Terror And Murder In Colorado

[Gob]

Last Friday's mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, in which 12 people were brutally gunned down and more than 50 people injured, is only the latest tragedy involving rampant gun violence sweeping the nation, according to a prominent anti-gun group.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit lobbying group, has compiled an extensive list of the last 431 shootings with more than one victim since 2005, sharing their data with the Daily Beast to create an elaborately detailed map that depicts the unimaginable scope of the senseless horrors.

The organization's data says that since 2005, there has been a multiple-victim shooting every 5.9 days in the United States, with 87 people dying of bullet wounds each day. The most dangerous city for mass shootings is Chicago, the organization said, which has suffered through 17 shootings and resulting in 30 deaths and 72 injuries. Of those shootings, thirteen occurred in public places.

New Orleans, Kansas City and Philadelphia were all tied for the second bloodiest American cities, with nine shootings in the seven-year span.

The map, which was created by Daily Beast interactive designer Michael Keller and data scientist Brian Abelson, organizes each shooting by the city, state, number of casualties and number injured, as well as whether or not the incidents were gang related or not and whether or not they occurred in a public place.

Users can also enter in an address and find out the nearest mass shooting that has occurred near their homes, schools or place of work. The map also links to news articles and personal testimonies of people affected by the shootings to provide a chilling context to the data visualization.

Map can be found here.

[Gob]

Hans Zimmer has created a musical composition, "Aurora", with 100% of the money from sales being donated to victims of the shooting.

Warner Bros. is also donating an undisclosed amount to charities to help the victims.

While recognising the good work and charity of these people, isn't it a shame that some may have had to rely on charity in any case?

Some victims of last week’s shooting in Aurora, Colo., won’t have to worry about paying the costly medical bills associated with their treatment and immediate recovery from their gunshot wounds.

Three of the Colorado hospitals that took in victims from the mass shooting at a midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” have announced that the will limit or completely wipe out the medical bills, the Associated Press reported. The victims are mostly young and many are without health insurance, the report noted.

Children’s Hospital Colorado, which treated six shooting victims, announced it is using donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. For those with insurance, the hospital is waiving all co-pays for shooting victims.

“We are committed to supporting these families as they heal,” a statement released by the hospital read.

HealthOne, which owns the Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center, also says it will limit or eliminate charges based on the individual circumstances of the patients. The two hospitals have treated 22 shooting victims.

The victims still face a long and possibly costly recovery. The associated medical costs are expected to remain high as they enter the rehabilitation phase of their recovery

The Colorado shooting victims have had help elsewhere. Warner Bros., the studio that released “The Dark Knight Rises” contributed $2 million to help victims pay their bills and other families have taken to online fundraisers to help with the costs.

One of those victims, 23-year-old aspiring comic Caleb Medley, remained in critical condition with a head wound as his wife, Katie, gave birth to their first child on Tuesday. His friends have started a fundraiser with a goal of collecting $500,000 for hospital bills and other expenses, the Associated Press reported. By Wednesday they were almost halfway there.

“All the money that is donated is going straight to Caleb, Katie and Hugo to help them with medical bills, getting back on their feet, help with the baby items,” friend Michael West told the Associated Press. “Anything and everything that they need.”

There are still 17 Colorado shooting victims being treated at area hospitals, and though they varying sizes of bills, there is on common denominator–they all owe a lot of money. Caleb Medley’s family estimates that his medical bills just for the immediate recovery will top $2 million.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/286064/colorad ... ftLTR77.99

[rubato]

Is there any reason we can't make people take the MMPI when buying a firearm or to qualify to buy ammunition?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_ ... _Inventory

yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

Hey, you don't want your militia to be too well regulated!

...or even regulated, at all.

...or even well.

[Gob]

[rubato]

Where the hell did that crude bit of photoshopping and clumsy lying come from?

yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

Not photoshopping, and what is the "lie"?

CALDWELL, Idaho (KBOI) - A Caldwell billboard is raising questions in the Treasure Valley as it compares President Obama to accused Colorado killer, James Holmes.

The billboard on Franklin Road equates the actions of the president's foreign policies to the acts of Holmes, who's suspected of killing 12 people in the theater shooting.

The group that owns the board, The Ralph Smeed Foundation, says it wants to draw attention to military men and women dying overseas.

"(It's) way over the line, and I am not an Obama supporter," Lynn Davis Hathaway, said on the KBOI 2News Facebook page.

A spokesman for the group says everyone has the right to their own opinion. | Additional photos of the billboard

Ashley Helton, who also wrote on Facebook, agrees with the group.

"It's a free country, this group has a right to voice their opinion no matter what anyone thinks about it," Helton said.

President Obama recently visited the Pacific Northwest - making stops in Portland and Seattle.




http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/billboa ... 65466.html

[Lord Jim]

"(It's) way over the line, and I am not an Obama supporter," Lynn Davis Hathaway, said on the KBOI 2News Facebook page.

That pretty much sums up my view....

But we allow folks like the nazis, and the Westboro cultists do their thing in the public square; this sort of expression of free speech, (even speech that is loathsome and shocking) is part of the unfortunate price we pay for living in a free society.

Stuff like this really says more about the folks who put up the billboard than it does anything else....

[Sean]

Hans Zimmer has created a musical composition, "Aurora", with 100% of the money from sales being donated to victims of the shooting.

Warner Bros. is also donating an undisclosed amount to charities to help the victims.

While recognising the good work and charity of these people, isn't it a shame that some may have had to rely on charity in any case?

Some victims of last week’s shooting in Aurora, Colo., won’t have to worry about paying the costly medical bills associated with their treatment and immediate recovery from their gunshot wounds.

Three of the Colorado hospitals that took in victims from the mass shooting at a midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” have announced that the will limit or completely wipe out the medical bills, the Associated Press reported. The victims are mostly young and many are without health insurance, the report noted.

Children’s Hospital Colorado, which treated six shooting victims, announced it is using donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. For those with insurance, the hospital is waiving all co-pays for shooting victims.

“We are committed to supporting these families as they heal,” a statement released by the hospital read.

HealthOne, which owns the Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center, also says it will limit or eliminate charges based on the individual circumstances of the patients. The two hospitals have treated 22 shooting victims.

The victims still face a long and possibly costly recovery. The associated medical costs are expected to remain high as they enter the rehabilitation phase of their recovery

The Colorado shooting victims have had help elsewhere. Warner Bros., the studio that released “The Dark Knight Rises” contributed $2 million to help victims pay their bills and other families have taken to online fundraisers to help with the costs.

One of those victims, 23-year-old aspiring comic Caleb Medley, remained in critical condition with a head wound as his wife, Katie, gave birth to their first child on Tuesday. His friends have started a fundraiser with a goal of collecting $500,000 for hospital bills and other expenses, the Associated Press reported. By Wednesday they were almost halfway there.

“All the money that is donated is going straight to Caleb, Katie and Hugo to help them with medical bills, getting back on their feet, help with the baby items,” friend Michael West told the Associated Press. “Anything and everything that they need.”

There are still 17 Colorado shooting victims being treated at area hospitals, and though they varying sizes of bills, there is on common denominator–they all owe a lot of money. Caleb Medley’s family estimates that his medical bills just for the immediate recovery will top $2 million.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/286064/colorad ... ftLTR77.99

[off topic]THIS is why the Olympic opening ceremony celebrated the NHS the other night![/off topic]

[Gob]

A 22-year-old woman who suffered dozens of shotgun wounds when Batman shooter James Holmes opened fire in a cinema has posted a shocking photo of her injuries.

Carli Richards, was shot on her right arm, both of her legs, chest, back and rear by James Holmes, 24, during his shooting rampage at a midnight screening of the Dark Knight Rises.

Today she called for the death penalty for Holmes, saying 'I think death by firing squad would be totally justified ... Just injecting him is painless.'

[dales]

Today she called for the death penalty for Holmes, saying 'I think death by firing squad would be totally justified ... Just injecting him is painless.'

Utah is the only state which uses a firing squad, and since CO has executed just one person since 1976.....

[Big RR]

I think Utah banned firing squad executions around 2005, although all those on death row still have the option for that method. It may still be on the books in Oklahoma.

[dales]

Go here:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

You're correct, Big RR.

[Gob]

James Holmes 'ponders guilty plea' to avoid death penalty

Lawyers for the man accused of killing 12 cinema-goers last July in Aurora, Colorado, say he is prepared to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.

The attorneys said in a court motion that James Holmes, 25, was "currently willing to resolve the case".

Prosecutors are expected to announce next Monday whether they will pursue capital punishment.

The attack, at a midnight screening of Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, was one of America's worst mass shootings.

The accused is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.

A judge entered a not guilty plea for Mr Holmes on 12 March after lawyers said he was not ready to plead.

Prosecutors say the defendant planned the massacre for months, amassing a small arsenal and rigging explosive booby-traps in his apartment.

"Mr Holmes is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceedings to a speedy and definite conclusion for all involved," the lawyers wrote in the motion, as reported by the Denver Post.

They added that the prosecution had not yet responded to the plea deal, and their attempt to seek the death penalty would be the "only impediment to a resolution of this case".

Defence lawyers had previously raised questions about the accused's mental health, leading analysts to believe Mr Holmes would plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

At the 12 March hearing, they said a plea would not be ready until May or June. The trial is currently scheduled for August.

In the motion, lawyers for Mr Holmes said they would "vigorously present and argue any and all appropriate defences" if the offer was rejected.

[Lord Jim]

I can't imagine the prosecutors in this case accepting a deal that would allow this piece of garbage to escape the death penalty. (I think the fact that they plan to announce their decision on Monday indicates this is extremely unlikely; If they were going to cut a deal they'd announce it late friday afternoon to try and get the least possible press coverage and public attention and then scoot out of town for the weekend; news that's going to be widely unpopular is always dumped out late on a Friday.)

The public outcry in Colorado would be enormous if they cut a deal. The fact he seems so eager to avoid it is all the more reason to pursue it. It's not like this is going to be a tough case to prove.

[Crackpot]

Depends how the Colorado "insanity" laws are written.

[Gob]

A Colorado man who shot and killed 12 people in a cinema in 2012 was found sane by two experts immediately following the attack, prosecutors say.




James Holmes, 27, has admitted the killings, but pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity. Mr Holmes opened fire during the midnight premiere of a Batman film in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2012.

Officials say he was wearing body armour, threw smoke canisters and shot at people trying to escape. If the jury finds him not guilty on grounds of insanity, he will spend the rest of his life in a mental institution for the criminally insane.

Otherwise he faces the death penalty.

During opening statements on Monday, District Attorney George Brauchler said both mental health evaluators agreed on Mr Holmes' mental state at the time of the attack. "Both of them said the same thing - that the guy was sane when he tried to murder all those people in the theatre," he said.

Prosecutors have argued the attack was clearly premeditated, with Mr Holmes planning and amassing weapons for months, as well as elaborately booby-trapping his apartment to kill anyone who tried to enter. His parents wrote a letter to the Denver Post in December calling for his life to the spared.

Robert and Arlene Holmes said their son was "not a monster", but suffers from severe mental illness.

The trial comes after two and a half years of complicated legal questions related to the death penalty and the insanity plea, and after nearly three months of jury selection. The mental health evaluations could be a key factor. Judge Carlos Samour ordered a second mental health exam after prosecutors said the first one was biased. Defence lawyers objected to a second test.

At the time of the shooting, Mr Holmes was a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver, but was withdrawing from his studies after failing a key exam. When he was arrested, Mr Holmes' hair had been dyed red in an apparent reference to the Joker, a Batman villain. He appeared dazed in his first court appearance, and cameras were banned from further hearings.

[Lord Jim]

Officials say he was wearing body armour, threw smoke canisters and shot at people trying to escape. If the jury finds him not guilty on grounds of insanity, he will spend the rest of his life in a mental institution for the criminally insane.

Otherwise he faces the death penalty.

That's somewhat misleading (and also inaccurate)...

Yes, he "faces" the DP, (the prosecution is seeking the DP) but he could also get LWOP...(guess which one I favor)

Also, if he were found not guilty by reason of insanity, (which isn't going to happen) there's no guarantee he would spend "the rest of his life" in a mental hospital.

[MajGenl.Meade]

LWOP - sounds like a Spanish word for an Italian

[wesw]

judging by his new orange hair, he may have gotten the DP already....