Why carry a handgun?

[D.R. Middlebrooks]

Police Shoot, Kill 150-Pound Cougar on Chicago's North Side
Tuesday , April 15, 2008

CHICAGO, IL

A 150-pound cougar was gunned down by Chicago police Monday after it was loose in a residential area on the city's North Side.

Several residents reporting seeing the cat early Monday and the officer shot the animal in an alley, police said.

Authorities said the cougar will be checked for any markings, chips or tags that would show if it was someone's pet rather than a wild animal.

Confirmed sightings of cougars, also known as mountain lions or pumas, are rare in Illinois but authorities in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette said they received several reports of cougar sightings during the weekend.

DR Notes & Comments: Dang! And I thought the Bad Guys were the only animals out there!! :eek:

[D.R. Middlebrooks]

People eating at restaurants -
MARCH 3, 2008 - Man Opens Fire At Lunchtime, Killing Himself And Another Person; 3 In Critical Condition: There were six victims in today's Wendy's shooting at North Military Trail and Cherry Road near West Palm Beach, FL. According to a witness, all of the victims are customers.

Sunday, January 7, 2007; 8:43 PM
PATERSON, N.J. : An off-duty city police officer was killed early Sunday when a man tried to rob him at a restaurant, police said. Tyron Franklin, 23, a rookie patrolman with the department since April, was shot several times with a handgun, said police Lt. Anthony Traina. It was his day off and he was dressed in civilian clothes andunarmed. :(


People teaching or attending classes: 32 people at Virginia Tech were killed in April. Seung hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, also killed himself.

A student shot and killed five people in February at Northern Illinois University before killing himself.


People shopping: February last year, an 18-year-old gunman killed five people and wounded four others at the Trolley Square shopping Center in Salt Lake City.

In December, eight people were killed at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska before the gunman shot himself.

An armed robber killed five women — including at least one customer — this morning at a Lane Bryant clothing store in south suburban Tinley Park before fleeing the scene and launching a manhunt, police said.


People attending a city council meeting: After storming the meeting and killing five people Thursday night, Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton was fatally shot by law enforcers.

People attending church: Five people — including the gunman — were killed, and five others wounded Sunday in the two eruptions of violence 12 hours and 65 miles apart. The pair of shooting sprees occurred at a megachurch in Colorado Springs and a missionary training school near Denver.

[D.R. Middlebrooks]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Officials say a bailiff shot and killed a gunman who opened fire in the lobby of a courthouse in St. Petersburg (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=St.%20Petersburg&sid=breitbart.com), Fla.


They say another bailiff was shot in the shoulder in Wednesday's gunfire.
Pinellas County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner says the man opened fire after approaching a security checkpoint near the entrance of the downtown courthouse.


Authorities have closed the courthouse.


Pinellas County Clerk of Court Ken Burke says it's lucky no one else was hurt. A member of his staff emerged from an elevator just as the shooting was unfolding.

[D.R. Middlebrooks]

Gunman Wounds 3 Outside California Church

LOS ANGELES -- A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a church festival Saturday, wounding his ex-wife and two bystanders before festival-goers grabbed him and held him for police, authorities and a church official said.


Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with people screaming and running for the exit after gunfire rang out on a grassy field where the festival was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish.

Fernando Diaz Jr., 33, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, said Los Angeles Police Officer Ana Aguirre. He was held in Van Nuys jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

"I don't really have too much to say about that. It's a personal thing between me and the church," Diaz said to a KNX-AM reporter before being taken to jail.

When asked if he has an issue with the church, Diaz responded: "The church has an issue with me."

Jeff Sempelsz, a church volunteer was setting up a prize booth when the shooting started.

"It sounded like balloons popping," he said. "I didn't know what it was but I could see the rifle in his hand."

Diaz's 29-year-old wife was wounded in the arm and a 45-year-old man was wounded in the leg. Both were hospitalized in stable condition. A 43-year-old man was hit in the chest and was hospitalized in critical condition.

The victim's names were not released.

"We believe this is an isolated incident, a domestic-violence dispute," said police Capt. Steven Ruiz.

Diaz has a child who attends the church school and has had an ongoing custody dispute with the mother, Ruiz said. Authorities said Diaz was on parole for an unspecified crime, and a restraining order was in place to prevent him from being near the school, his son and wife.

The church's pastor, Father Robert Milbauer, said the festival was about 10 minutes from opening and about 50 volunteers, some accompanied by their children, were busy setting up food and game booths and carnival-style rides when the gunfire began.

"I was walking toward the festival area to say an opening prayer," Milbauer said.

The gunman walked away after the shooting but was quickly grabbed by bystanders, one of whom was an off-duty Burbank police officer. Another off-duty officer, from Los Angeles, produced handcuffs and the group held the man until uniformed officers arrived.

A search of a tennis bag used to carry the rifle uncovered 20 bullet rounds, police said.

William Griffin, a security guard watching the festival entrance, said dozens of people came running toward him.

"I heard someone yell, 'Somebody's shooting. Somebody's shooting.' I turned and saw a man with a long rifle. He was very calm," Griffin said.

The guard said he herded people into the church, then began locking the doors. The man who had been shot in the leg calmly limped in with the others, Griffin said.

The church and school are located in the city's Granada Hills area in the San Fernando Valley, an ordinarily peaceful, multiethnic, middle-class residential neighborhood not far from the historic San Fernando Mission.
The annual festival is held to raise money for the school's building fund.

Associated Press writers Robert Jablon and John Rogers contributed to this story.