Thread: Gunman in Virgina Kills 8 & Shoots Down Police Helicopter

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news...ginia-shooting

APPOMATTOX, Va. - A lone shooter killed eight people in central Virginia, with seven bodies found at one home, police said Tuesday.

State police said officers had the suspect, Christopher Speight, 39, circled in the woods late Tuesday near the home and they believed he was still alive. The eighth shooting victim was found on the side of the road and died on the way to the hospital, police said. All the victims were adults and both men and women were killed, state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar said.

Police refused to speculate on a motive and would not say what type of weapon was used. Molnar also gave no background on the suspect.

The drama paralyzed the rural area as police swarmed forests trying to flush out the suspect who, at one point in the manhunt, fired at a state police helicopter, forcing it to land with a ruptured fuel tank. No police were injured after one or more rounds struck the helicopter.

Canine units and a National Guard helicopter with thermal imaging equipment were being used to search the woods.

"They are searching the area and will continue until the suspect is apprehended," Molnar said.

The violence began shortly after noon when the injured man was found on a rural stretch of road. A deputy who went to investigate fled after he heard gunshots, police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said.

"When the deputy arrived on the scene, that's when he heard several shots," Molnar said.

Police did not release the victims' names or the suspect's possible relationship to them.

Authorities told nearby residents to stay inside and a small Christian school was locked down until state police could escort about 60 children from the building.

Resident Bethel Hawkins said police warned families to lock their doors in an area with many senior citizens.

"We're just being cautious, keeping our doors locked, not going outside," said Hawkins, who lives about 2 miles up the road from where the shootings occurred. "Our church service is supposed to be tonight, but we talked with our pastor and told him we're not coming out. We're not going out in the dark not knowing what's out there. But we trust in the Lord to take care of us."

Appomattox is in a county of about 15,000 approximately 100 miles southwest of Richmond. It is best known as the place where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to end the Civil War.

Another black-eye to all the law abiding gun owners.

It will be interesting to see what weapon(s) he had.

"A deputy who went to investigate fled after he heard gunshots, police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said."


The deputy fled?
Really?
Did he not have a gun or something?

"Shoots Down Police Helicopter"

Sensationalized just like a professional liberal/mainstream media 'reporter.'

Originally Posted by Bello425

Another black-eye to all the law abiding gun owners.

Yup...

Wow, this guy was totally crazed or what. I think I will blow the helicopter out if the sky.
One to many die hard flicks...
I cant belive the deputy chicken di-ck ran the other way. Did he leave the injured guy behind?

iam with you logical 1 did the police officer leave the hurt man if he did then maybe if he had tryed to help at frist he may have lived

A sheriff said he believed the killer had had weapons training, based on arms found in the house.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8469931.stm


What? Just because he had certain guns or a number of guns that means he had training?

"A sheriff said he believed the killer had had weapons training, based on arms found in the house."

Just because one owns a piano, doesn't make one a musician. My oh my!

Me thinks we should quit with the finger pointing of the responding LE running away, not enough info. given. Can't save anyone if you yourself are injured or dead.

I don't blame the police officer for leaving myself. The dude was in the woods, probably had cover and a rifle or 2. The criminal had the tactical advantage. I think it wise that he retreated and called for backup myself. Hopefully this is not a legal gunowner gone mad for our sake.

Originally Posted by wichaka

"A sheriff said he believed the killer had had weapons training, based on arms found in the house."

Just because one owns a piano, doesn't make one a musician. My oh my!

Me thinks we should quit with the finger pointing of the responding LE running away, not enough info. given. Can't save anyone if you yourself are injured or dead.

+1 So does that mean that if I have an ax and a chainsaw that I am a trained timber worker? I have a weed whacker, several shovels, and rakes. Does that make me a professional landscaper?

Jeesh!

Apparently he was a legal gun owner and considered a nice guy to all. He regularly practiced with his firearms at a backyard range. This does not look good for us.

Originally Posted by DeLorean

Apparently he was a legal gun owner and considered a nice guy to all. He regularly practiced with his firearms at a backyard range. This does not look good for us.

Where's it say this? I didn't see it in the article.

Originally Posted by NK777

Where's it say this? I didn't see it in the article.

Another article. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583389,00.html

Originally Posted by DeLorean

Another article. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583389,00.html

Oh man that sucks! He slowly went insane and nobody took his weapons away from him. FWIW I support disarming people with a progressive mental condition.

Originally Posted by NK777

Oh man that sucks! He slowly went insane and nobody took his weapons away from him. FWIW I support disarming people with a progressive mental condition.

Who should that determination be made by?

Generally, I'm against any law that would discourage a gun owner from seeking treatment for a mental health issue out of fear that his guns would be taken away.


IMHO, I think Oregon has it about right - mental illness is only disqualifying after a person has been committed by a judge. Some states prohibit anyone being treated for a psychiatric condition from owning guns, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Given the number of people on this forum, I'll bet that at least two or three dozen members have either been (or coould have been) treated for a mental health condition, and up to half a dozen or so have chronic conditions.

There are obvious cases where a mental condition would lead to disaster if a person was armed. Schizophrenia (as one example) often includes excessive paranoia and a propensity for unpredictable violence. The trouble is that someone has to make the determination as to what constitutes an illness sufficient to justify disarming someone; bear in mind that this decision will be made by a politician and it will be backed up by (but not actually BASED ON) compiled research from respected names in the psych community.

Sort of like global warming legislation was backed up with compiled "research" from respected names in the scientific community.

The inevitable conclusion will be: Having conservative values is a "progressive mental condition" because it goes against what are popularly recognized as "reason" and "common sense."

As I see it, by the time a judge makes that determination of people can get hurt.

I don't have the answer, but I think we can all agree there's people who have not been deemed by the courts as "nuts", but also should not be packing guns around.

A nasty 2 edged sword.

Originally Posted by ZachS

Who should that determination be made by?

Generally, I'm against any law that would discourage a gun owner from seeking treatment for a mental health issue out of fear that his guns would be taken away.


IMHO, I think Oregon has it about right - mental illness is only disqualifying after a person has been committed by a judge. Some states prohibit anyone being treated for a psychiatric condition from owning guns, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Given the number of people on this forum, I'll bet that at least two or three dozen members have either been (or coould have been) treated for a mental health condition, and up to half a dozen or so have chronic conditions.

An interesting point but being that my sister is mentally ill (Schizophrenia) I supose I am a wee bit biased here. Having a nut case as a sister gives one a unique prospective I assure you. At one point she believed she was the second coming of Christ and could comunicate directly with God. Scary stuff, since outside of this the only time I've heard of people that think they talk directly to the big guy was in a news articles about somebody sending their children to God because God told them to in order to protect them from the big bad world. I supose I should rephrase and say I support those with serious mental illness should not be allowed to have firearms. This is clearly the case with this guy IMHO.

Minor and very treatable mental illnesses should not apply I agree.