So my wife and I are in a motel in Charlottesville. We have three quick appointments early and then are supposed to remove the last few items from our home south of town before turning the house over to its new owners at noon. Then a 6 hour drive to our new home in North Carolina with our dog.
Except we are not sure we can leave our room safely because a mile up the road an active shooter has killed three and injured two. The gunman is still at large. Another Monday morning in America.
I am freaked out by this. A family member attends UVA.
I can understand your concern, but it’s looking likely this was a single incident and the suspect is simply at large, not an ongoing masa shooting or the like. Still dangerous, of course (and I could be wrong).
We are going about our business. Shooting is now so common I guess all we can do is shrug and hope not to be a part of it. Like everyone else.
It looks like it was targeted at the football team in particular.
They got him a bit before noon today.
I visited the eye doctor in the morning, located about a quarter mile from the shooting. They texted me that because of the lockdown I would have to knock and wait. My wife went to the bank and there was no line on a Monday morning. At the time no one knew the details — only that the shooter was still on the loose. Traffic was minimal. Police were everywhere.
I will miss a lot about Charlottesville. I have lived there for almost 40 years. When I was a student I walked around, sometimes inebriated, at all hours. There seemed to be no crime. Never worried about crime. Did not lock the doors. That time is no more. In addition to this Sunday shooting, we had a single shooting incident on Saturday night and a report of random shots Friday. Over the past few weeks we have had shootings and reports of gunfire frequently. There have been fatalities. I feel very sad that the town, so scarred by the racist march and killing a few years ago, has become unsafe at night. It is no longer the innocent college town it used to be.
Maybe our new smaller community here in Western North Carolina will be peaceful. I hope so. Part of me feels sad and a bit guilty about abandoning Charlottesville instead of staying and trying to be a voice supporting a safe inclusive community.
So any discussion of the motive of the shooting? What I am reading is a black kid from the projects who turned his life around and went to college:
Petersburg High graduate navigated a fractured path to graduation
By VANESSA REMMERS Richmond Times-Dispatch Jun 8, 2018
That article quotes both of the alleged shooter’s parents saying that he was being picked on or harassed by other students; other news reports indicate that he was the subject of an investigation of hazing charges, but the investigation was dropped when witnesses didn’t cooperate.
So, that seems to suggest that he was unhappy with how other students were treating him. He’d been on the UVA football team as a freshman, four years ago, but apparently was no longer with the team; the fact that all three of the deceased were members of the football team might suggest that that was who he was singling out for what he did.
Isn’t that what they all say?
So what if it is? I think the 2018 news story @PastTense linked to helps to lend some support at least to the notion that parents here might have expected great (or at least better) things for their son.
Anyway, I’m not ready as to speculate as to motive, beyond simply that I doubt very much that the victims deserved to be gunned down.
What do you expect? “Yeah, I always knew he was a bit of a dick. I figured he would shoot up a busload of football players.”
I mean, put yourself in his shoes. He actually did sound like a decent kid turning his life around. I’m his parent. Would I expect one of my kids to be capable of a murderous rampage, much less actually commit it? I’d be in shock, too.
The missing scene from Red Dragon:
“Agent Graham, when did you start to suspect Dr. Hannibal Lecter of these hideous crimes?”
"I just happened to notice, under his picture in his high school yearbook, he was voted “Most Likely to Become a Cannabilistic Serial Killer.”
An update on this, from an ESPN article today, about the initial hearing for the accused shooter.
In addition to the three fatalities, all of whom were on the UVA football team, one of the two survivors is also a team member (running back Mike Hollins).
A witness, who was on the bus, has told investigators that Jones appeared to be targeting specific people on the bus, rather than shooting randomly.
Jones, … said little during the 20-minute hearing, other than that he wanted to hire his own attorney
I think it likely that neither him nor his parents would have the money to pay for a good attorney–so perhaps an attorney who wants to get his name in the media?
Oof, this one hits way close to home. The victims were all enrolled in the same drama class, and they were returning from a class field trip to see a play. The shooter was not in the class, but apparently the professor invited him along because he was taking another class with her.
Like … I’ve done that. Several times, because buying theater tickets for students is always a bit of a crapshoot, and you often end up with extras when someone flakes at the last minute, and anyway you want to spread the performing-arts love as far and as wide as possible.
Ugh. Can’t imagine what she must be going through right now.
Will this result in the families of all the victims getting multi-million dollar settlements from the University?
But has anyone heard what was the spark that set off all this violence?
Interesting article about the trip [MSN repost so not paywalled]:
I thought there would be some major provocation, but it doesn’t sound like that according to this article [he was sitting alone at the back]. It sounded like he didn’t even know the victims.
Morbid curiosity. Do you know the play/theater? Shenandoah Shakespeare in Staunton, perhaps?
ETA: It’s actually I’m the WaPo article above. Mosaic Theater Company play about Emmett Till.