imprisoned?