Thursday, May 31, 2012

Brother of man who shot and killed five people said "we could see this coming"


On Wednesday morning, 40-year-old Ian Stawicki walked into the Cafe Racer restaurant in Seattle, Washington and shot five people. Four of them died. About a half an hour later, Stawicki fatally shot a woman in a parking lot and drove off in her SUV. Four hours later, with police closing in on him, Stawicki knelt down on a city sidewalk and shot himself in the head.
His brother, Andrew, said over the past five years or so Stawicki had changed. "Angry. He was really angry toward everything," Andrew said. "It's no surprise to me this happened. We could see this coming. Nothing good is going to come with that much anger inside of you."
Stawicki had been collecting guns for years and had a concealed weapons permit. He was arrested in 2008 on a domestic-violence charge and in 2010 for fourth-degree assault but both charges were dismissed.
According to his father, Walt, the family knew Stawicki was troubled, but there was nothing they could do to get the concealed carry permit revoked.
"The response to us was, there's nothing we can do, he's not a threat to himself or others, or we haven't had a report of it, or we haven't had to pick him up - call us when its worse," Walt said in a radio interview. "And now it's too late - much worse now, six people are dead."

Monday, May 21, 2012

Woman convicted of threatening teens with gun

33-year-old Susan Sin Desantiago, of Chesterfield, Virginia, claimed she was acting in self-defense when she pulled a 9mm handgun from her car, waved it at a group of teens standing in the road, and held the gun to the head of a 16-year-old girl. But a judge rejected her plea and agreed with the prosecutor who argued, "You don't get to claim self-defense when you're the aggressor."
Desantiago, a law abiding citizen with no criminal record, was found guilty of brandishing a weapon and assault. She was sentenced to 12 months with 10 months suspended on the brandishing charge and to 12 months with all but two weeks suspended on the assault count.
Desantiago was on her way to a doctor's appointment when she passed a group of teenagers who had just gotten off the school bus. Desantiago said the 16-year-old girl cursed at her, and she stopped to admonish the girl about her language, which led to more cursing. Desantiago returned to her home and then headed out again. She said that the teens blocked her path and she panicked and grabbed a gun from the console in her car. The 16-year-old testified that Desantiago walked up to her and placed the gun to her head. "I thought she was going to shoot me."
At that point Desantiago's husband appeared and took the gun from his wife. He testified that the gun used was his, and he put in the car for her protection, "I keep it there for my wife," he said.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Drunk, armed Eastern Wash U. student pulls gun on police

21-year-old Chandler Gayton, of Cheney, Washington, was out drinking at Eagle's Pub. Police were called on a report of a fight where a suspect had reportedly pulled a gun. When police arrived they found Gayton outside, urinating on a wall. They told him to stop, at which point he allegedly turned around and pulled a loaded 9mm handgun out of his pocket.
After some tense moments, police were able to get Gayton to comply with their demands to drop the gun and lay down on the ground. He was then arrested and charged with intimidation with a weapon and possession of a firearm in a controlled place.
Gayton has a concealed weapons permit however, under Washington law it is illegal to have a firearm in a bar.
Gayton is a student at Eastern Washington University and a defensive back on the EWU football team. As a result of this incident he has been kicked off the football team and suspended from the university. The university will decide if he can continue to attend classes at a code of conduct hearing.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Anti-illegal Immigrant Extremist Kills 3 Generations of Women Before Killing Himself


39-year-old J.T. Ready, of Gilbert, Arizona, was a well-known anti-illegal immigrant extremist. He was one of the founders of the U.S. Border Guard, a fringe militia group that took it upon themselves to hunt undocumented immigrants and drug gangs in the Arizona desert. He had also been a member of the Minutemen Project, the Maricopa County GOP Precint Committee, had run for Mesa City Council and was running for Pinal County sheriff.
But the Southern Poverty Law Center called Ready an "outright Neo-Nazi" who advocated using deadly force on the border. And he was described as "cruel and controlling" by someone who knew him.
On Wednesday, Ready shot and killed his girlfriend, Lisa Mederos, her daughter, Amber, Amber's boyfriend Jim Hiott, and Amber's 16-month-old daughter Lilly. He then turned the gun on himself.
Lisa's 19-year-old daughter was in the house and heard the gunfire but was not wounded. Reports said she either survived the spree or was the person who discovered the bloodbath.
Even though Ready had been arrested several times and was court-martialed twice while in the Marines, none of the charges put him a category that prohibited him from legally possessing firearms.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

North Carolina man objecting to neighbor's political sign shoots it

A North Carolina man objected to a sign his neighbor put up that asked people to vote against an upcoming amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. Not only did the man decide to express his dislike by shooting the sign, he took the additional step of filming the shooting and putting it up on YouTube.

The Kannopolis, North Carolina police department is investigating to see "what will be classified a crime if the shotgun was fired onto property that includes a home or business."