The Cleveland Leader indicates/implies that this is Robert A. Hawkins:
America. "The Heartland," where the "Real Americans" are. Gun culture. Celebrity worship. Have a job & a sex partner or be nothing.
AP report:
The gunman left a suicide note that was found at his home by his mother, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak. TV station KETV reported that the note said he wanted to "go out in style."
The official identified the gunman as Robert A. Hawkins, age 20.
Apparently Hawkins had recently lost his no doubt fulfilling & well paying job at a Mickey D's & been dumped by his girlfriend. Figuring he had "nothing left to life but a pair of glassy eyes," he decided to make himself famous & "go out in style" w/ a mall shooting.
Andrew Gumbel, who writes for local weekly CityBeat, filed a story for U. K. paper
The Independent:
America's latest mass shooting triggered panic among hundreds of shoppers out buying presents for the holidays. And it rocked a city which is a virtual byword for the heartland – friendly, overweight, and heavily suburbanised.
[...]
Mass shootings have continued unabated across the United States in recent years, as disgruntled – and usually suicidal – gunmen have claimed victims in schools, on university campuses, at work places and even in church.
The Bush administration has refused to continue a federal ban on automatic weapons begun during the Clinton presidency, and gun laws remain lax enough to make it relatively easy to buy deadly weapons in just about any state in the union.
Omaha is on the eastern edge of Nebraska, a plains state which has made itself famous for cattle-raising and meat processing, right on the border with Iowa – where politicians of all stripes have been campaigning hard in anticipation of the Iowa caucus on 3 January.
So, Robert A. Hawkins, let this be your fame, or at least notoriety. Sorry we couldn't have done more for you.
America. "The Heartland," where the "Real Americans" are. Gun culture. Celebrity worship. Have a job & a sex partner or be nothing. AP report:
9 comments:
haha celebrity worship? good thing we live in california where there is none of that going on
Truly, when we live in a society so decayed that a 20-year-old actually has a job at a Mickey D's - what might we expect but this?
Hate to break it to you- but the ban on civilian ownership of AUTOMATIC weapons remains in effect. ...since the 1930's. Want to get the gun angle of this story right? Do a little research and check your facts next time.
The Editor Responds:
Hate to break it to you, but the reference to "automatic" weapons was in a quote from a story. That's what it means when the words are italicized & indented. We believe the author of the quoted story is British, & may not fully understand the difference between automatic & assault weapons, or was just in a hurry to make his U. K. deadline. Feel free to click the link to the Independent & make it known to them.
And let's be honest, an assault-style weapon w/ a large capacity magazine that fires as quickly as the trigger can be pulled is not designed for hunting anything, it's meant for killing people. And it's probably more effective if it isn't full-auto. Each round is more likely to count if you're not spraying wildly, & you won't have to stop firing to change magazines as often.
Nonetheless, we should have noticed that & made it clear it was the wrong word. Pardon us.
More Editorializing:
And what to expect when the 20-yr.-old no longer has that Mickey D's gig?
Here in L. A., we're always thinking of killing a celebrity to achieve our 15 mins. of fame. This web log thing isn't working out fast enough. Any suggestions?
Hi, I work for an international discussion programme called World Have Your Say on BBC World Service radio and today (Thursday) we will be discussing whether the media should refuse to give publicity to serial killers like Richard Hawkins, who said in a suicide note that he wanted to become famous. We were wondering if you were interested in taking part in the discussion, which will be live on radio between 6pm and 7pm London time (1 to 2pm East Coast Time in the States). Please send me your phone numbers to martin.vennard@bbc.co.uk and briefly say what you think about the question or call me on +442075570635 and I will call you straight back.
Many thanks
Martin Vennard
Actually, assault weapons are good for lots of things other than killing people, like killing varmints on ranches and blasting the shit out of beer cans. All assault weapons that are full-auto have the same problem, which is that the muzzle rises during an extended full-auto burst, making it hard to aim and hit anything in full auto. That's why the current issue M-16's are limited to three-round bursts in full auto. Of course, there's always the "spray 'n' pray" approach, which works best with untrained personnel like Mahdi army members.
....... Gun Nut Peabody
I am from Omaha, and this was a terrible thing that happened here. We are a close community. However, saying that all midwesterners are obsessed with celebrities, are over-weight, and what-not is not a true fact. We may not be California, but I would not want to be any place else.
The Editor Responds:
Anon from Omaha, that was a quote, as we told another Anonymous, from an article in The Independent, a British newspaper. Please click on the link provided in the post & leave a comment w/ them if you'd like.
We didn't mean that people anywhere in America are obsessed w/ celebrities (they are, but that's not what we were getting at) but that they are obsessed w/ being famous, whether by being on American Idol or by going on a killing spree. Facts are true, you needn't qualify them. There's no such thing as a "false" fact, so you don't have to say it's a "true" fact. And remind us of the score of the USC-Nebraska game back in September. We'll take California.
Gun Nut P., you don't really need an SKS for varmints do you? Television sets, road signs, mail boxes, engine blocks, whole cars & the like, sure. But not for Rocky Raccoon or Chester Coyote.
And look at that, we could've been on BBC World this afternoon (not bloody likely, but..) if we hadn't been sleeping.
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