# FUCK YOU Bruce Pardo, and the "Covina Christmas Massacre" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 27, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811 "2008-12-27T04:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/1 "2008-12-27T04:17:25Z")
This will not be eloquent or creative. This hits _way_ too fucking close to home for me to try, or to care. This is MY FUCKING NEIGHBORHOOD. We were awakened by all the sirens and lights about midnight on Christmas Eve. We thought it was for our sickly, elderly neighbor. We woke up to the entire police force passing by our house, including this massive RV…then the coroner’s car with the lights on…then the entire media universe. [Christmas Eve Massacre leaves 9 dead in Covina](http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_11311463) [Santa gunman was in bitter divorce, lost job](http://my.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20081226/495464d0_3ca6_15526200812261701675540) _takes a sanity-regaining breath_ Mods, I do not live on this street. I’m a half block away, but not on Knollwood where this happened. Hopefully that’s enough to maintain sufficient anonymity. We got in the car early Christmas morning to drive to my parents for the day’s festivities and hear three were dead. We were shocked, and sickened. As the day wore on, the body count rose–and the story worsened. Nine are confirmed dead now–many too charred to yet identify. This unspeakably selfish, twisted FUCK dressed up as Santa. A neighbor, see, used to do that every year and show up at parties. He’s since moved away. This fuckwad knocked on the door. You know what had to have happened, right? “Oh look everyone, he came back for the party this year! Look, sweetie, Santa’s here! Why don’t you answer the door?” So the little excited 8yro girl ran to the door, opened it and greeted Santa–who pulled out a handgun and shot her _in the face_ (stunningly, she’s expected to recover). Then he shoots a dozen more, killing nine, and reduces the two-story home to ashes. FUCK YOU, Bruce Pardo. Fuck you that the world knows YOUR name. I don’t and didn’t need to know it, and I fucking hate that I do. I don’t fucking CARE how bad your divorce is, I don’t care you lost your job, I don’t care your mom lost her house in the Sylmar fire. _You planned this out_. You made your OWN fucking flamethrower–that takes time–and your drove all the way from Montrose to do this. You were going to run off to Canada, eh? What a fucking SHAME you got third degree burns. Bet they hurt like a motherfucker. Not badly enough. Suicide is too fucking good for you. Ten kids have been orphaned. FUCK YOU. How fucking creepy is it to see _your own neighborhood_ leading the evening news…the street where you frequently take your family on pleasant afternoon walks instead trod upon by a national news reporter talking about your neighborhood’s demographics, interviewing _your_ traumatized neighbors, showing footage of _your_ community in flames. My city, and even closer my community, is now the infamous “Covina Christmas Massacre.” FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU helicopters constantly buzzing overhead. FUCK YOU that _we’re_ traumatized. _We’ll_ be fine–we weren’t _there_. We weren’t ruined the way so many lives were. We just got a fucking front row seat. I think I’m going to be sick. _Fuck_. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/2 "2008-12-27T04:43:41Z")
I just kept nodding as I read the post. There’s very little I can add, except… thanks a whole lot to the media for publishing the exact freaking address so everyone in the world can know precisely where this slaughterhouse is. I’m already getting calls from people thousands of miles away asking “WHAT’S GOING ON OUT THERE??” I wish this guy had just blown himself away instead of taking nine-plus people with him. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/3 "2008-12-27T04:50:36Z")
This is right out of a bad horror movie. Santa Claus shooting an 8 year-old kid in the face? There are not enough WTFs for that. ---
**Author:** ![Convict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Convict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Convict)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/4 "2008-12-27T05:02:59Z")
As someone who was a student at Northern Illinois University last Feb. 14 I know exactly how you feel. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/5 "2008-12-27T05:21:58Z")
Not to get all “my penis is bigger than yours” or anything but… actually you know what? Never mind. I’ll just say that I think you are way overreacting and leave it at that. Oh, and a quick “It didn’t have anything to do with you so why are you taking it so personally?” but now I’m done. > [@Frostillicus](#): > > Santa Claus shooting an 8 year-old kid in the face? Clearly she was on the naughty list. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/6 "2008-12-27T05:31:54Z")
> [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > I’ll just say that I think you are way overreacting and leave it at that. Same here. According to media sources, this guy went through a bitter divorce, lost his job, and wasn’t even eligible for unemployment. No wonder he snapped. If you must Pit anyone, Pit the circumstances that led to this desperate act. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/7 "2008-12-27T05:42:18Z")
I’ve known many people in horrible, desperate situations who managed to get out of it without bloodshed. People who make this guy’s life look like a balmy vacation. So I’ll blame the guy who shot an eight year old in the face, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/8 "2008-12-27T05:45:25Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > According to media sources, this guy went through a bitter divorce, lost his job, and wasn’t even eligible for unemployment. No wonder he snapped. Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Lots of people go through really bad things in their lives, but the vast majority of them don’t kill anyone. Robbing a bank because you lost your job and can’t get unemployment is a desperate act. Murdering 9 people and shooting a little girl in the face while wearing a Santa suit is insane. And if you think his circumstances make that acceptable or even understandable, so are you. You’re basically telling the OP to get some perspective–which I agree he should–but you don’t even have the vaguest notion of what perspective is, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/9 "2008-12-27T05:50:44Z")
This might be view as RO to an extent, but it’s a horrible event and the OP lives in the neighborhood. Why exactly is it an overreaction? **KGS** , fuck that shit. I don’t give a fuck what happens to you or anyone, there’s no justification on this planet for taking nine lives. Someone tries to kill you and you kill them first? I can see that. Shooting a eight-year-old in the face? Again, blow your own head off if you must, but leave the innocent kid out of it. Maybe they’re getting more ink nowadays, but the mass murder-suicide by gun is the hottest middle finger that narcissists take on their way out of the game of life. People lose jobs, have shitty things happen in their personal lives, and have to pick up the pieces somehow. I don’t want to hear how tough they have it. Kill yourself if you must, but leave others out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/10 "2008-12-27T05:51:39Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Same here. > > According to media sources, this guy went through a bitter divorce, lost his job, and wasn’t even eligible for unemployment. No wonder he snapped. > > If you must Pit anyone, Pit the circumstances that led to this desperate act. Fuck that shit. He murdered multiple people while dressed as Santa, toting a homemade flamethrower, and packing thousands of dollars in cash to go to Canada. The only reason we are spared a trial is that the fucker burned himself and suicided at his brother’s house. This was pre-meditated mass-murder, with a pre-planned escape and a trapped car of evidence - not some bit of road rage on a bad day. Fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/11 "2008-12-27T05:58:55Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > If you must Pit anyone, Pit the circumstances that led to this desperate act. This is not what I was getting at. I think it’s pretty disgusting that a guy would take out 9 people because his marriage failed. Killing the ex-wife… maybe. Not something I would condone or be sympathetic to, obviously, but at least understandable given the situation. Taking out a bunch of guests at a Christmas party? That’s just stupid and unnecessary. My point was not that this crime isn’t heinous or that the guy should get a break because his life has been difficult lately, it’s that it was a specifically targeted attack and, because of that, nobody who wasn’t inside that house was in any particular danger. Given that, I think Ruffian’s cries of “OMG, it was MY NEIGHBORHOOD and we’re all so TRAUMATIZED!” are a bit of an overreaction and, frankly, a little ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/12 "2008-12-27T06:10:45Z")
> [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > This is not what I was getting at. I think it’s pretty disgusting that a guy would take out 9 people because his marriage failed. Killing the ex-wife… maybe. Not something I would condone or be sympathetic to, obviously, but at least understandable given the situation. Taking out a bunch of guests at a Christmas party? That’s just stupid and unnecessary. My point was not that this crime isn’t heinous or that the guy should get a break because his life has been difficult lately, it’s that it was a specifically targeted attack and, because of that, nobody who wasn’t inside that house was in any particular danger. Given that, I think Ruffian’s cries of “OMG, it was MY NEIGHBORHOOD and we’re all so TRAUMATIZED!” are a bit of an overreaction and, frankly, a little ridiculous. I think that’s a callous reaction. First, I find your choice of words rather odd. You think it’s “understandable” that a guy would kill his ex-wife? I think maybe you’re getting at that it’s not unusual that the target for a murder would be a former spouse; that I get. Murdering people at a party isn’t simply “stupid and unnecessary,” it’s pure fucking evil. This wasn’t a drug dealer shooting the gangbanger who stole his stash. It sounds like three of the victims were actually his ex-wife and her parents. The rest were friends and neighbors at a holiday party, for fuck’s sake. I’m going to give **Ruffian** a pass because having horrible shit happen near you is traumatic and he/she is probably processing a number of overwhelming feelings now. You might handle it differently, but I see nothing wrong with expressing oneself on a message board as part of the process. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/13 "2008-12-27T06:10:50Z")
With all due respect, **Silver Fire** , but you don’t know what you’re talking about. If something that bloody tragic happened to your neighbors and you were inundated with the horror of the aftermath so close by, I’ll bet you’d be pretty shaken, too. People who witness tragedy can be deeply affected by it. Take care of yourself, **Ruffian**. Give **DeathLlama** a hug and kiss your baby and try to have a relaxing weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/14 "2008-12-27T06:41:48Z")
With equal respect, Shayna, you know absolutely nothing about my life and for you to sit here and tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about with absolutely nothing to base that on is fucking laughable. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/15 "2008-12-27T06:43:59Z")
> [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > Clearly she was on the naughty list. Wow, Your a fucking cunt. You make light of a child getting shot in the face? What if it were your child? Or niece? Or nephew? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/16 "2008-12-27T06:51:26Z")
Well go right on laughing, Silver Fire, but **based on your own words** and your dismissal of **Ruffian’s** reaction, it’s absolutely clear that you have no clue about trauma and its effects. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/17 "2008-12-27T06:55:53Z")
Thanks, Shayna. We’re just shaken, which is thankfully nothing. Yeah, perspective is a useful thing, and when in the midst of a rant, it can be lacking. I’m pissed at myself for being upset, which I briefly mentioned at the end of the OP. I feel I have no right to be in an objective sense; I don’t want pity, or condolences, or prayers because _we_ don’t need them. We’re fine, just unnerved, but still…we’re fine. I’d like to see about doing something as a community to help out as many affected as we can. I don’t know what we can do, and I certainly don’t want to try and do anything _now_, but maybe I can start talking with neighbors about doing…_some_thing. But what? Gah. Raise money for the orphaned kids maybe as a start? If you’ve got some experience with such situations or ideas on what can be tastefully, supportively done, I’m open. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/18 "2008-12-27T07:00:05Z")
Words fucking fail me. Ya know when people hurt or kill children my heart breaks. Adults maybe have a chance to defend themselves. Children can’t . And for an adult to make a flip remark about a child being shot in the face… Shame on you. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/19 "2008-12-27T07:13:53Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > Wow, Your a fucking cunt. > > You make light of a child getting shot in the face? What if it were your child? Or niece? Or nephew? Shit. Color me cunty, because I chuckled at that. Silver Fire is rubbing me a bit funny in this thread. I think I see where he is coming from, but then he words it in ways that seem a smidge disturbing to me. But, I think it is a bit strange to start a pit thread and expect only “kiss your baby and hug your wife…”…Not saying that the OP expected that. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/20 "2008-12-27T07:16:10Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Lots of people go through really bad things in their lives, but the vast majority of them don’t kill anyone. Robbing a bank because you lost your job and can’t get unemployment is a desperate act. Murdering 9 people and shooting a little girl in the face while wearing a Santa suit is insane. Clearly, this guy had issues. From what I can gather, he had a history of unstable relationships, and his career path seems a bit sketchy. He had a daughter from a previous relationship who nearly drowned, and became physically disabled as a result. Ergo, everything he touched turned to shit. That’s a tough inner daemon to battle – especially when everyone tells you to just grow up and deal with it. > [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > **KGS** , fuck that shit. I don’t give a fuck what happens to you or anyone, there’s no justification on this planet for taking nine lives. Someone tries to kill you and you kill them first? I can see that. Shooting a eight-year-old in the face? Again, blow your own head off if you must, but leave the innocent kid out of it. > > Maybe they’re getting more ink nowadays, but the mass murder-suicide by gun is the hottest middle finger that narcissists take on their way out of the game of life. Narcissists are attention-seekers by nature, no doubt about that. And he sure got people’s attention! Maybe if people had paid him more attention beforehand, this tragedy could have been averted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811.md?page=2)