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posted by takyon on Monday November 06 2017, @02:25AM   Printer-friendly
At Least 26 Dead After Gunman Opens Fire In South Texas Church

Federal authorities are responding to a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a small community southeast of San Antonio.

In a press conference Sunday night, an official from the Texas Department of Public Safety described the scene: Around 11:20 am, the suspect, dressed in black, approached the church and began firing an assault rifle. He then entered the church and continued firing.

Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that at least 26 people were killed. A Texas Department of Public Safety official said the ages of the victims ranged from 5 to 72 years old. The AP reports that the pastor's 14-year-old daughter is among the dead.

The Department of Public Safety confirmed to NPR that at least 20 others were wounded. A DPS official said in the press conference that the gunman was confronted by an armed civilian outside of the church.

The shooter, who was found dead in neighboring Guadalupe County, has been identified as Devin Kelley, 26, a former Air Force member.

 
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @04:27AM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @04:27AM (#592845)

    > ban trucks

    In a way yes. Vehicular terrorism has only made it clearer that our cities need to be redesigned to serve and protect people, and not sacrifice more lives for slightly faster transport. The vehicle deaths from deliberate malicious acts (and terrorism in general) is dwarfed by the number of deaths we accept simple as part of our way of life. What should be the acceptable death toll? How are we so casual about so many deaths?

    For starters traffic calming measures will force drivers to go slower and do more to block them from certain areas and larger vehicle will very likely be banned except at special deliver times. Vehicle licensing and vehicle hire will likely come under greater scrutiny too.

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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday November 06 2017, @04:37AM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday November 06 2017, @04:37AM (#592852) Journal

    I would dearly love to see all that happen, but brother you gotta concede we're dreamers on that one. After, what, 100 years of indoctrination people are not going to give up fast moving traffic or their cars or home delivery because of vehicular attack. The sheer size of the infrastructure shift argues against it. It's not gonna happen in 4 lifetimes.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @07:06AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @07:06AM (#592906)

      Why would they change their way of life in the name of safety? This is just stupid, and the same kind of thing supporters of nonsense like the Patriot Act say.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Monday November 06 2017, @04:54AM (5 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 06 2017, @04:54AM (#592863) Journal

    For starters traffic calming measures will force drivers to go slower and do more to block them from certain areas and larger vehicle will very likely be banned except at special deliver times. Vehicle licensing and vehicle hire will likely come under greater scrutiny too.

    This wouldn't have helped in the situation where the perpetrator legally acquired a moving truck/van, took it to an area where the vehicle was banned, and proceeded to run people over.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @06:10AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @06:10AM (#592888)

      took it to an area where the vehicle was banned

      Don't just ban them; make it impossible to get the large powered vehicle where only bicycles|pedestrians are allowed to be.
      Bollards1 [archive.li]
      Bollards [archive.li]
      Bollard3 [godawn.com]
      A nearby city uses that last thing in multiples at intersection corners.
      They're concrete; 4 feet tall and 2 feet across.
      There's about 2 feet of space between them.

      When CalTrans guys are doing roadwork, between the traffic and the workspace they will set up a series of temporary concrete barriers that are 4 feet tall and 20 feet long.

      This stuff is not rocket surgery.
      The fact that cities have designated places as restricted areas and haven't actually done anything to assure that that is what happens speaks to crappy governments and citizens not holding the politicians' feet to the fire.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 06 2017, @06:36AM (2 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 06 2017, @06:36AM (#592895) Journal
        And those are fine when they work and when you have money to pay for them. The problem is now, you have to put in bollards everywhere that trucks can drive, not just the single NYC bike path.

        The fact that cities have designated places as restricted areas and haven't actually done anything to assure that that is what happens speaks to crappy governments and citizens not holding the politicians' feet to the fire.

        Crappy governments which might not have the resources to put in all those bollards, let us note.

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @06:50AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @06:50AM (#592900)

          Oh, wow! Of course, they are more expensive than the wall! Can't afford them, but can afford a permanent militarized police. And prisons, lots of them.

          Some priorities...

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 06 2017, @07:20AM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 06 2017, @07:20AM (#592915) Journal

            Oh, wow! Of course, they are more expensive than the wall! Can't afford them, but can afford a permanent militarized police. And prisons, lots of them.

            Funny how you don't realize how true those words are. There's no end to the places that will need bollards (and beefier bollards). And of course, when they don't work perfectly, then you'll need the permanent militarized police and prisons to deal with the anti-bollard terrorists.

            Some priorities...

            Back at you.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @06:33PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @06:33PM (#593225)

        This stuff is not rocket surgery.

        I believe the correct term you are looking for is "brain science."