as I could about the incident and all I could find were spotty bits of comments made by officials, some of which is wrong info left over from yesterday. It seems that the shooting must have taken a good twenty minutes or so given that one teacher, at least, was able to get her class into a safe place and read them a story during the shooting. It also seems that the shooter may have gone back out to his vehicle and put the rifle in the car's trunk before dispatching himself since there was only the one rifle mentioned and two pistols. It would appear that he used to pistol on himself since the pistols were found in the school but all the victims were shot with the rifle, according to the ME, and all had at least three wounds each. So whatever the capability of the rifle, he was able to get several rounds into each victim... all without anyone being able to stop him. Those who did try to stop him were said to have lunged at him, that being the principal and the psychologist who both were killed in the action.
Now this perp had had target practice sessions with his mom and seems to have been pretty familiar with the guns. According to reports to date, she was quite an enthusiast and had a small arsenal in her home.
Given that the rifle was found in the car, according to all the reports so far, he must have gone back to the car at some point and may have returned to the building since his body was found inside.
I have personally fired automatic and semi automatic firearms and I do know that there is a "trigger set" to accommodate the amount of pressure that would be needed to induce the firing action... and some of those were pretty hard to fire a single round at a time with. The rifle is a much easier thing to use for accuracy so it is probably why that was used on all but himself.
What I don't get is why this 20 year old was dealing with an elementary school that his mother never worked at and what a possible altercation there could have been about. One report claims his mother took him out of the public schools because she didn't like something about their "plans for him". The mother may have been a problem...? But if he was 20... the whole thing sounds incomprehensible... could he have been seeking a job there...?
Sorry if this sounds too gruesome for many, I'm sure it is and I found it hard to get through all those reports as I was in tears but the conversation about the kind of guns used at the scene, their capabilities and on whom they were used was getting to me. Being somewhat experienced in the use of a variety of firearms, I thought I would go looking for facts and try to reason out some of the gaps in the stories. This is what I have come to find so far.
Personal disclaimer: Once upon a time, decades ago, I was married to a gun enthusiast but left them for reasons related to their guns, and though they bought some for me which I still have, they haven't been out of the locked case in years. I am not a member nor a fan of the NRA and don't have much to do with folks who actively use their guns... because I don't approve of the gun culture we now have in this country. I would sell the guns, I could use the money, except that if I sell them they won't be out of use/retired. So they stay in the locked place where they aren't given much thought and haven't seen daylight in a number of years. About once in ten years I might pull them out to look at and to remind myself why I don't use them even for target practice.
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Grrrrrrrr
