Shooting spree (Austin, Van, Earth: theater, school, dangerous)

[petro]

Originally Posted by opalminor

I understand the endless struggle and hopelessness with modern life, the govt, the system, and all that. However there are better ways to express your frustration than to go on a shooting spree.

Steve McQuilliams was a radical extremist driven by a racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-gay agenda. He wasn't some everyday Joe frustrated with the struggles of "modern life." He is no different from religious fundamentalists who strap bombs to themselves and blow up buses filled with children. The miracle here is that no one was killed while he was spraying downtown Austin with bullets at closing time.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by petro

Steve McQuilliams was a radical extremist driven by a racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-gay agenda. He wasn't some everyday Joe frustrated with the struggles of "modern life." He is no different from religious fundamentalists who strap bombs to themselves and blow up buses filled with children. The miracle here is that no one was killed while he was spraying downtown Austin with bullets at closing time.

Actually he was different from the terrorists you described, mainly because he obviously had no intention of killing anyone else except himself.

[sojourner77]

Yes, we're lucky there wasn't a busload of children driving around downtown Austin at 3am, or else he would have blown them up.

[hillcountryheart]

The Statesman articles are behind the paywall. ScoPro - if all you want is suicide by cop, surely there are better ways to achieve this than causing mayhem in several downtown locations and at least risking someone getting caught in the crossfire? Why attempt to set fire to the Mexican Consulate, for example?

[petro]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Actually he was different from the terrorists you described, mainly because he obviously had no intention of killing anyone else except himself.

I don't think that is obvious at all. He fired hundreds of rounds of bullets in a highly populated area. I heard the machine gun fire, myself. That is intent to kill, regardless of whether he was successful in killing or not. Thankfully, he was killed before taking anyone with him.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by petro

I don't think that is obvious at all. He fired hundreds of rounds of bullets in a highly populated area. I heard the machine gun fire, myself. That is intent to kill, regardless of whether he was successful in killing or not. Thankfully, he was killed before taking anyone with him.

The SKS rifle he had is a semi-auto, not a machine gun. The cops said he fired maybe 100 rounds altogether, from what I've read so far. Plus the recordings of the shooting shown on the media was that of semi-auto fire, not full auto. I've shot both myself and know the difference.

Shooting at the façade of empty office & church buildings at 2:30AM & trying to burn the closed Mexican Consulate does not indicate any kind of massacre attempt. The exception being the police HQ, but even then he didn't aim at any people in particular, he just fired at the exterior.

If he had sought to murder people in multiple numbers, unloading a magazine or two at a Dirty 6th Street music/bar venue or a crowd of pedestrians on the street corner would've been much more likely -or mowing down a crowded busload of people. Lots of other local possibilities for such a scenario, and he easily could have picked one before shooting up the cop shop.

This was just a semi-sensational incident of a criminal nutcase looking to commit suicide by cop.

That's what it appears to be, but y'all can hype it up any way you want - I don't care.

[petro]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

The SKS rifle he had is a semi-auto, not a machine gun. The cops said he fired maybe 100 rounds altogether, from what I've read so far. Plus the recordings of the shooting shown on the media was that of semi-auto fire, not full auto. I've shot both myself and know the difference.

Shooting at the façade of empty office & church buildings at 2:30AM & trying to burn the closed Mexican Consulate does not indicate any kind of massacre attempt. The exception being the police HQ, but even then he didn't aim at any people in particular, he just fired at the exterior.

If he had sought to murder people in multiple numbers, unloading a magazine or two at a Dirty 6th Street music/bar venue or a crowd of pedestrians on the street corner would've been much more likely -or mowing down a crowded busload of people. Lots of other local possibilities for such a scenario, and he easily could have picked one before shooting up the cop shop.

This was just a semi-sensational incident of a criminal nutcase looking to commit suicide by cop.

That's what it appears to be, but y'all can hype it up any way you want - I don't care.

Your certainly entitled to your opinion, but I tend to agree with APD Chief Art Acevedo who described McQuilliams as "a homegrown American extremist. Terrorists come in all kinds of colors, ethnicities, and religions. This man ... by no means can you call him anything but an extremist. He's an American terrorist trying to terrorize our people."

And like I said before, I heard the gun fire. You can try to soften the language by it by calling it "semi-auto", but what I heard sounded like machine gun fire. I don't have the nuanced ear to know the difference. Per Acevedo, it was an Arsenal model SLR 95 rifle he described as "very similar to an AK-47."

In addition to the two guns, a rented van full of ammunition, a map with 34 targets, he also had bombs made from propane tanks and fireworks, which fortunately he did not have the opportunity to detonate before he was taken down.

McQuilliams was a radical extremist driven by racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-gay hate. To say he was just some poor guy down on his luck, looking to commit suicide by cop, is naive in my opinion.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by petro

Your certainly entitled to your opinion, but I tend to agree with APD Chief Art Acevedo who described McQuilliams as "a homegrown American extremist. Terrorists come in all kinds of colors, ethnicities, and religions. This man ... by no means can you call him anything but an extremist. He's an American terrorist trying to terrorize our people."

And like I said before, I heard the gun fire. You can try to soften the language by it by calling it "semi-auto", but what I heard sounded like machine gun fire. I don't have the nuanced ear to know the difference. Per Acevedo, it was an Arsenal model SLR 95 rifle he described as "very similar to an AK-47."

In addition to the two guns, a rented van full of ammunition, a map with 34 targets, he also had bombs made from propane tanks and fireworks, which fortunately he did not have the opportunity to detonate before he was taken down.

McQuilliams was a radical extremist driven by racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-gay hate. To say he was just some poor guy down on his luck, looking to commit suicide by cop, is naive in my opinion.

The rifle he used was not a machine gun, or else that would have been the first description given by the chief. There are full auto (select fire} AK47 rifles that are heavily regulated and the semi-auto versions, which are very common and function no different than a kid's .22 rifle - and those have been around for a century.
Since you obviously don't know the difference between a semi-auto and select fire rifle, there's no sense in debating that point with you any further.

Nowhere did I say he was a "poor guy down on his luck". Why are you attempting to put words in my mouth that are a lie?

I said he was a "criminal nutcase who was seeking suicide by cop" - the words written in his chest and the note left behind (in which he gave instructions about the clothes he wanted to be buried in) clearly say he was on a suicide mission.

I can agree with some of what Acevedo said about the guy being a homegrown terrorist type with the bomb materials & target list, but otherwise there is no indication so far that he was seeking to kill anybody when he could have easily done so during his shooting rampage well before he was terminated.

For the record, I am very glad the officer took the nutcase down with one shot and didn't have to waste any more ammo.

[ITO]

Originally Posted by J800

Thuggish behavior from this guy.

He had his pants pulled up.

[petro]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

The rifle he used was not a machine gun, or else that would have been the first description given by the chief. There are full auto (select fire} AK47 rifles that are heavily regulated and the semi-auto versions, which are very common and function no different than a kid's .22 rifle - and those have been around for a century.
Since you obviously don't know the difference between a semi-auto and select fire rifle, there's no sense in debating that point with you any further.

Nowhere did I say he was a "poor guy down on his luck". Why are you attempting to put words in my mouth that are a lie?

I said he was a "criminal nutcase who was seeking suicide by cop" - the words written in his chest and the note left behind (in which he gave instructions about the clothes he wanted to be buried in) clearly say he was on a suicide mission.

I can agree with some of what Acevedo said about the guy being a homegrown terrorist type with the bomb materials & target list, but otherwise there is no indication so far that he was seeking to kill anybody when he could have easily done so during his shooting rampage well before he was terminated.

For the record, I am very glad the officer took the nutcase down with one shot and didn't have to waste any more ammo.

You are delusional if you believe that someone who goes to a populated downtown Austin with a van filled with ammunition and bombs, shooting hundreds of rounds of automatic weapon fire bares "no indication that he was seeking to kill anybody."