Six people shot in Seattle

[MrScorpio]

Nothing on CNN yet

[BeyondGeography]

1. here 's a link

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/archives/222418.asp?from=blog_last3

[MrScorpio]

4. Thanks nt

[Bitwit1234]

2. Palin probably giggled and they had to broadcast that first

[DJ13]

3. Police were looking for a 61-year-old Asian woman wearing a white shirt and gray sweatpants

Thats unusual.

[pscot]

6. Very strange

Old ladies seldom shoot each other.

[slackmaster]

9. 61 is not "old"

[valerief]

5. A lot of shootings. Just like in the Contract On America 90s. nt

[ManiacJoe]

7. Update: 4 dead (including the shooter) in a domestic

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012980349_shooting24m.html

[maxsolomon]

8. Amoklauf, again.

mental illness + handguns = multiple deaths.

the next mass killing is only a matter of time - likely days from now, maybe as long as a month. but it's coming. the location in america is random.

[slackmaster]

10. Not random

If it were random, the probability of it happening at any particular place would be equal.

It's far more likely to happen where a mentally unstable person is present, than where there is no such person.

[Canuckistanian]

11. Which seems to be totally random

Where's the NEXT serial killer coming from? Boise, Idaho or Chicago, Ill.? Are there some places where "mentally unstable" people congregate?

Can you really predict?

[slackmaster]

13. Distribution of mental illness is certainly not uniform

It's positively correlated with population density.

I suspect that it's positively correlated with things like poverty and unemployment.

[Canuckistanian]

15. Yes, and there are thousands of areas of high population densities

And they're fairly evenly spread across America.

So, again, I ask - can you predict?

[slackmaster]

16. Evenly spread?!?!?

Most of the USA is rural. A lot of it is empty, or nearly so.

So, again, I ask - can you predict?

Nobody can make a specific prediction about that kind of incident. But that doesn't mean they happen purely random.

[maxsolomon]

12. can you map the distribution of the mentally ill?

assuming they're distributed evenly through the population, then the likelyhood of an Amoklauf shooting would be greater where there are greater concentrations of people: namely, urban centers.

then you have to factor in average gun ownership rates in particular urban centers.

but what urban center, and when - that seems random to me.

[slackmaster]

14. I don't believe it's evenly distributed through the population

I believe there are predisposing factors that are not evenly distributed.

then you have to factor in average gun ownership rates in particular urban centers.

but what urban center, and when - that seems random to me.

Gun ownership rates per person are lower in urban centers, and I believe not all urban centers have similar rates of off-the-deep-end crazy violent crime.

How often does this kind of thing happen in Boulder, Colorado compared with Detroit or Miami?