Another school shooting in the USA by a lunatic with three guns > 19 shot, mostly children, two kids dead; Shooter ID'd as trans, former student

 

Is it just too easy for a nut job to get a gun, or three, in the USA? 

19 Shot at Catholic Church in Minnesota: Officials

Two children were killed and 17 other people were injured at a Catholic church and school in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, officials said.

A man opened fire from outside the building as children attended Mass at Annunciation Church and School just before 8:30 a.m., Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters during a briefing.

Bullets struck 19 people, including 14 children. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed. Two other children are in critical condition.

The shooter killed himself in the rear of the church, O'Hara said. All or most of the shots were fired from outside, he added.

“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children, and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” the police chief said.

O'Hara declined to release details about the man beyond saying he was in his early 20s and used a rifle, shotgun, and pistol.

Officers are searching the man’s vehicle and plan additional searches related to the incident, officials said.

Annunciation Church runs a school for students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school year started on Monday.

Officers on the scene included personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was briefed on the shooting.

“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene,” he said. “The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said on X that he was briefed on the shooting.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said during the briefing: “There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act. Children are dead. There are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.”

The shooting took place after a series of others in the city this week, including one on Tuesday afternoon that left one person dead and six injured. The shooting on Wednesday appeared unrelated to the other shootings, according to the police.

The madness of transgenderism leads to a massacre in Minneapolis

Minneapolis shooting suspect identified as Robin Westman who was former student at Catholic school:

The Epoch Times

The shooter who opened fire at a church on the south side of Minneapolis on Wednesday morning has been identified.

Law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that Robin Westman attacked the church, adjacent to Annunciation Catholic School, as school children were celebrating Mass at the start of the academic year. Westman once attended the school.

The assailant, Robin Westman, formerly Robert, whose name was legally changed after identifying as a woman, opened fire from outside the church, using a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, to fire through the stained-glass windows after barricading some of the doors. - The Independent

Authorities have confirmed that two children were killed and 17 others were injured, 14 of them children, two of whom are in critical condition. A witness from inside the church said the shooter “pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots.”

The shooter was described as a man in his early twenties, dressed all in black and armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol. No motive is known at this time, and he took his own life.

President Donald Trump has offered condolences to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

A distraught Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey rejected offers of “thoughts and prayers,” saying at a press conference: “You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of the situation.”

FBI Director Kash Patel says the attack is being investigated as domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.

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Locked and Loaded? > Now this changes everything - School shooter's parents go to prison

 

Ethan Crumbley’s parents sentenced to up

to 15 years for son’s fatal school shooting

By 

Social Links forPriscilla DeGregory

Published April 9, 2024

 Updated April 9, 2024, 1:44 p.m. ET

Ethan Crumbley’s parents were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years behind bars Tuesday for their son’s 2021 massacre that left four students dead — the first time parents have been sentenced in a US mass school shooting.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were handed down the prison time by Judge Cheryl Matthews in a Pontiac, Michigan courtroom after they were found guilty on involuntary manslaughter charges at separate trials in March and February, respectively.

“These convictions are not about poor parenting, these convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train, about repeatedly ignoring things that would make a reasonable person feel the hair on the back of their neck stand up,” Matthews said before announcing the sentences.

The convictions are the first time in US history parents have been held accountable for a school shooting carried out by their child.

If you have a gift of discernment
you may see more than just
Ethan Crumbley

They were convicted for failing to intervene despite obvious warning signs their son was troubled and for failing to keep a gun locked away in their home.

The judge blamed Jennifer for glorifying owning guns and for her “dispassionate and apathetic” attitude toward Ethan.

“Each of the defendants’ gross negligence has caused unimaginable suffering to hundreds of others,” the judge said.

Prosecutors had asked Judge Matthews to put James, 47, and Jennifer, 46, away for at least 10 years for the rampage that killed four students, injured six more and also injured a teacher at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021.

Both parents, who’ve been locked up for the two-and-a-half-years since their arrests, asked for no additional prison time. Jennifer requested she be released with GPS tracking to live with her lawyer.

Speaking before the sentencing, Jennifer — wearing black and white jail clothes — was allowed to address the court, where she said she had found god and claimed she had no idea what her son was capable of.

But, don't you think you should have?

She said: “The gravity and weight this has taken on my heart and soul cannot be expressed in words, just as I know there is nothing I can say to ease the pain and suffering of the victims and their families.

“If I even thought my son would be capable of crimes like these, my actions would have absolutely been different …He was not the son I knew when I woke up on Nov. 30. The Ethan I knew was a good quiet kid.”

James — wearing orange jail scrubs — was also given an opportunity to speak from the defense table where he emotionally apologized for the “pain and agony” his son had caused.

“Part of you will be missing forever but please know I am truly very sorry. I am sorry for your loss as a result of what my son did. I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen.

The case against Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents

• Ethan Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer, have each been sentenced to between 10 and 15 years behind bars in a Michigan court in their son’s 2021 school shooting, which left four dead and six injured.
• They are now the first parents in the nation’s history to be convicted of manslaughter in a school shooting carried out by their child. Both were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter charges at separate trials in March and February.
• The couple faced prison for failing to intervene despite obvious warning signs their son was troubled.
• Prosecutors told jurors James failed to intervene despite his teen son’s unstable mental state, even neglecting to lock up the semi-automatic handgun the dad bought for Ethan as a Christmas presen before the shooting.
• James was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and Jennifer was found guilty in February after jurors found her to be an unreliable witness.
• In September 2023, Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the deaths of Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Tate Myre, 16.

“You know that what my son did. I was not aware of that or that he was planning it or that he obtained access to the firearms in my house, there is no evidence that suggested that,” he said.

Addressing Judge Matthews, he added: “I’m simply going to ask that you sentence me in a fair and just way.”

Before the Crumbley parents spoke, family members of the slain students — Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Tate Myre, 16 — told the judge about the devastating toll the shooting has had on their lives. 

Baldwin’s mom, Nicole Beausoleil, through tears said she wishes she could have taken “the bullet that day so [Madisyn] can continue living the life she deserves.”

“You failed as parents,” Beausoleil said to the Crumbleys. “The punishment that you face will never be enough, it will never bring her back.”

Shilling’s parents, Jill Soave and Hank Shilling, both asked Matthews to impose the maximum sentence possible for the agony the Crumbleys caused them.

“The blood of our children is on your hands too,” Hank Shilling said to the two Crumbleys.

And St. Juliani’s older sister, Reina blasted the Crumbleys for failing as parents and for causing the victims’ “everlasting nightmare.”

“Instead of giving quality time and compassion, you gift your son a gun,” Reina said.

Reina and Hana’s dad, Steve St. Juliania said his daughter’s murder “has destroyed a large portion of my very soul.”

At their trials, jurors heard testimony about how the parents went to the school the day of the shooting to discuss a violent drawing found on Ethan’s math assignment with officials. The pictures showed a gun, a bullet and a person bleeding with the words, “Blood everywhere,” and “The thoughts won’t stop — help me.”

But James and Jennifer didn’t take Ethan, then 15, out of school that day, instead returning to work after the school gave them list of mental health services, according to trial testimony.

Staffers didn’t insist Ethan be removed from school grounds but they also weren’t aware that the parents had bought their son a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun only four days earlier, which looked like the gun in Ethan’s drawing, jurors learned at trial.

Ethan, now 17, copped to murder and terrorism charges and is serving a term of life imprisonment without parole.

Corruption is Everywhere > Apparently, even in the NRA

 

The powerful lobby for gun makers and sellers seems to be coming apart at the seams.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre resigns amid trial

over misuse of funds

By Chris Benson & mark moran

 

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre speaks at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. He announced his resignation on Friday. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Embattled NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre announced his resignation Friday as a trial gets underway in New York accusing him and other executives of using funds from the gun right's organization as a "personal piggy bank."

"With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA," LaPierre said in a statement released by the NRA. "I've been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever."

NRA President Charles Cotton said he accepted LaPierre's resignation during the organization's board meeting in Irving, Texas.

Just ahead of La Pierre's corruption trial, set to begin Monday, the NRA's former top executive , Joshua Powell, has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay $100,000 for his wrongdoing.

Powell's announcement came from the New York state attorney general's office on Friday the same day that NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, 74, announced his resignation from the organization after more than thirty years.

"Joshua Powell's admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre's resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

Opening arguments are scheduled for Monday in James' 2020 lawsuit accusing LaPierre and three other NRA leaders of using the nonprofit's funds as a "personal piggy bank" to pay for expensive trips and other lavish items. Jury selection began this week.

The state's complaint cites "dozens of examples where the four individual defendants failed to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the NRA and used millions upon millions from NRA reserves for personal use, including trips for them and their families to the Bahamas, private jets, expensive meals, and other private travel."

James seeks the ouster of LaPierre and the three others -- Wilson Phillips, John Frazer and Joshua Powell.

In January 2021, the NRA attempted to file for bankruptcy, but a federal judge in Texas dismissed the request four months later.

Repeated attempts to throw out New York's legal charges ultimately failed. The NRA claimed the charges against them were politically motivated by James, a Democrat, and her office.

"The trial will rest on the merits rather than a war of words between the NRA and the New York attorney general," Judge Joel Cohen said in a June 2023 ruling against the NRA claim the lawsuit was politically charged.

The recent Dec. 28 ruling upheld by the New York Court of Appeals said the NRA trial was able to go on and that James' office was justified in its pursuit due to "ample evidence of malfeasance" in a "lengthy, detailed complaint" by the state's Attorney General.

The decision said the state "showed as a matter of law that it had probable cause to investigate and sue the NRA." Notably, the ruling went on to add the NRA failed to "affirmatively argue that the NYAG lacked probable cause" to pursue legal charges.

In the civil lawsuit, James has accused top NRA leaders of misusing more than $64 million in cash donated by gun owners.

LaPierre and others are accused of using the money to pay for private jets, lavish vacations, and to pay friends and allies for jobs that didn't exist. Powell was previously named as one of five defendants; the trial against four remaining defendants is expected to go forward as scheduled.

LaPierre and the NRA have denied any wrongdoing.

A 2023 Pew Research Center study suggests 6 in 10 adults believe gun violence is a significant problem in the United States, a 9-point increase from 2022. For decades the NRA has spent tens of millions of dollars to elect candidates who support gun rights, and on aggressive lobbying efforts in opposition to gun control measures and legislation.

Since 2018, reportedly over 1 million members have fled NRA rank-and-file yet the organization reported the same year it was still 6 million members strong. But LaPierre went on to state in a 2021 legal deposition NRA membership was under 4.9 million. In addition, CBS reported NRA revenue saw a 23% drop in 2020 -- the year the NRA lawsuit first began -- from $367 million in 2016 down to $282 million.

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Terror on Repeat > A rare look at the destructive power of the AR15 in America

Truth is a curious thing. It can't be found by looking at only one side of an argument, both sides must be considered and both parties must be willing to consider that their view might not be 100% correct. Without the willingness to be wrong on an issue, you can never be totally right.

What did the forefathers have in mind when they wrote the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution? In today's volatile environment, the 2nd Amendment is more important today than ever before. But did the forefathers have AR15s in mind? Of course not! They had single-shot weapons and probably could have never imagined the destructive firepower of today's popular weapons. Nevertheless, if the government turns against its own people, they will have superior firepower regardless. 

This is the quandary? How do we protect our children from massacres by mad gun owners and, at the same time, protect them from the possibility of a mad government? First, let's look at some of the facts in the in-depth article in the Washington Post, bearing in mind that WaPo is hopelessly far-left liberal, like most other American media:

TERROR ON REPEAT

A rare look at the devastation caused by AR-15 shootings

By Silvia Foster-Frau, N. Kirkpatrick and Arelis R. Hernández;  Nov. 16 at 6:00 a.m.

Mass shootings involving AR-15s have become a recurring American nightmare.

The weapon, easy to operate and widely available, is now used more than any other in the country’s deadliest mass killings.

Fired by the dozens or hundreds in rapid succession, bullets from AR-15s have blasted through classroom doors and walls. They have shredded theater seats and splintered wooden church pews. They have mangled human bodies and, in a matter of seconds, shattered the lives of people attending a concert, shopping on a Saturday afternoon, going out with friends and family, working in their offices and worshiping at church and synagogue. They have killed first-graders, teenagers, mothers, fathers and grandparents.

But the full effects of the AR-15’s destructive force are rarely seen in public.

AMERICAN ICON

A series examining the AR-15, a weapon with a singular hold on a divided nation

More stories

Press Enter to skip to end of carousel

What does an AR-15 do to a human body? A visual examination of the deadly damage.

A letter from Executive Editor Sally Buzbee on the AR-15 series

Decades of marketing reinvented the AR-15 into a top-selling firearm

Sutherland Springs survivors haunted by an AR-15's carnage, trauma

Magazine restrictions could reduce mass killings by AR-15s, but courts must decide

The AR-15's impact in America: Here's what The Post's examination found

Why do people own AR-15s? 33% of owners cited self-defense, poll finds

Gunmakers' growth in red states marks a divide on weapons like the AR-15

Armed with AR-15s, extremist and militia groups anticipate civil unrest

As guns saturate the United States, police turn to the AR-15

How the AR-15 became a powerful political, cultural symbol in America

Why are we showing graphic AR-15 content? A letter from the executive editor.

The Louisville bank shooter bought a gun despite struggles with mental health

End of carousel

About the terminology  

The impact is often shielded by laws and court rulings that keep crime scene photos and records secret. Journalists do not typically have access to the sites of shootings to document them. Even when photographs are available, news organizations generally do not publish them, out of concern about potentially dehumanizing victims or retraumatizing their families.

Now, drawing on an extensive review of photographs, videos and police investigative files from 11 mass killings between 2012 and 2023, The Washington Post is publishing the most comprehensive account to date of the repeating pattern of destruction wrought by the AR-15 — a weapon that was originally designed for military combat but has in recent years become one of the best-selling firearms on the U.S. market.

This piece includes never-before-released pictures taken by law enforcement officials after shootings inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., in 2022, and the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., in 2017, that were obtained by The Post. It is also based on Post interviews with survivors and first responders from multiple shootings as well as transcripts of official testimony provided by law enforcement officials who were among the first to witness the carnage. Read a note here from the executive editor about how The Post decided what to publish and why.

The review lays bare how the AR-15, a weapon that has soared in popularity over the past two decades as a beloved tool for hunting, target practice and self-defense, has also given assailants the power to instantly turn everyday American gathering places into zones of gruesome violence.

This is an oral history told in three parts that follows the chronological order of a typical AR-15 mass shooting. It weaves together pictures, videos and the recollections of people who endured different tragedies but have similar stories to tell.

Now, Go to WaPo for the article:

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