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Home Front: WoT
Two Three Gunmen Open Fire At NY Mall
2005-02-13
Please God, this will be bad enough...if it's Jihadis, it's going to be a very bad week.
Update:
A Central New York mall is still under lockdown tonight after gunmen opened fire inside the shopping center. Police say the gunmen entered the Hudson Valley Mall and started shooting this afternoon. Officials say at least five people were shot. One person was shot in the abdomen and was airlifted to Albany Medical Center. One of the gunmen has been taken into police custody as officials continue to search for other gunmen. At this hour police are evacuating employees from the mall and screening them thoroughly as they exit. A Gap employee told Fox News that mall workers and shoppers were told to move and stay in the back room of the store just after the first shots were fired.

A shopper told CNN by phone that when shots were fired the numerous amount of people filling the mall corridors were tripping over each other trying to exit the building. Hudson Valley Mall is in the Town of Ulster near Kingston and is about 50 miles south of Albany. Several law enforcement agencies are searching the mall for any gunmen that may still be at large. Ulster County officials have scheduled a news conference for 6:00pm.
Posted by:Mike Kozlowski

#18  How did he get an AK-47?

Arent they illegal, as are all fully select-fire weapons, except if you get the federal license?

Or does the press really mean something else - a cut down AK based weapon, like the Mahdi from Egypt?

In either case, small wonder he didnt hit much anything, AK-47's at anything more than a few dozen yars aare very hard to be precise with, especially in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained shooter (I.e. firign form the hip likley, and got all his technique from Rambo movies).
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-02-13 11:13:27 PM  

#17  So much for Gun Control - of either type (restricting guns, or hitting what you aim at).
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-02-13 9:23:45 PM  

#16  How did he get an AK-47?

Arent they illegal, as are all fully select-fire weapons, except if you get the federal license?

Or does the press really mean something else - a cut down AK based weapon, like the Mahdi from Egypt?

In either case, small wonder he didnt hit much anything, AK-47's at anything more than a few dozen yars aare very hard to be precise with, especially in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained shooter (I.e. firign form the hip likley, and got all his technique from Rambo movies).
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-02-13 11:13:27 PM  

#15  So much for Gun Control - of either type (restricting guns, or hitting what you aim at).
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-02-13 9:23:45 PM  

#14  Dressed all in black?

The only hint about the suspect is his age -- 24.

Anyone else smell a jihadi?

Any bets on whether a name and/or motive will be released by tomorrow morning?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-02-13 11:16:47 PM  

#13  How did he get an AK-47?

Arent they illegal, as are all fully select-fire weapons, except if you get the federal license?

Or does the press really mean something else - a cut down AK based weapon, like the Mahdi from Egypt?

In either case, small wonder he didnt hit much anything, AK-47's at anything more than a few dozen yars aare very hard to be precise with, especially in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained shooter (I.e. firign form the hip likley, and got all his technique from Rambo movies).
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-02-13 11:13:27 PM  

#12  More from AP

A lone gunman opened fire with an assault rifle Sunday inside a crowded mall in upstate New York, wounding one person before running out of ammunition and being subdued by employees, authorities said.

The gunman began shooting inside the Hudson Valley Mall shortly after 3 p.m. in Kingston, nearly 90 miles north of New York City.

The 24-year-old gunman went into a Best Buy store and started firing. When he ran out of ammunition, he was captured by mall employees, police said

An Army recruiter was shot in the leg but was not the target of the attack, said Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, a National Guard spokesman. The recruiter was evacuated by helicopter to an Albany hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Another person was injured in the hand, but police said the injury was not a gunshot wound.

Ulster Town Supervisor Fred Wadnola identified the gunman's weapon as an AK-47 assault rifle. snip

Ali Afshar, owner of a mall kiosk, said he saw the gunman being tackled from behind by two men who worked at a sporting goods store. "They hit him and took him to the floor and held him there," Afshar said, adding that the shooter was dressed all in black. snip

Posted by: trailing wife   2005-02-13 10:34:13 PM  

#11  I suppose this is where we utter a prayer of thanks that most criminals are stupid....and in this case, he has poor gun control (thanks, OS).
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-02-13 10:11:56 PM  

#10  So much for Gun Control - of either type (restricting guns, or hitting what you aim at).
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-02-13 9:23:45 PM  

#9  I doubt that many NY'rs have ccw permits.

Not in the southern part of the state, anyway. They're virtually impossible to get if you're not an ex-cop or can show that you make bank deposits in the middle of the night or some such.
Posted by: too true   2005-02-13 8:38:54 PM  

#8  The story on Drudge says that he opened fire with an 'assault rifle' and then says the type of gun wasn't identified. You'd think that this kind of glaring error wouldn't make it past an editor. But what, that would be expecting a reporter actually committing the crime of Journalism instead of propaganda.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-02-13 8:23:45 PM  

#7  Point of order:

Per A.C.'s comment #3, the headline needs to read:

Three Two One Gunman Opens Fire At NY Mall
Posted by: Carl in N.H.   2005-02-13 8:14:40 PM  

#6  One thing's for sure: he's a lousy shot. (thank goodness)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-02-13 7:45:29 PM  

#5  Best Buy. That explains a lot.

Yes, SPoD, that does explain things . . . [roflmao]
Posted by: Jame Retief   2005-02-13 7:33:02 PM  

#4  Best Buy. That explains a lot.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-02-13 6:55:40 PM  

#3  As with any traumatic incident with lots of people around, initial reports were wildly confusing and contradictory. The local police just held a press conference (per Fox and CNN). There was one shooter, a 24 year old male. Witnesses say he was white. He fired several shots in the Best Buy store, there were just two unjuries (one leg wound, one by flying glass). He ran out of ammo and was tackled by store employees. That is all.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-02-13 6:35:30 PM  

#2  I wonder if that mall has/had any armed security folks working there. I doubt that many NY'rs have ccw permits.
Posted by: Chase Unineger3873 aka Jarhead   2005-02-13 6:31:03 PM  

#1  shades of Clancy's "Teeth", huh?
Posted by: Frank G   2005-02-13 6:26:02 PM  

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