Shooting: Kalamazoo, MI (US)

[katmari]

I live in Kalamazoo and here's the news I woke up to this morning :

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/21/us/mi...gankalamazoocountyshootingspree137aVODtopLink

The man accused of killing six people and injuring two more in a Saturday evening shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was an Uber driver who picked up and dropped off passengers between shootings, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

While I didn't know any of the victims, I go by the car dealership and restaurant every day on my way to work. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families and friends who are affected by this senseless trajedy.


The victims:

A woman out walking with her three children (seriously injured but expected to live)

A father and son at a car dealership looking at cars

Four women who went to eat at local restaurant and a 14 year girl (critically injured and thought dead at first)

 

[Cachoo]

How horrible for the families and friends of these people. Why is the shooter in these mass shootings almost always male? I've never understood killing people like this and I don't know why it is a man/boy most of the time.

 

[Buzz]

My thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. (((((@katmari )))))

 

[overedge]

((@katmari)) Every shooting like this is so wrong, but it's particularly horrible when you know where it happened. I felt the same way after the Boston Marathon bombings - I don't live in Boston but I've been there enough times to know the areas that were being talked about on the news, and it made the events even more sad for me.

 

[Fridge_Break]

Ugh, this is too close to home for me. While I grew up about 45 minutes away, I have several cousins, aunts, and uncles that live in Kalamazoo, and my sister lived there for 5 years while she was going to college... I've been there dozens of times. My heart was in my throat when I woke up this morning and saw the news.

 

[Vash01]

Many years ago I spent a couple of weeks in Kalamazoo, MI because my cousin went to school there and I visited him. So I know the little college town. Sad to hear of the shootings. I hope the injured ones survive and make a full recovery.

 

[skatemommy]

my daughter is friends with the 18 year old boy. They had a prayer vigil at her school today.

 

[danceronice]

Apparently the guy had gotten put on social media for Uber users already--apparently he was driving clients at 80mph, sideswiping, and *threw them out*, literally, onto the pavement. BEFORE the day he started killing people. He clearly was starting some kind of mental breakdown or had some sort of uncontrolled mental illness. I don't necessarily disagree with the general concept of Uber but how do you get a review that's basically "Driver was suicidally reckless and literally flung passengers on to the pavement" and not have some system for looking into it?

 

[genevieve]

I don't necessarily disagree with the general concept of Uber but how do you get a review that's basically "Driver was suicidally reckless and literally flung passengers on to the pavement" and not have some system for looking into it?

That's when you bypass the review and go right to contacting 1) the police and 2) Uber.

I think Uber has some issues, but it's pretty clear this is an extreme situation, and no review would have changed the outcome (based on the reports I read, the incident with the passenger happened the same night as, and right before, the killings, not the night before).

http://wwmt.com/news/local/timeline-of-kalamazoo-shooting-spree

 

[katmari]

my daughter is friends with the 18 year old boy. They had a prayer vigil at her school today.

Hugs to you and your daughter (@skatemommy).

Today was a day of where were you when ... The Cracker Barrel restaurant is located right down the street from where I work so that hit people hard -- We've all eaten there and feel a personal connection.

President Obama's statement about the shootings:

https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/701810557817585664

 

[Cachoo]

Today's mass shooting: Hesston, KS and apparently the shooter finished unloading his gun on people in the last two hours. It never stops.