Ricochet article Police Kill Suspect in Apparent Hostage Situation at Amarillo, TX Walmart A SWAT team shot and killed a man who allegedly took hostages at a Walmart in Amarillo, TX Tuesday. According to the Amarillo Police Department, the suspect is a Somali man identified as Mohammed Moghaddam and they found an empty holster and notes with Arabic writing in his vehicle. No one else in the store was reported to have been harmed. Police said there appears to be no link to Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando and that at this time there is no reason to believe that this was any act of terrorism or in any way linked to a political ideology. Police said they are classifying the incident as an instance of workplace violence. Just another Muslim refugee taking Americans hostage. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Armed citizens don't make violent crime impossible, and no one's ever claimed otherwise. Even in Texas, the percentage of people carrying is quite low. But there are plenty of stories out there about armed citizens stopping bad guys. Remember that if a bad guy shoots 5 people, it makes the national news, but if a good guy shoots a bad guy before he can do that, you'll never hear about it unless you live in that town. The national news doesn't cover stories where mass carnage was averted.
People in Amarillo are just pissed because it took 'em so long to find the way to it in the first place. It's bound to lead to violence.
Those type of situations can be squirrly anyway. If you happen upon a car jacking or mugging in progress, how can you be sure which one's the perp and which one's the victim? Best just to call the cops.
IIRC, this is also one of the reasons "good guy with a gun" doesn't work out so well in shooting scenarios - killer walks in and opens fire, two or more people draw but who's the target? There's at least two guys each can see with a drawn weapon. OK, if it's a mass shooting it's most likely the guy with the assault rifle (although I wouldn't count on that in open-carry states!), but...
It depends on the situation. Sometimes a "good guy with a gun" can, and has saved lives. Sometimes it can, and has made it worse. The more training the "good guy" has (including training on when not to engage), the better (or at least not worse) the likely outcome IMHO.
How come you or the article you linked to didn't mention important details like he was an employee, @gturner : Link Lazy.
Misplaced anger -- it wouldn't have taken so long to reach Amarillo if they hadn't broken their legs in Santa Fe.
