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Subscribe to RSSMore victims of last week's Aurora movie theater shootings were laid to rest Saturday. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Funerals were held Saturday for three of the Colorado shooting victims -- Matt McQuinn, who shielded his girlfriend, aspiring sportscaster Jessica Ghawi and Navy Intelligence Officer John Larimer.
Mourners packed a church in McQuinn's hometown of Springfield, Ohio, the same morning that others came together in San Antonio to remember Ghawi. Other victims' funerals were held earlier this week, and more are set for next week.
When gunfire broke out in the Aurora, Colo., theater, McQuinn, 27, dove in front of his girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, and was shot three times.
Yowler, who was shot in the knee and survived, arrived at McQuinn's funeral on crutches and wept quietly with his parents and other family during the funeral. Neither she nor his parents addressed Maiden Lane Church of God.
Pastor Herb Shaffer, who is also McQuinn's uncle, said his nephew had been a gift to his family since he was born and that his actions in Colorado were just one example of his selflessness.
Marshall Gorby / Springfield News-Sun via AP
Samantha Yowler, second from right, is comforted at the casket of Matt McQuinn on Saturday at the Maiden Lane Church of God in Springfield, Ohio.
He spoke of how McQuinn called his mother three times the day before she had surgery because he was upset that he couldn't be there in person and wanted to make sure she was OK.
Then he talked about McQuinn's greatest sacrifice of all, saving Yowler, whom Shaffer described as his nephew's best friend and the love of his life.
"In moments of crisis, true character comes out," he said. "His immediate response was to protect the woman he loved."
The Springfield News-Sun reported Shaffer at one point noted that, as a young man, his nephew sometimes dressed in a way that "made you want to cross to the other side of the street. But then he opened up his mouth, and he couldn’t betray who he was."
There was "never any malice," he added, only "a contagious enjoyment of life".
Mourners at Ghawi's funeral also touched briefly on the massacre.
"If this coward could have done this with this much hate, imagine what we can do with this much love," her brother told mourners.
But most of the service focused on the life and energy of the aspiring sports journalist.
"What we will not do today is focus on how she left us," said Peter Burns, a friend from Colorado, reading a statement from Ghawi's mother, Sandy. "Jess was a force to be reckoned with. She was a jolt of lightning. A whirlwind. A Labrador puppy running clumsily with innocent joy."
NBC News' Kate Snow profiles Jessica Ghawi.
Ghawi's boyfriend, Jay Meloff, note that others described her as "a tough, redheaded spitfire," and she was, but that he also saw "a beautiful, warm-hearted and passionate woman with a capacity for love. ... She was as mushy as they come."
Large screens in the church played a video that has gone viral in the past week showing Ghawi repeatedly falling down as she walked onto an ice rink wearing high heels to interview a hockey player as an intern for San Antonio sportsradio station KTKR.
Formal charges are expected to be filed in court on Monday against alleged Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes.
Ghawi, 24, had survived a June 2 shooting at a Toronto mall that left two dead and several wounded. She blogged about the experience, writing that it reminded her "how fragile life was."
A private funeral was held for Larimer, 27, whose body returned home from Colorado Thursday. Members of the Illinois Old Guard, the Warriors' Watch Riders and the Illinois Patriot Guard escorted hearses from O'Hare International Airport to Davenport Family Funeral Home. On Saturday flags lined the funeral home's sidewalks and entrance where friends and family hugged each other and wiped away tears, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The Crystal Lake South High School alum joined the Navy eight years after high school graduation and was stationed in Colorado.
Larimer was at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora Friday with his shipmates and girlfriend, Algonquin native Julia Vojtsek.
James Holmes, a 24-year-old former doctoral student studying neuroscience, is accused of opening fire on the theater, killing McQuinn, Ghawi and 10 others, and wounding 58. He is due to be formally charged Monday in Colorado.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Let's hold a funeral for the shooter...bury him alive!
I agree.
God bless all the families. Give them what peace you can.
Wish the media would quit posting the cowards photo and just let us know when the trial starts.
I know that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, yada yada yada, but in cases like this, I'm all for taking these cowardly bastards out with a bullet right there on the spot. Their victims aren't given any compassion, so they should be treated in a similar manner. No media circus; no costly dragged out trial which causes prolonged grief for the victim's families; no self serving political maneuvering. One minute, and one bullet and it's over.
James Holmes is one of The Mentally Ill. He needs treatment, not punishment. A civilized society does not punish people for being sick.
@mcbarker:
You have no business living in America if you believe in that kind of thing. Move to Afghanistan. The Taliban would love you-- until it was your turn to be judged in the manner that you have prescribed.
Good idea, let's let him go to Taliban for punishment.
Shandril...I believe That Your Insane....You have a Severe Case of Liberalism....Did You Realize that Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder? That Is The Only possible explanation for you believing that a Murderer who was caught red handed needs treatment rather than a bullet to his F--king Head. No Dummy, The Taliban Would Love You for being so Ignorant and then when You would least expect it they would cut off your Liberal Head too. You Have No business living in America...You are one Sick Daughter of a Bitch and a Civilized Society Will Make an example out of this Murderer and make him Pay with his life in a very quick fashion called Justice. Shandril....you are a very sick person, please get help before you have an opportunity to spread that Mental Disorder you have called Liberalism to other young and naive people. Don't respond to this Post Until You Get Real help from a Real psychiatrist.
@Trocard:
I suggest that you sign up for anger management classes and turn your guns over to the police before you make that appointment with a shrink that you so desperately need to see.
By the way, Why Do you Capitalize so Many words? Based on your lack of education, I find it rather disturbing to think that you might actually own a gun.
TROCARD, you are the one who is seriously mentally ill. Do you realize that it is a REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA to put deadly weapons in the hands of mentally ill people and that you gun nuts are morally responsible for this massacre?!?
News flash, the shooter is probably never even going to stand trial because he is very clearly insane. You on the other hand are probably technically 'sane' enough to stand trial for supporting the incredibly weak gun laws that allowed a clearly mentally ill man to get his hands on a deadly weapon and gun down a record 70 people in less than 10 minutes.
What the #%$! DID YOU THINK he was gonna do with a firearm? He's MENTALLY ILL. And he's probably never even going to finish out a trial because he's clearly not mentally responsible for his actions.
This is no different than the case of the mentally ill guy at Virginia Tech who got his hands on firearms because of your incredibly weak stupid gun laws and slaughtered 32 people before outsmarting your "justice" system by killing himself. How do you plan to "hold him responsible", dig up his rotting body and shoot it a few times?
You Americans are really slow learners, aren't you? How many times does this have to keep happening to you before somebody finally goes "Gee, maybe we shouldn't sell guns to every insane person who wants one"? You never, ever learn anything from these incidents, so of course they keep right on happening.
Not that I really want to get involved between the three of you above here (Trocard, Shandril, and Willy_Wonka) but the real problem here is that where in the hell did this pathetic piece of what is supposed to be a human being get 6,000 rounds of ammunition from as well as ballistic armor and a tactical vest. And if the ban against Assault Weapons had not been allowed to expire in 2009 under President Bush, this "mentally ill" individual would not have been able to go to a Gander Mountain store and purchase one in the first place. I consider myself an "Independent" I am liberal on some issues and conservative on others, so please don't label me as having a mental disorder because I do take a more liberal stance on gun control issues. However, I wish the first units that responded would have simply shot him dead on the spot. And they would have been completely justified in the shooting. He was heavily armed and in full tactical gear the same as a SWAT officer. It would have saved the tax payor a bunch of money, because by the time this man ever gets to trial, he will cost the state of Colorado millions of dollars and he is not worth a dime of it. He would no longer have his picture posted on news media outlets so the familes and victims could cntinue to see his face, and families could grieve their loss knowing they would not have to continue to hear his name and listen to what may be years of pre-trial motions and psych evals before he can even stand trial. And there is my conservative view coming out.
He can't claim mental incompetency, he had the mental capabilities to rig his apartment with sophisticated ballistics and explosives and meticulously plan and perpetrate his killing spree which was time coordinated. He is not just a mentally ill person who needs psychiatric care and is incapable of making decisions or meeting his own abilities to live, he specifically choose his actions, carefully planning weeks in advance his actions. He did not just "snap" one day. He planned his actions with precise timing and accuracy. He is evil to the core and justice would have been best served if he had made one aggressive move behind the theater when police arrived so they could have taken him out, just like he did to a theater full of innocent victims.
@Shandril
You're either a troll trying to stir up the natives, or you're someone who is compassionate to the point of insanity. Holmes is clearly insane, and will serve no useful purpose in this society (or any other for that matter). If he is ever released from whatever mental institution they decide to send him to, he will continue to be a threat to the lives of others. Since you believe that he deserves to live, why don't you volunteer to give him a home with your family, or doesn't your compassion stretch that far?
People like you are so hypocritical. You profess understanding, forgiveness and empathy for these poor lost souls, but you wouldn't dream of having one of them move next door to you. Phil Ochs wrote a song for people like you in the 1960's called Love me, Love me, Love me, I'm a Liberal.
I don't say the above lightly, because I too lean left of center. The difference is, I have some common sense. The times, they are a changing, and we have to change with them. I'm all for euthanizing Holmes, insane or not. These shootings are happening too frequently these days.
it is hard to punchish your own saint
LorraineH -
In other words, he looked exactly like a member of a SWAT team. And nobody just walks up and shoots a member of a SWAT team.
Of course he can. He's clearly insane.
That doesn't mean he's not "functional", since he clearly is.
It means he's not capable of understanding his actions.
The exact same thing was true of John Hinckley, who had the mental capacity to go out and purchase a firearm to shoot President Ronald Reagan in a twisted effort to impress Hollywood actress Jodie Foster.
Hinckley, too was found insane. That was absolutely the correct verdict, too. Doesn't matter whether you "think it was wrongly decided by a jury". Doesn't matter if you "don't agree with it".
And they will keep right on happening, because you as a Nation have collectively decided that the "rights" of 300 million people to own hundreds of millions of firearms are more important than the 70 dead or injured victims of this tragedy, more important than any number of bullet-ridden bodies.
That's why these shootings ONLY happen in AMERICA, but they ALMOST NEVER, EVER happen anywhere else on the planet.
That's why they will keep merrily right on happening. Because you won't do what it takes to stop them.
The textbook definition of insanity is that of doing the same thing over and over and over and over again and yet somehow hoping for a different result.
How is this massacre any different from the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, when another mentally ill person got his hands on a firearm and gunned down 32 people?
What's changed since then? Nothing. So why should you expect a different result?
You seriously think you can sell a mentally ill person a firearm but yet expect him to be nice and peaceful and compliant and not harm anybody with it?!?!?!? What the F*** DID YOU THINK he was gonna do with it, anyway? Who's REALLY the crazy person here?
RIP all the victims
If there is a pantheon for selflessness under fire, Matt McQuinn is at the top.
@Motz: So true. We can only hope that if faced with a situation like that we act as heroically as he.
agree, kumar
When will the media stop milking this story and let these people be at peace.
These people lost a loved one, how can they be at peace?
When people like us quit reading and commenting on the articles.
Yeah, people like yourself Shandril?
i am so saddened by the news and i am also so saddened that people are being so crazy to each other. The man deserves the death penalty for sure no matter how sick he may be he still hurt a lot of people and you have to pay for your mistakes no matter how mentally ill you are....Shandril do you honestly believe that he should just be released? what if this had happened to your family would you still have the same opinion???????????????????????????????????????????????
The financial cost to the survivors families will be staggering. The loss of family and friends cannot be measured.
And all that brought by a $14,000 investment by the shooter. So, media don't give up on this story until the American people take control of the gun control laws. I suggest taking up petitions to put gun control bills on general election ballots and then let the American voter enact gun control laws.
Stevie are you on drugs? Gun laws do not encourage killing people. These cowards would get the guns by what ever means neccesary. This tragedy happened because of a cowards lack of self control not a piece of paper. Do you really think this coward would have just gone on with his day if the guns were not availeable. He-- he'd probably have purchased RPG's and blown up all the people.
Mo-563393 -
Yeah if the firearms were not available he absolutely would have gone on with his day and not harmed anybody at all, prove otherwise or else kindly shut the bleep up. Lax gun laws do encourage and allow mentally ill people to buy guns and kill people. He will probably never even finish out the trial, he's not even responsible for his actions since he is clearly not all there. And he gunned down 70 people so clearly he is not a "coward" at all. If he could not have purchased firearms then where the Hell would he have gotten an RPG from, are your soldiers supporting themselves and keeping off welfare by selling illegal rocket launchers? Why is it that no CIVILIZED industrialized country in the world has this problem, why is it ONLY YOU in America?
Proof, Willy? How about all the homemade grenades found in his apartment. Oh...just so you know...bombs are illegal, and yet he had dozens...go figure.
The PROOF is in the fact that no other First World industrialized country on the planet ever has these kinds of horrific incidents happen, because no CIVILIZED country on the planet sells guns to anyone who cannot PROVE THAT THEY NEED THEM.
Yeah, he had improvised explosive devices that he was brilliant enough to make on his own. I guess you think that means that because he managed to be smart enugh to make them opn his own, you should conveniently sell those same explosives to anyone else who wants them.
I'll state again some of what I posted earlier....he would have found any way he could to create mayhem and take innocent lives. Timothy McVey only needed to purchase fertilizer to commit mass murder. But what is of serious concern to me and should be to all of us is: He was purchasing so much ammunition that Gander Mountain, who sold him the magazines and assault weapon, had to special order what he was purchasing. Didn't red flags go off somewhere or was it all about the money they were putting in the cash register. If a warped looking moron walks into your store and starts ordering tactical vests, special ballistic protective garments, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, wouldn't a person with some level of common sense think to themselves - "this guy is up to no good" and make a call to ATF.
We have gun laws in this country, some are good and some are not. I for one believe the ban on Assault Weapons should not have been allowed to expire under the Bush Administration. But I am specifically speaking of "Assault Weapons". You don't hunt with assault weapons, or go target shooting, or need them to protect your life or property. Assault weapons are made for one thing and one thing only, killing, and killing quickly in rapid fire with clips that hold in excess of 200 rounds to be fired in less than a minute. Clearly this individual would have found a way to carry out his attack on innocent victims regardless of being able to purchase a Assault weapon, but he was able to. And with the amount of amunition he special ordered and the armor he purchased, Gander Mountain should have notified ATF. Had they done that, this maniac may have been prevented from taking so many lives and ruining families forever.
Yes. I think The media is making a big deal out of Aurora.
Yesterday 27 people were killed by guns and no one even noticed.
Today we will lose 27 more. And tomorrow another 27. But the end of the year we will have lost 10,000 people to gun homicides and NO ONE WILL PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THEM.
They are the forgotten victims of gun violence in the USA
100's if not 1000's killed by cars today, so Let's ban cars as well!, while we are at it, ban bad foods that will kill hundreds of thousands. Who pays attention to all the victims of car wrecks? stop making political comments on threads concerning funerals for these people. Remember, some lunatic can drive his/her car into a crowd of people and kill a lot more if they so choose to. we live in a free society, and with freedom comes risk--even from lunatics like this guy. Imagine if everyone actually carried a gun? This guy would have been put down like the rabid dog he is.
@scott...it's people like you that tells others "they are going to take all your guns" gawd, grow up and realize how stupid your arguments are.
Ahh yes, the incredibly irrational comparison of intentional homicides with a weapon designed specifically to kill and random accidents with a machine used for transport.
Which year again did you join MENSA??
Want to even attempt to make a scientific comparison???
Try our gun homicides verses other industrialized nations or gun homicides verses other tools used in homicides.
THOSE would be apples to apples.
Excellent idea and thought- Only problem is . . . . Firearms are banned in Movie theaters . . so the article states~!~! How do you propose to get around that ~?~?~? Gun down the perp and then get busted yourself for doing it - Just like the lifeguard that got fired for saving a guy outside his perimeter of patrol~!~! A great pat the back as they slap the cuffs on ya to a gigantic crowd applause.
Ah Life in this socialistic, liberal Society of SHEEP
I'm all for gun ownership! But in this case I'm not sure that would have helped. In hind sight it seems reasonalbe. But imagine several disoriented people in a dark theater filled with tear gas, all armed but not knowing for sure who the shooter was or how many. They may have opened up on each other.
It's called Juarez, Mexico.
Not really a very safe place.
Why don't we ban movies too, after all the guy dressed as the joker and shot people. If he couldn't have found a gun he would have used something else. His motive was playing out a TV villan. I mean where did he get a tear-gas bomb? And Kevlar vests? Famous actors and directors all come out with this gun control BS but they are the first to throw it in your face on the big screen for a paycheck. Hollywood is the problem with todays society. Guns have been around forever, it's just in the last decade that people have been walking into schools,churches and movies to kill innocent people. Wonder why? Look at the movies and video games that our kids are watching now. place the blame where it belongs, Hollywood not guns.
scottmatusowshow ,
I agree with you 100%
004buck -
Are you just mentally confused, or stupid? People have been walking into churches schools universities etc. and murdering people for decades. Maybe you were only born in 1995 and don't know any different.
These people were innocent and they need their time to grieve and some of you out there think it is too much attention to this story but, until this happens to you then it's a different story. Colorado has had it share of murders that can't be explained and they have been in the news over several years but, they are no different than any other state that had it share of crimes.
WHY DO YOU MORONS NEED TO ARGUE ABOUT POLITCS AND GUNS LAWS ON THIS STORY? it is about a funeral... stick the topic ignoramuses... RIP to the victims and may the families grieve in peace for once
It would be mre respectful if the four young men in the front row would show up to a funeral in something other than a shirt.
agreed
Keeter,Let's be respectful of their pain and not judge their choice of clothing. Maybe that was the best they had. I realized the other day if I had to go to a Funeral I have nothing to wear. I no longer own a dress and all my pants are denim. I have no money for clothes. I will be shopping thrift stores and yard sales just in case. This is the face of todays economy.
Keeter. My family loves color!! And would not care what you showed up in! If you show up, then you are showing love... This isn't the middle ages where you had to wear black...
Where do I say people are going to take guns away? that is your assumption. Problem with these boards, mostly Progressives -- diseased thinkers, superior minded - tell others what is good for them -- control because most liberal progressives cannot control themselves. One step away from full out Nazi Brown shirt thinking. Anyone can intentionally drive their car into a crowd and kill people, and it has happened before. I'm all for common sense gun regulation, but people kill people, guns used as the tool of popular choice.
Do you realize that it is a REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA to put deadly weapons in the hands of mentally ill people and that you gun nuts are morally responsible for this massacre?!?
News flash, the shooter is probably never even going to stand trial because he is very clearly insane. You on the other hand are probably technically 'sane' enough to stand trial for supporting the incredibly weak gun laws that allowed a clearly mentally ill man to get his hands on a deadly weapon and gun down a record 70 people in less than 10 minutes.
What the #%$! DID YOU THINK he was gonna do with a firearm? He's MENTALLY ILL. And he's probably never even going to finish out a trial because he's clearly not mentally responsible for his actions.
This is no different than the case of the mentally ill guy at Virginia Tech who got his hands on firearms because of your incredibly weak stupid gun laws and slaughtered 32 people before outsmarting your "justice" system by killing himself. How do you plan to "hold him responsible", dig up his rotting body and shoot it a few times?
You Americans are really slow learners, aren't you? How many times does this have to keep happening to you before somebody finally goes "Gee, maybe we shouldn't sell guns to every insane person who wants one"? You never, ever learn anything from these incidents, so of course they keep right on happening.
The mentally ill cannot LEGALLY purchase firearms. The law failed. Shouldn't all those that are deemed mentally ill in a manner that could be dangerous to society be reported? If not, then the law that bans mentally ill people from owning firearms is just wasted paper. You see? More laws would not solve this, but enforcing the laws on the books would.
CurmudgeonTx
1. He was clearly MENTALLY ILL
2. He PURCHASED FIREARMS COMPLETELY LEGALLY.
Therefore, your statement is utter nonsense and a lie.
Why is it that no other industrialized First World country on the planet has this problem, again? Oh, that's right, you Americans believe in selling guns to mentally ill people and letting them commit murder and then trying cluelessly to "prosecute" them AFTER they've already gunned down 70 people in less than 10 minutes.
You are getting exactly what you deserve. You deserve dead bodies. You are getting the logical consequence of your beliefs and lax gun laws.
You could cut those numbers by 90%, just by putting the scum in prison and keeping them there.
My heart goes out to all the families that have lost love ones. May their souls find Heaven, may they help watch over us from Heaven. We need it , they are always there with you so to speak, it is hard to keep faith during times like these, be strong. RIP..
Get this off the news it's not New anymore reporters should look for NEW news
No.
A neuroscience brain major dressed as the Joker takes the cake more like the twilight light zone such a deranged individual what a waste.. Such Irony you don't know whether to cry or shout out in anger, the healing part is never easy. Life goes on it never stops it will be something else next. Yeah it is evil and it is real ! By the time they try and take away our right to defend ourselves away it will be all over don't worry be happy'
To all the people saying that if everyone was armed, the shooter would have been killed, I have some questions. Lets say that there 400 people in the theater, and lets say that 10% of them were armed. So that is 40 people with guns. Now lets say that out of that 40, 20 of them are a good shot.
So, now everyone is watching the movie. The gunman comes in and opens fire. Let's assume that out of the 40 armed people, 30 of them were watching the movie when the shooting started, so they did not see who actually fired the first shots. So now the theater is dark, people are running and screaming, some are already shot, covered in blood. So the 10 people who somehow saw who the original shooter was, they aim and fire. Now, odd are these people are scattered all over the theater. So there are 10 people shooting from all different areas, and since it is dark and chaotic, the other 30 armed people are not sure who to shoot at. all they see is 10 people scattered about the theater, all shooting. So, who do these other people shoot at? Do they just shoot to kill all the people who are already shooting since they have absolutely no idea who is a threat and who is a hero? Who exactly do they shoot?
Now, the 10 people who saw the original shooter, they are all firing at him, but how do they know if he is there alone? Is one of the other 9 people his accomplish? Do they turn and start firing at each other? How do they know who to kill?
Also, let's say that there is the same amount of armed people in the theater next door. Several bullets go through the wall and strike patrons in the other theater. Should the armed people look around a dark theater and just shoot anyone who might be holding a gun, but, it is dark. Is it a gun or a cell phone or a candy bar? But lets say 20 of the armed people in that theater know that the bullets came through the wall. Should they return fire through the wall, shooting blindly at the threat?
Please, explain to me how anyone would know who to shoot?
Good point.
Gunslingers have supernatural powers to discern who is good and who is evil. No one would be shot except the mass murderer-- and he would have 500 bullets in him as a result of all 40 armed citizens shooting at him at once!
First of all, do you really think that people are just going to blindly start shooting without any regards to what they are shooting at? If you are carrying a concealed weapon, you usually have 6-15 rounds, nobody is just going to start shooting at somebody for holding a cell phone. Your argument is completely invalid, the shooter was in the theater shooting for around 10 min according to the police timeline. Essentially he went in, shot until he was out of ammo and his one gun jammed, then walked out. You cannot possibly believe that in 10 min time another armed person could not have ended this. Even in your worst case scenario, if the shooter were to shoot 10 people, and even 10 people are caught in crossfire, how is that somehow worse than 10 min of uncontested shooting in which 70 people are shot?
A dude with a handgun vs a dude with a shotgun and body armor and a tear gas mask in a theater full of tear gas... No contest!
I shoot pretty well Shandril. Head shot might have saved a few people. And... If I shot the shooter in the chest several times... It would have had an effect. Wearing a vest does not stop the impact force. It stops penetration. It still would have made the guy stagger, perhaps fall, stopped him from being able to keep shooting. So.. Once again, could have saved lives.
@cmach:
In a theater crowded with panicked people running all over the place, in low light conditions, with tear gas in your lungs and eyes? I don't think so.
Shandril. First off, people weren't " running all over the place" they hunkered down. and a person who knows how to shoot and was armed, had time to assess and shoot ... Also.... who said it was tear gas??? I believe it was a smoke bomb.
Oh wait. You are a troll... Never mind...
CMACH, how the bleep would you know? You were there? No? Then why don't shut the bleep up? Poeple were running screaming out of there in shock horror and panic. And yeah it was an improvised tear gas bomb.
Well you weren't their either wonka. And I don't have to shut the bleep up! and post a FACT that this was an improvised tear bomb! Had there been an armed person .. lives would have been saved.
As the new Batman movie played on the screen, a gunman dressed in black and wearing a helmet, body armor and a gas mask stepped through a side door. At first he was just a silhouette, taken by some in the audience for a stunt that was part of one of the summer's most highly anticipated films.
But then, authorities said, he threw gas canisters that filled the packed suburban Denver theater with smoke, and, in the confusing haze between Hollywood fantasy and terrifying reality, opened fire as people screamed and dove for cover.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/james-holmes-aurora-shooting-medical-student_n_1689794.html
CMACH, go cuddle up with your penile-substitute firearm. You have no idea WTF you are talking about. The theater was pitch-black, the gunman was clad in impenetrable body armor and throwing gas explosives. "Had there been an armed person .. lives would have been saved"? What planet are you posting from? People were running everywhere asnd screaming. Had you been there with your penile-substitute firearm, you would have undoubtedly shot an innocent bystander who ran into the line of fire or who would have been hit by a bullet deflected off of the shooter's body armor.
Answer the question, please: Why is it that these horrific incidents virtually ONLY happen in America?
I fall down on my knees every night and thank God I don't live in your pathetic horrific violent barbaric country. Virtually nobody in any CIVILIZED country in the world ever wants to visit or come to your Darwinian dog-eat-dog piece of garbage country.
Millions of people around the world hear about these American shootings, go "Tsk tsk! ANOTHER murderous shooting! When are they EVER going to learn?" and thank God on their knees at night that they are not American.
Witnesses watching movies in theaters next to the one where the shooting took place said bullets tore through the theater walls and they heard screaming.
"The suspect throws tear gas in the air, and as the tear gas appears he started shooting," said Lamar Lane, who was watching the midnight showing of the movie with his brother. "It was very hard to breathe. I told my brother to take cover. It took awhile. I started seeing flashes and screaming, I just saw blood and people yelling and a quick glimpse of the guy who had a gas mask on. I was pushed out. There was chaos, we started running."
http://news.yahoo.com/mass-shooting-colo-movie-theater-14-people-dead-085940786--abc-news-topstories.html
What asinine crap...there is NO SUCH THING AS Impenetrable BODY ARMOR. And a person who knows how to shoot could have saved lives. Take a breath wonka... Don't get so bent out. And BTW.. I was not talking to you.
And... I love to cuddle... :)
Prove it.
You're a liar.
You just wish you could have been there to legally kill someone.
The real term that should be used for body armor is: "bullet resistent vest" in which yes... it can be shot through... duh? and no there wouldn't be 40 people carrying... be logical... lets say 2 people were packing some heat... maybe a .40 and .45, yeah lets go with that.... and both are legally carrying.... they have taken tests to be able to carry... during these tests they are tested for accuracy, finding your target, and knowing your target... thats what they were trained for to legally carry... just because youve never fired a gun doesn't mean that everyone with a carry permit is a bad shot... it means theyre a good shot. OH, and btw, both the .40 and .45 would seriously injure someone in a vest... it would go through or break some bones. so willy wonka, stop your rant and settle down, it may be beddy bye time
In a darkened theater, filled with smoke and/or tear gas, with people running in every direction with floors slick and slippery with blood, in the middle of a bloodbath, who elsee but a Looney-Toon gun-nut with a desire to legally kill people would actually, seriously argue that the solution is.... more guns.
You would have gladly and joyfully pulled out your penile-substitute firearm and started blasting away. If someone fleeing in panic and terror ran in front of you and got shot, your response would have been: "OH WELL!! Gee, I'm REALLY, REALLY SORRY about that! But, see, I MEANT well, so that makes all the difference! Bury the victim, no jail time for me!"
the problem with you is that you believe anyone with a gun is crazy... you are narrow-minded and its funny that you attempt to make the same argument everytime. not all people are bad shots that freak out all the time. You are very ignorant and the term "penile-substitute firearm" is getting old. yes there was tear gas and i agree that it would have been hard to see, even the shooter had trouble seeing... but with how many people that already put themselves in harms way... who knows... maybe a brave person packing would have been able to realize that the shooter couldn't see well and was just shooting anywhere. This would have meant that an EDUCATED shooter could have taken a shot OR found another way to take a shot. you need to wake up man.
Most Americans worship their firearms ownership in the way they worship their Gods, and yes, they are crazy. You are falling over yourself desperately trying to invent scenarios in which the "noble gun owner" would have supposedly "saved the day". You were probably masturbating while you wrote that as well. In reality the overwhelming likelihood is that someone else with a gun would have wounded or killed innocent people, which is the reality that you desperately seek to avoid discussing.
AS you attempt to insult me i realize more and more that I have won this argument as your resort to childish insults that show that you are in the least immature. I get the strong vibe that you are not from America and do not understand out culture. So you need to quit creating scenarios in which there is always a bad outcome, do you have depression? If so, please go get help and quit hiding behind the computer tossing out insults in an attempt to make yourself feel better, you remind me of many of the people constantly insult people, its sad. I have also determined through your posts that you have never fired a gun, so out of your lack of experience, you lose credibilty especially when you attempt to talk about things you know nothing about. Good day sir(:
Answer the question, please: Why is it that these horrific incidents virtually ONLY happen in America?
LMAO!!!!! Are you for real???? MUCH worse @!$%# happens in foreign countries... Have you been sleeping for the past few years??? Babies and whole families have been murdered in places like Uganda and Rwanda..... Sudan. Haiti... Get a bit of a life and think about it dude. Willy wonka was a fairy tail.. Real life is much crueler...
"Guns don't kill people...Americans kill people."
You have one designated shooter, sounds like a good plan, so to avoid the kind of thing your describing. An armed security guard watching over us all the time. Leave your gun at the door and pick it up when you leave. Have a gun czar at the door. Hard to imagine so many nice people being harmed by such a mad man if we could have done anything to stop it is hard to imagine.
What is to stop any person from grabbing a gun and going off shooting people in a public place. Nothing ! Not even stricter gun laws. Not in this century anyway.
we need more gun's ...more gun's mean's less intention's.
Jessica is from my locale. I want to wish her friends and familyas much peace as they need during this trying time. Also to Matt McQuinns family and loved one's.
First, lets all remember the victims and their families here, GOD BLESS THEM ALL!! Second, guns do not kill people, people kill people. If not with a gun then a knife, hammer, bat, car, any blunt object or whatever one might use as a weapon!!!
Apples and oranges. Guns are made solely for killing. Everything else on your list is made for something else, with the exception of combat knives.
Yeah, I love killing that trap and paper targets............
The homemade grenades he left at his apartment were built to kill people too. Had he not had the firearms, he could have caused even more death and chaos using those.
AMEN CURMUDGEON!!!!!!!!!!!!! he couldve probably blown up the whole damn theater had he wanted but people can't get that throught their thick thick thick skulls
May the families find strength in knowing that a nation mourns their loss as well...It saddens me that young lives were struck down by a mad man. Stay strong for you will always have memories of those you lost.
Let's all just stop with the nasty remarks and say GOD BLESS THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
I agree with AngryWhiteMale. It's time to leave it alone media. Condolences to all the victims and their families.
the media dont want pease for these poor people....they will be right there poking to hear one peep of anger and make headlines ... they love it when they can show griefing famlies and also show the killer with them ...i wonder whos gonna be the next star actor that will portray him as a saint
I would gladly volunteer to place a 44 Mag between that jokers eyes and pull the trigger . And would hope all the family members and victims touched by this demon would sleep a little easier.
Yes, I'm sure that they would all sleep better knowing that another person with a gun (you) is so quick and eager to kill someone...
My heartfelt sympathy to victims and families. I don't have adequate words to express my feelings, but I hope you will find some hope and comfort from this poem to help you move on. RIP!!!
Letter From Heaven by Crystal Baptiste
Hey everybody, I hope this doesn't reach you too late. I don't want you to worry, Because life up here is great.
I can't wait for you to see the beauty of heaven, But I know it's not your time. I really miss you guys, But I know you'll be just fine.
You know I can see you right, So please stop shedding tears. You guys, I'm perfectly fine, So conquer all your fears.
I'll be watching your every move. Relax! I won't spill your beans. But stop all those naughty things you do, Because you know there's nothing He can't see.
I need you to come here to meet me, But not if you misbehave, So please keep God in your heart, And you'll be safe and saved.
Hey guys I know you miss me. It's really hard not to. But please, please stop grieving, Because you're making me sad too.
You guys have been a great family, And I am truly blessed. You've raised me through my earthly life, Now God will do the rest.
He's really a great person, And an even better friend, So I'm in great hands, And on Him you can also depend.
Oh boy, I'm getting carried away. I want to say so many things, But I really have to go now,
Because today I'm getting my wings.
Bye you guys, love you forever and a day!
P.S. Be good. I'll be watching!!!