Not the Hapless Victims They Seemed At First

They violated regulations to carry their own firearms, risking court-martial for wanting to be able to defend their lives. It appears that they might have gone down fighting, at least a couple of them.

A Navy officer and a Marine fired their sidearms hoping to kill or subdue the gunman who murdered five service members last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to multiple military officials familiar with internal reporting on the tragedy.

It remains unclear whether either hit Muhammad Abdulazeez, who was shot and killed Thursday after he gunned down four Marines and a sailor at the Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga. It's also unclear why they were armed, as it is against Defense Department policy for anyone other than military police or law enforcement to carry weapons on federal property.

A report was distributed among senior Navy leaders during the shooting's aftermath saying Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, the support center's commanding officer, used his personal firearm to engage Abdulazeez, Navy Times has confirmed with four separate sources. A Navy official also confirmed Monday's Washington Post report indicating one of the slain Marines may have been carrying a 9mm Glock and possibly returned fire on the gunman.

Good for them for not being willing victims and dying like heroes. Click the link to read the rest.

Meanwhile, Here In Charlotte...

...where the CIAA Tournament, a basketball event that showcases the talents of players from historical African-American colleges, including Charlotte's own Johnson C. Smith University has been taking place this week, two people were shot in an Uptown Charlotte hotel full of CIAA fans.

Shot in the legs, a practice I have read is called leg warming by the Usual Suspects.®

I'll state up front for the record that in the dozen or so years that Charlotte has hosted this particular event, this is the first Usual Suspect®-style violence I can recall associated with it, probably because for the most part the CIAA alumni are mature individuals in their 30's, 40's and 50's, with some even older. My own hotel this year, however, hosted a busload of younger people - - a band - - in addition to the regular older guests. I can't help wondering...

How You Know You're In the 21st Century

"Finally, a police robot entered the home and told him to surrender."

How you know you're in the United States of America:

"Then the police robot shot and killed the family dog."*









*Just kidding.

Meanwhile, Down In Wilmington, NC...

...police engaged in a gunfight with three armed robbers outside a Pizza Hut restaurant.


Result: two dead robbers and one hospitalized with injuries (gunshot wounds, presumably).

I always like reading stories like this, because it means that two of these lowlifes are permanently out of the violent crime business, and won't ever be plaguing honest citizens ever again. Saves state and local government a lot of money, too.

He Brought a Knife To a Gunfight - - and Won

Which reflects badly on the quality of the thugs in Rock Hell Hill, SC:

A Rock Hill man being held at gunpoint by two teenage boys on Saturday managed to injure one of his attackers with a pocket knife, police say.

At about 11:30 p.m., officers received calls about a possible armed robbery near Hampton Street, according to a Rock Hill police report. When police arrived, they found a man kneeling on the ground with a cut on his head.

The man, 47, told police he was walking home from the store with an 18-pack of Busch Light beer in hand when he noticed two teenage boys, both 16, following him, the report states.

One of the boys brandished a gun, police say, and told the man to “give it up.” When he heard the boy chamber a round in the gun, he grabbed the boy’s arm, took out a pocket knife and swung the knife at the boy.

The man said the boy hit him several times with the handgun before he fled with the other teen, the report states. Police found the discarded 18-pack of beer on the ground, while EMS treated the man, who said he could positively identify his attackers if police found them.

Click the link to read the rest. They boys are now in jail.

Shoot-Out In Rock Hill, SC

A couple of the usual suspects tried to rob members of a band who were parked in an RV outside a club in Rock Hill, SC.

Just after 1 a.m. Tuesday two 22-year-old Rock Hill men, Demorrio Demarcus Burris and Dytavis Hinton, broke into the band's motor home, showed a gun and demanded money.

Scott Thomas grabbed a weapon and demanded the robbery suspects leave, the report states. His brother, a fellow band member, told police the suspect fired first and his brother returned fire, according to the report.

Three people, the suspects and Scott Thomas, were struck by bullets. Thomas was in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, and Hinton was in stable condition Tuesday.

Burris was pronounced dead on the steps inside the RV where officials found him following the shooting.

I'd fault Thomas only for trying to get the two robbers to leave peacefully. If someone is pointing a gun at me and I manage to heel myself, I'm going to shoot that S.O.B. without stopping to discuss it first. He's forfeited his life by breaking into my home and threatening me with deadly force, so I'd have no compunction about shooting him down like the sub-human he is.