That was the comment heard over and over today as people heard talk and news radio report about the sensless tragedies today after 5 people died today because of gunfire.
Around 11:30 am a man entered the coffee shop Cafe Racer on Ravenna and started firing. Two people were killed instantly and a third died a few minutes later at Harborview. About a half hour later, a woman returning to her car in a lot at 8th and Seneca was grabbed by a man who wanted to take her car. He pushed her to the ground and shot her in the head.
At 3:30 pm Mayor Mike McGinn was holding a news conference, which was interrupted by the news that another shooting had taken place in West Seattle.
After much confusion, excellent observation and action by a Seattle detective, we learned that this shooting victim was, in fact, the gunman in both earlier incidents and had put a gun to his own head and pulled the trigger.
What the hell?
Police say we have had more homicides in the Puget Sound area in the first 5 months of this year than we had for the entire year 2011. Two killed yesterday in Shelton. A person shot at the Folklife festival--second year in a row. A young woman is killed while walking in Pioneer Square with her boyfrend. A young father is shot and killed while driving with his parents and children in the car, a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Is Seattle becoming more violent? The usual arguments for and against gun control will surely surface, but is the problem bigger than that? Is there a role that can be played by counselors, teachers, clergy, police who can identify troubled people before this happens?
Is it the economy? Is it drugs? Is it the easy availability of guns by those who should never have them? What is going on?
UPDATE: From yesterday's Seattle Times, a now ironic piece written by Lynn Thompson. In part it reads:
"Seattle police officials Tuesday said the outbreak of violence through Memorial Day weekend and since the beginning of the year has more to do with guns than with gangs. Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz and Assistant Chief for Operations Paul McDonagh said that, while gang activity has played a role in the jump in homicides this year — 15 to date compared with 21 in all of 2011 — the common denominator is the use of firearms.
"A person who has a gun is more likely to use a gun," Metz said after the weekly council briefing. The pair addressed the City Council on Tuesday to talk about the recent spate of shootings and the Police Department's stepped-up response.
Police are trying to pinpoint a reason or reasons for the recent violence and are combing through cases as far back as October, when they noticed an uptick in seemingly random incidents.
"We don't know" what has prompted the violence, said Jim Pugel, assistant police chief of investigations. "If we knew, we'd be able to put a stop to it, and that's the frustrating part."
Metz and McDonagh outlined to the council plans to curb violence that dealt with people — not firearms. Those include putting more officers on the street in areas with high crime and a high number of violent incidents. They also called on community members with information about crime to contact police, even anonymously.
Community-outreach officers also are planning a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Garfield Community Center with the East Precinct Advisory Council. The meeting is in response to the shooting of Justin Ferrari, a Madrona father who was killed Thursday afternoon at a busy Central Area intersection while running errands with his children and parents. Police said the shooter was aiming at someone else across the street.
That crime in particular, Metz told the City Council, has created a great deal of concern because of "its randomness and the fact that it could have been just about anybody." No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, police officials said.
An alleged Seattle gang member, meanwhile, was arrested on suspicion of the Saturday-night shooting near the Space Needle that left one bystander wounded. And one of four drive-by shootings that night was at the former home of a gang member, Metz told City Council members. On April 22, Nicole Westbrook, who had just moved to Seattle to attend culinary school, was fatally shot as she walked home to her Pioneer Square apartment, apparently by someone shooting at another person.
Pugel said special-emphasis patrols, which were deployed to high-crime areas in the East, West and South precincts last weekend, will continue. SWAT officers assigned to anti-crime teams, gang detectives and some traffic units are being added to patrol units to "change up the delivery of officers to problem areas," he said.
Share your thoughts below..please keep to the topic and let's play nice in the sandbox. We have had enough anger today to last awhile.
Update 2: The gunman, identified as Ian L. Stawicki, 40, of Ellensburg, was not killed by his self inflicted gunshot. He is in critical condition at Harborview.
Comment removed.
Posted by: GretnaGreen | May 30, 2012 at 06:32 PM
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Posted by: John Geroge | May 30, 2012 at 06:34 PM
Thank god for Jim Foreman. I cannot recall life before Jim.
Now, we get to spend a week bouncing between the Westneat/McGinn/Ross-Burbank Axis and hear all about the the gun that attached itself to a crackpot and talked him into shooting 4 people. I've done some research, turns out it's already illegal to murder another human being....with any object! Not just a gun. Regardless, laws will be proposed and brows will be furrowed. Spoiler alert!: Bad people do bad things.
Why weren't any of the denizens of Cafe Racer armed? Why would they be? After all, Ravenna is a gun free zone.
Posted by: Bryan Suits | May 30, 2012 at 06:42 PM
BTW- Was I the only person laughing when Pugel said "A person with a gun is more likely to use a gun?" Has Seattle banned the use of the word "bad?" As in "A bad person with a gun is more likely to use a gun for a bad purpose."
Posted by: Bryan Suits | May 30, 2012 at 06:46 PM
I don't see much to laugh about today.
Posted by: sparky | May 30, 2012 at 06:58 PM
I'm glad we have this forum if people will use it right now. The gun show loophole which California and Oregon legislated away is a big red mark on Washington. Background checks are obvious deterrents just like passing a driving exam deters bad drivers from getting licenses to drive - most of the time. Anybody who doesn't understand checking into a person's criminal and mental health history before issuing a lethal weapon is a privacy paranoid from the start. And the Founding Fathers never predicted average citizens might be carrying around assault weapons - kind of like the assault weapons of their day were cannons.
Bryan, I really like Jim Foreman as he always brings a more personal face to reporting.
What do we need to do? Reinstitutionalize all those people Reagan put on the street in California. We need community centers and longer school days and money spent on people and kids rather than reducing food stamps which seems to be our current priority.
Health care, community centers, early education for three & four year olds whose parents access any social program at all. We also need to get tough with those young people - although this guy isn't a ganger - who have lost their way and may be unredeemable. Rahm Emanuel said about his trouble youth problem in Chicago:
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 08:22 PM
continued
emanuel-disavows-25-of-school-kids-is-one-of-them-yours/25% of them aren't going to make it.
We are the richest country on the planet and yet we can't help our people get enough to eat, fund education at a reasonable level, provide healthcare for all. If you treat people like rats, they will act like rats.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 08:27 PM
Do we really need sarcasm and jocularity in this hour of need tonight? Would our Lord Jesus be waiting for rimshots on an evening of such great tragedy and trouble in our fair city?
Posted by: Reverend B.T. "Tommy" Beamer (Tommy008's uncle) | May 30, 2012 at 09:22 PM
I agree Truthseeker. The shooters brother said he was mentally ill and they saw this coming a long time ago.
So as we cut all our social services, I guess we can count on this happening over and over.
One thing about guns though...I would like the loopholes tightened and all that, registration, etc. but the bad guys bypass all of that anyway...there are always guns out there if you want them in our gun loving culture.
Posted by: sparky | May 30, 2012 at 09:30 PM
The freedom of a mentally disturbed man is one thing, as is care for the mentally ill. Another, ignored item, is the power of the media. Is it coincidence that these shootings are highly publicized, and more shootings then occur?
Posted by: Ebenezer | May 30, 2012 at 09:46 PM
I wondered about that too....the whole thing is so sad. Just another reason I dont come to Seattle unless I absolutely have to.
Posted by: sparky | May 30, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Yep, bad people will bypass the laws on the books and find ways to obtain guns so more gun laws will not make us necessarily safer, it'll just make the law bidding folks more vulnerable. Agree with Bryan about Jim Forman and that bad people with guns do bad things. Come back onto local radio, Bryan...
Why did we close down mental hospitals where unstable potentially bad people should be rather than out on the streets ? That's a branch of social services, that meant fewer crazies in society. Cutting spending is essential if we hope to survive as a culture instead of disintegrating into anarchy. However, there is a limit to cutting spending and if we are to decrease the deficit, a newer flatter and more efficient tax code is badly needed, but I digress.
Posted by: KS blathers | May 30, 2012 at 10:33 PM
bryan needs to be back on local radio.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 05:46 AM
We are the richest country on the planet and yet we can't help our people get enough to eat, fund education at a reasonable level, provide healthcare for all. If you treat people like rats, they will act like rats.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 08:27 PM
interesting how some will take a tragedy and make it political.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 05:52 AM
perhaps we should figure out what happened here and why it happened here before making legislation.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 06:02 AM
Truthseeker, of the laundry list of solutions you suggest ("Need"), which would've prevented yesterday's event? None and all.
The major gunshow in Washington (Wash. Arms Collectors) does NOT allow sale of guns at their shows UNLESS you have a background check. The Seattle Times facilitates more private gun sales then any gun show in state.
As I said originally, there are ALREADY laws against killing people. Why wasn't an armed citizen prepared to stop this guy? Because he was in Seattle.
Posted by: Bryan Suits | May 31, 2012 at 07:58 AM
P.S. Truthseeker, are you aware that during Washington's mandatory wait time, mental health records accessed by the jurisdiction in which the buyer resides. Also, at the time of the writing of the 2nd Amendment, the most lethal rifles on Earth (the Pennsylvania and Kentucky rifles) were hanging over the hearth in private homes. The Founders trusted the citizens. Please do NOT conflate an "assault weapon" with a handgun. As I said, bad people do bad things. It's not illegal to stride through this life filled with murderous rage. It's illegal to murder.
Posted by: Bryan Suits | May 31, 2012 at 08:05 AM
I've been a gun-user and/or gun-owner since I was 12 years old. I'm all for responsible citizens having the right to own firearms.
Just like I'm all for responsible citizens having the right to own a motor vehicle. But I have to register my car(s) and the car(s) need to pass an emissions inspection and I need to pass a drivers test and a vision test and to renew my license from time to time.
What in the name of hell is so unbearable to the gun 'nuts' about having to do the same sort of testing/registration for gun ownership?
Think of how much more effective police work would be. On first offense for having an unregistered weapon you get a ticket. On 2nd offense you have the gun confiscated and you are banned for 2 years from possessing a firearm. On 3rd offense you are banned for life.
Sure, bad guys will still get guns illegally. But police would have another valuable weapon to help control that problem.
Gun show loopholes need to be closed. Automatic assault rifles need to be banned. And the best way to do that is to also ban the manufacture of such weapons. And the CEO of any company that continues to make them could face life in prison.
And why is this idiot who takes out his handgun and decides to patrol around the Bush school being praised as some sort of hero? Putting on his gun and walking around a school leading to even more panic. Total fucking jerk.
Posted by: Itchy | May 31, 2012 at 08:37 AM
c'mon Truthseeker, you demand others respond to you. Live up to your moniker.
As you yourself put it,
"I'm glad we have this forum if people will use it right now. "
so go ahead, enlighten us by engaging in a simple bit of dialogue here with Bryan Suits. I know me and KS want to know how you would answer his questions.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 09:22 AM
I'm sure that people can get guns in multiple ways. But if closing one loophole keeps one gun out of the hands of a person who is mentally ill, then we should close it. The fact that there are other ways to acquire a gun doesn't mean this one shouldn't be closed.
About the media: Wow! KIRO had it non-stop from late morning until they caught the guy. I couldn't believe it. And KIRO showed both pics of the shooter while KOMO held the second photo which showed the legs of a victim back for a while. I don't know why they did that but the were trying to err on the side of caution.
It's ironic: everybody knows every detail of what went down yesterday and few people care that 182,000 people are losing their right to vote in Florida.
That's pretty sad.
Cutting spending is essential if we hope to survive as a culture instead of disintegrating into anarchy
I'll say it again, KS, since you didn't read it the first time:
We are the richest country in the world with an economy twice that of China. We don't need a flatter or broader tax. We need to get the wealth back from the ultra wealthy. If you take more money in taxes from the poor, you'll need more social programs for them to survive. What is the point of that? You'll be running in circles tax wise.
interesting how some will take a tragedy and make it political.
And Puget Sound, can't you talk about anything without making it personal. Of course tragedies can be political.
c'mon Truthseeker, you demand others respond to you. Live up to your moniker.
As you yourself put it,
"I'm glad we have this forum if people will use it right now. so go ahead, enlighten us by engaging in a simple bit of dialogue here with Bryan Suits."
And it is this kind of personal attack that drives people away.
BTW, well said, Itchy.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 09:48 AM
One more, KS: we didn't have these problems under the Clinton tax structure. Why are you so bent on a certain fix? Why can't you bend a little and be willing to go back to a time when our tax system worked?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 09:50 AM
only Truthseeker would call an invitation to dialogue a 'personal attack.'
BTW, you still didn't answer Bryan Suits.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 09:53 AM
One more: Reagan who started all of this downfall thirty years ago was the one who put the mentally ill on the street and ended free education in California because he didn't like paying taxes. Thus, our slow descent into hell.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 09:55 AM
Try commenting on issues instead of commenting on posters. And none of us needs an invitation from you to post or not post on this blog.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 10:08 AM
The nephew ans I vote no on a return to Seattle radio for Mr. Siuts. We believe he is better "suited' temperamentally to a career in retail business, more specifically owner/operator of a hunting and fishing / defense firearms outfitter store. The kind of store you'l find in .....oops.. i was going to say something nasty.......... my bad.....
Posted by: Reverend B.T. "Tommy" Beamer (Tommy008's uncle) | May 31, 2012 at 10:11 AM
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Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 10:12 AM
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Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 11:30 AM
Does anyone have any pertinent input in regards to the performance of the various radio outlets? Isn't that the ray-zun dett-ree of this thing?
Posted by: Bryan Suits | May 31, 2012 at 12:11 PM
We get more input from Judy Nicastro
Posted by: BW umpire | May 31, 2012 at 01:08 PM
One more, KS: we didn't have these problems under the Clinton tax structure. Why are you so bent on a certain fix? Why can't you bend a little and be willing to go back to a time when our tax system worked?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 09:50 AM
TS, you can't go back in time, unless you are willing to shrink government to what would be unbearable levels today - next to impossible. Just compare the Federal budget outlay in 1997 with 2012. You think Paul Ryan's budget is austere - nothing compared to spending at 1997 levels ! Today's budget is humongous compared. Considered there was no HSA and no wars at that time. Enough said... The spending is the problem now. I liked the way Clinton's budget went, but we could get by with a less efficient tax structure than now, because the debt and deficit were way smaller. Now, we can no longer afford this antiquated tax system which has become more complicated, more tax cuts and a higher number (almost 50% paying no taxes now) vs. under 40% during the Clinton years. A new and simpler tax system is essential to meet the avalanche of debt around our neck.
Also, back during the Clinton years, there was still the ballooning cost of entitlements, but no one paid attention to it then either - even though had not ballooned to today's scary levels.
Posted by: KS | May 31, 2012 at 03:34 PM
So go back to pre-Clinton levels. The mega rich profited from two off-budget wars, unfunded pharma, and tax Bush tax cuts and yet you still want the middle and lower classes to pay for it all.
If you want austerity - which hasn't worked in Europe but has made matters worse - give it to the mega rich. It is their turn.
And why are almost 50% not paying taxes? Answer that one.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 04:23 PM
And why are almost 50% not paying taxes? Answer that one.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 04:23 PM
TS, the 50 percent not paying taxes are not uber rich types, rather folks who make moderate incomes and via the various deductions and vehicles like the earned income tax credits are able to zero out their tax liability or pay no tax and still get cash back in the form of a credit.
I suspect if KS had his way, that 50 percent number would be a lot lower.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 05:12 PM
"So go back to pre-Clinton levels. "
Are you saying reduce spending to 1990 (pre-Clinton levels) ? IMPOSSIBLE ! Tax rates like 1990, not much different- Bush -41 raised taxes and Clinton raised them a bit more.
"And why are almost 50% not paying taxes? Answer that one."
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 04:23 PM
Because of the loopholes in the tax code, combined with the tax cuts. That is one big reason why the current tax code must be overhauled. Owebama wants to get that number higher so that a majority of people don't pay taxes for more dependence on the government. He will also continue with the class warfare mantra -bla bla bla- bullshit ! It is clear that taxing the mega rich more will fall far short of funding the deficit and its pure political. Europe is in denial about austerity and EU is crumbling because of this...
Austerity is too uncomfortable for many but it is either that or print more money - oops Europe can't do that/only the USA can until the Dollar stops being the world currency, which may not be that long.
How does the lower class pay for anything if they don't pay any Federal Income Taxes ? The middle class is getting screwed as usual, because most of them pay taxes. The taxes on Obamacare will really screw the middle class, but the lower class - not so much since they don't pay Federal Taxes.
Why don't you get the solution of cutting spending ?
Yes, more revenue is needed, but 3:1 ratio of spending cuts vs. revenue increases - that is what Congress is trying to come up with this time.
Posted by: KS | May 31, 2012 at 05:20 PM
I'll answer the question since you can't: Almost 50% aren't paying taxes because they don't have jobs or they're not making a living wage. Thank you Koch Bros. and Walmart. The poorer they get, the more you will have to pay in taxes to support the increasing social services the poor will need to survive.
And anybody who still thinks austerity is the answer in Europe hasn't been paying attention. Even Europe (except for Merkel-and the Germans are getting a tad annoyed with her) is starting to get it. You really must stop watching Fox non-News.
You continue to live in your Fox non-News created fiction.
The dollar stops being the world's currency? Where in the world did you pick that up? We are the richest country on the planet and our economy is twice that of China. And we are in jeopardy of losing the dollar to another currency? Hmm. Maybe the Canadian dollar will defeat us! Now that would be ironic seeing as how they are so much more socialized than we are. Or may Sweden's? Or how about Swiss? Hahaha. You make me laugh sometimes.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 09:05 PM
BREAKING
Dori Monson just announced that there will be a "Huge Announcement" about his show on Monday.
Posted by: John Kerry | June 01, 2012 at 01:17 PM
"I'll answer the question since you can't: Almost 50% aren't paying taxes because they don't have jobs or they're not making a living wage. Thank you Koch Bros. and Walmart. The poorer they get, the more you will have to pay in taxes to support the increasing social services the poor will need to survive."
You are half right, TS. Then you throw out the Koch Bros. red herring and Walmart straw man. You worship at the altar of Obamanomics - economic fool's gold. Once again, you have missed the boat.
As for Europe's austerity, you could use a class in Econ 101. Yes we are in jeopardy of losing the dollar as the worldwide currency - by the Canadian Dollar ? hahaha. Hardly, the world's currency would be a number of other currencies such as China, Russia, Japan and India - which all have less debt as a % of GDP than the US. You think that's all funny ? Try reading Investor's Business Daily or the Wall Street Journal for a change instead of Brad's blog and watching Ed Schultz - the truth may hurt, but it is reality where you fear to tread.
Posted by: KS blathers the bitter truth | June 01, 2012 at 05:49 PM
"Robert Stewart Inc., a 93-year-old New Jersey company that makes neckties, wants to add five or six workers to its staff of 18, and business is up, said Steven Wishnew, the company's operations director.
But the company can't get the $50,000 to $100,000 in credit that would "kick-start our engine," he said, and sellers that used to give them 90 days to pay now demand payment in advance."
all this from the 1% to eke out a win in Nov.
Posted by: Coiler | June 01, 2012 at 08:58 PM
cone on,,,today's jobs numbers are a disgrace and a joke... eeven a liberal like Tom Leykis admits that Obama "doesn't know a thing about how to fix the economy"...but nice try, blaming everything on the supposedly Repub 1% ers.....oh and there's always W. Bush, to try to scapegoat.......the country is sinking into poverty.....i used to think it was going to be close...it may still be close.....but something tells me it won't be all that close......a little birdie told me.......
Posted by: Reverend Beamer | June 01, 2012 at 10:29 PM
Yeh that leykis, the purveyor of infotainment for slackers and intermittent workers
Posted by: Preston | June 01, 2012 at 10:40 PM
Did you catch Bill Clinton the other day, saying that Romney had "a sterling record in business"? This sent Team Obama into an absolute tizzy of damage control........
Posted by: Reverend Beamer | June 01, 2012 at 10:52 PM
" for slackers?" ..that's a novel take. he does a show , a three or four hour show......how about Ed Schultz and "the sneerer" Maddow? The each do a show...are their shows for slackers too?...what is it inherent in the Leykis show that makes it for slackers?....oh, because he is being honest about Obama's incompetence, and the fact that he's the "little man behind the curtain" in the Wizard of Oz,,,i get it ...THAT'S why the show is for slackers......
Posted by: Reverend Beamer | June 01, 2012 at 11:05 PM
Clinton does not care for Obama since he played the race card on him back in 2008. He sees the Democratic Party in big trouble in the future and is probably correct. He would be the best leader of the Dems out there and would like to bring the party back toward the center as it was in the 90's.
There are a lot of jackals that would need to be purged from office before that can happen though, even with Bill Clinton in the lead - there is a big amount of dysfunction that is distracting to many.
Leykis is saavy in Leykis 101 but he is a low information voter - if he moved out of the lala land bubble, he might notice the devastation out in grass roots America from Owebama's anti-free market policies.
Posted by: KS blathers | June 01, 2012 at 11:10 PM
P.S: Love the Google map of Ravenna. I'll take it with me on my next trip to Italy.
Posted by: Fremont | June 03, 2012 at 10:20 AM
You've got a lot of opinions, KS. What are they worth?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 11:26 PM
More than yours, TS. At least mine are based on reality. Why is it that you remind me of Sparky's colleague that used to post here ?
Posted by: KS blathers | June 03, 2012 at 10:32 AM
A certain other blog, opined about US House Rep candidate Darcy Burner;
"Burner wants women out in the streets. "There is a moral power we use on the left that is more powerful than religion," she said. It is the power of protest. Burner displayed a seattlepi.com photo of an 86-year-old Seattle demonstrator after she was pepper-sprayed in an Occupy Seattle protest. "Virtually every Fortune 500 company is doing wage discrimination against women," Burner alleged.
She voiced hope for a public interest law firm that "sues the bejeezus out of them." Burner also praised the Afghanistan parliament for having a higher percentage of women than the U.S. Congress."
She has run twice before vs. "hairspray" Reichert and lost. She is running in a different district this time, probably vs. John Koster - a seemingly down to earth guy with conservative principles. Problem is Darcy has the mindset of a Occupier and is a reactionary leftist and has made some boneheaded claims as an extremist of her caliber tends to do. Here we go again...
I expect to receive some flack from other commenters of a liberal progressive mindset about this and will admit that I am just trying to liven the debate.
Posted by: KS blathers the bitter truth | June 10, 2012 at 07:03 PM