One person shot to death at South Florida mall (Xmas Eve)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/24/florida.shooting/index.html

One person was fatally shot and three others were in custody Sunday at the Boynton Beach Mall, north of Fort Lauderdale, police said.

The mall itself, which had been packed on the day before Christmas, was evacuated, and a SWAT team was in the area, said Maj. Frank Brigante of the Boynton Beach Police Department.

The names of those involved in the incident, including the person killed, have not been released.

Dana Palley, a local reporter, told CNN that police cornered the shooter near Dillard's

[karlrschneider]

1. I heard a quick mention of that on the car radio coming home from town,

thought I had misunderstood...guess not. Sheesh...

[VegasWolf]

8. Shame, Boyton Beach uesd to be such a nice place back when I lived in Boca. nt

[flamingyouth]

2. Scary

:(

[Scurrilous]

3. Gunman shot to death by police at Boynton Beach Mall

<snip>

"Police have shot and killed a gunman that opened fire at the busy Boynton Beach Mall, according to police.

A fight at Dillard's became heated and shots were fired Sunday afternoon.

As officers responded to the scene, a man involved in the fight shot at the police and one officer returned fire, killing the gunman, said Boynton Beach Police Lt. Jeff Katz.

Katz would not identify the officer.

At least four people are in custody, police said.

The mall's loud speakers directed Christmas Eve shoppers to evacuate the mall.

At 3:50 p.m. today, security guards were telling people to leave the parking lot.

The mall was expected to be closed for the rest of the day."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16313313.htm

[lib2DaBone]

4. Tommy China Brand

Gunman probably realized that Dillard's sells Made-in-China junk at outrageous markups. Wash it one time and it shrinks up like a postage stamp and the sleeves fall off. He probably tried to get a refund. Save yourself aggravation.... shop at Target where EVERYTHING is made in China and they dont try to hide it. :sarcasm:

[marmar]

5. 1 Dead in Shooting at Crowded Florida Mall

1 dead in shooting at crowded Fla. mall
By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Gunfire erupted at a crowded mall on Christmas Eve afternoon, killing one shopper involved in a fight with the gunman, who also shot at police as he tried to flee, authorities said.

"The suspect ran through the mall and began to fire at officers as they were chasing him through the mall," said Boynton Beach Police Lt. Jeffrey Katz. "Our officers did not return fire."

SWAT team members arrested the suspect after he barricaded himself inside a store at the Boynton Beach Mall, north of Miami, Katz said. It was initially reported three men were arrested, but Katz said "a couple" other men were being questioned by police, Katz said.

The mall was evacuated and no other injuries were reported after the shooting broke out in midafternoon police said.

Sinette White, 19, of Lake Worth, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel she heard popping sounds while getting her nails done and then saw a man on the ground.

She said shoppers gathered around the man as police arrived to give CPR, but then they heard more shots and police told them to take cover. She said the mall was locked down for about an hour before she was evacuated.

A mall spokesman, Sam Yates, said the shooting was outside of a store inside the shopping complex. .......

The rest is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061224/ap_on_re_us/mall_shooting

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. And another mall shooting yesterday

this is ugly. Do you suppose the frenzy of last minute buying made the people snap? The article didn't mention a possible motive for either shooting.

[LiberalHeart]

7. Violence at malls is not unusual...

We had two brawls at a mall where I live within a handful of days of each other since late November and had another in May. Flying chairs and tables in the food court. These are big fights involving 50 people. There was a brawl involving hundreds in Connecticut recently (in November, I think). And in Annapolis three people were shot in a mall fight in November. These events got me to googling mall violence and it's obvious that these places have a problem. It seems that often the fights are in the food court.

Some malls are putting curfews into effect. Some are hiring more security. One that I read about his put a police substation on site and they're paying to run it and staff it with new officers. The mall near me where the brawls have broken out have a "neighborhood office" on site run by the police department. I guess that qualifies as a sort of substation, too.

I've also read that some of the social networking sites like facebook.com serve as a scheduler, letting people know where to show up and when for the fights.

[LisaM]

9. Didn't Florida just pass some BS law where you can shoot

if someone looks at you the wrong way?

Geesh.

[Doctor Venmkan]

11. No, they did not.

To be justified in shooting another person in FL or any other "Castle Doctrine" state, you STILL have to be facing grave danger or imminent death.

Sorry, if someone "looks at you the wrong way," and you shoot him, you'll be in for a nasty shock when they come to haul you to jail.

Please don't fall for the bullshit "Shoot the Avon lady" propaganda that certain groups promote to attack states with Castle Doctrine.

[LisaM]

14. So what was the law they recently passed?

That loosened the gun laws? Are you saying they didn't?

[benEzra]

17. Florida used to have a duty-to-retreat rule...

under which, even if you were faced with a violent attack in which somebody was actually trying to kill you, and you used potentially lethal force in self-defense, you could still be charged with failing to try to run away first even if the shooting was ruled otherwise justifiable. This didn't happen often, but a couple of people got railroaded over the years, and eventually some Floridians made enough noise about the issue that they got the statute in question repealed. This brought Florida's self-defense law more or less into line with that of other states, including California, which has NEVER had a duty-to-retreat requirement.

The Florida law also extended the self-defense rules that apply to households so that they now apply to your car as well (so that if someone carjacks you, you can resist under the same rules that apply to home invasions), and specified that if you are attacked and forced to defend yourself and the shooting is ruled justifiable self-defense, then your attacker cannot sue you for the injuries he suffered while attacking you.

No, you cannot shoot the Avon lady, or someone you merely "feel threatened" by, unless they are carjacking you, breaking into your house, or committing a forcible felony against you.

A few other states passed similar laws last session, but most of those states didn't have duty-to-retreat clauses to start with, so they didn't garner as much attention from the MSM.

[FlaGranny]

10. This is my neighborhood.

My son lives 1 block from this mall and I live less than a mile from it. I've never heard of a problem there before. It is a very busy mall, but quiet. Not much goes on there except shopping. The food court is also quiet. I've never seen any teens or gangs hanging out or anyone else causing any problems there. This is a very busy, but also a very nice area.

Edit: We were all wondering why that helicopter was flying around there today.

[LiberalHeart]

13. The mall where our local brawls have been...

...is also in a "good" area. The mall itself has been upgraded since Westfield bought it and expanded. From what I've read, it looks like some of the fancier malls are running into trouble because they're like small towns with lots of attractions and that draws groups of kids who want to just hang out. Such malls are the victims of their own success in that sense. Also, being on bus lines makes them accessible to kids too young to drive. You get twenty thousand people together and it's probably just a matter of statistics that you're going to have some in that group wanting to make trouble.

[Imagevision]

12. I wonder if they shot him 50 times??

[FlaGranny]

15. Would you believe they didn't shoot him at all?

He was arrested after a chase in which he was shooting at them after he had murdered a fellow shopper. The shooter/murderer was not injured.

[Pavulon]

16. That number is arbitrary

4 officers with 17 rd mags could dump them in seconds. People do not drop dead from pistol hits.

The question is not how many shots but if they were justified to shoot, in the case you refer to.