4 wounded in Idaho shooting

[esheato]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4819906.html

MOSCOW, Idaho — Dozens of law enforcement officers surrounded a church Sunday where they believed they had cornered a shooter or shooters who wounded two officers and two civilians, police said.

A city police officer, a Latah County sheriff's deputy and two civilians were shot late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, said David Duke, Moscow's assistant police chief.

The wounded were taken to hospitals. Police declined to release their condition, and few details were immediately available.

The shooting began around 11 p.m. Saturday, when someone began shooting at the Latah County Courthouse, Duke said. Some 75 bullets were fired, and the courthouse, which includes the sheriff's office, was evacuated, he said.

Duke said the victims were shot with an automatic weapon or weapons.

The courthouse is near downtown Moscow, where homes surround it and the local high school.

Streets in the area were barricaded and residents were told to stay inside their homes.

Moscow, a community of about 20,000 people that is home to the University of Idaho, is located 80 miles south of Spokane, Wash.

 

[JeanC]

Turns out one person who went to hospital had cut his hand on a broken bottle and it was coincidence that it happened at the same time as the shootings. So it is only 3 people.

Idaho SWAT team has been flown in and reports are they are going o be entering the church soon. I used to go to that church when I was in high school and it is a good sized building.

News is showing downtown Moscow, there are cop cars from Lewsiton Id and Clarkston WA, both towns 35 miles away. I believe they said we have Pullman WA and WSU officers here also. Pullman is 8 miles from here. Local news has said they've dispatched people from Coeur d'Alene

update:
updated CNN story

 

[JLelli]

Duke said the victims were shot with an automatic weapon or weapons.

That's probably why they were only wounded. It's kinda difficult to aim a full-auto.

 

[jpk1md]

it has been further updated to 2 injured

 

[Glockman17366]

"That's probably why they were only wounded. It's kinda difficult to aim a full-auto."

We don't know what kind of firearm was used at this time. The cops and CNN are speculating, as usual.
Let us wait too...until there is more confirmed information...

 

[coyote_jr]

I wonder how thay came up with that exact number of 75 shots fired already?

 

[Ala Dan]

Even one person injured is far too many; as this old country has far
too many idiots walking a'round in our communities. I blame our very own
justice system for most of the problem; cuz if these kunckleheads were
put away to begin with, then we would live in a safer society. Far too
many times, DA's are allowed to make what I call "sweetheart deals"
with these kind's of perps; resulting in a slap on the wrist, with little
of no time served in a lock-up facility.

 

[2TransAms]

Duke said the victims were shot with an automatic weapon or weapons.

We'll have to wait and see if the press (and police) got this right or not. I think this shooter might have gotten a lot more rounds off if he had a full-auto.

 

[Zen21Tao]

...someone began shooting at the Latah County Courthouse

This must be a mistake, courthouses are "gun free zones." According to the Brady Campaign, which we all know is the ultimate source for all gun related facts, the more guns legally available in an area, the more gun crimes that will occur. Therefore, the shooting they are talking about must have actually happened at a gun range or gun store where lots of guns are legally available.

 

[Zen21Tao]

Fox News is calling this guy a "Sniper" with an automatic weapon. :banghead:

Also, reports are the "Sniper" is dead in the church.

 

[JeanC]

Now reporting two dead in the church, the care taker and the shooter, One of the deceased had a weapon. The bodies were not found together, but both were on the main floor of the church.

They have the hospital on lock down, to keep reporters out for the time being. Which means I can't go see my husband who is there I have to wait until he calls to let me know I can go see him.

Video available at the Spokane stations:

Krem.com
KXLY.com

 

[98C5]

Goes to show the "knowledge" the media has with firearms. No wonder they're so biased.
Idiots.

 

[Cpl Nobbs]

Duke has been using the terms automatic and semi automatic interchangebly as well as "hi powered assualt rifle". current best guess is a 223 of some sort.

and as for the victims, I'm acting as news central for this floor. (I have nothing better to do after all but listen to the media) but the staff can say nothing and have been told almost nothing. and unlike the media I won't speculate.

prayers are requested.

(the media is interviewing it self about how someone could get a gun into a church.)

 

[JeanC]

as of 7:31 am:

Five shot, two dead in Moscow standoff

Associated Press
May 20, 2007

MOSCOW, Idaho - The bodies of two people were found inside a church that had been surrounded by law enforcement officers after two officers and a civilian were wounded in bursts of automatic gunfire from the building, police said Sunday.

About 75 shots were fired in the attack late Saturday, said David Duke, Moscow's assistant police chief. Duke said the attack was apparently an ambush, with the shooter firing into the nearby Latah County Courthouse to lure people into the line of fire.

Tactical officers went into the First Presbyterian Church after a standoff of more than five hours early Sunday and found the bodies of two people inside.

"We believe one of those is our shooter," Duke said.

They do not know who the other person is, and do not know the identity of either person in the church, Duke said.

The semi-automatic rifle believed used to shoot the two officers and the civilian was found with one of the dead people, as was some ammunition and spent shells, he said.

-snip-

 

[answerguy]

When I heard David Duke, Moscow's assistant police chief use the term 'automatic' I thought "Oh boy another person who doesn't know the difference between a semi-automatic and a full automatic weapon". But then he mentioned finding a number of magazines that had been used and thought "Well maybe he does know something; at least he didn't call them clips".

 

[Cpl Nobbs]

ok, they are now interviewing people who knew someone who knows someone who used to go to the church.

their favorite phone in to re re re re re re interview is the one who says one of the cops looked dead (which he says a lot) because he couldn't get through to 911

the two young ladies interviewed actualy gave good decriptions. semi auto, guy shooting up the front of the SO/Court House from the parking lot of the SO. approx 75 - 100 rounds.

suprise suprise. the media decided that matched up with what Duke said!

the media is STILL are trying to figure out how the gun got into the church and how long ago the rifle was smuggled in.

and even though the hospital is in lockdown for people with family in the hospital reporters are allowed in.

and I am hopeing all the activity I am seeing in the halls here on the ward is a good thing.

 

[Zen21Tao]

This reporting is just getting ridiculous. They keep reporting a "sniper spraying automatic gunfire." So now anyone firing ‘a firearm’ (Fox hasn’t yet said if it was a rifle or handgun yet) at others is considered a "sniper"?

It was bad enough when they calling the DC idiots shooting people a few years ago "snipers" when they were simply using an AR15 with a red dot sight to shoot people at ranges between 50-100 yards. That was hardly considered “sniping.

My guess, in this case, is that the shooter killed the person in the church and then took up a position in the church and form there fired into the nearby courthouse with a semi-auto rifle (likely an AR15 or AK). I’m sorry but firing 75 rounds and only wounding 3 people is hardly the work of ‘sniper.’ Those 3 are lucky he was “spraying” fire at them rather than actually taking the well aimed and carefully timed shots customary of a ‘real’ sniper.

 

[MD_Willington]

Was in Moscow yesterday, picking up a couch...

Pretty close to home...

Moscow has had a bad run of luck lately, a University student was shot in the head there a month or so ago...

I inquired about carrying in Church in Moscow ID and it is not prohibited, but I got the standard, "why would you want to" BS from the Latah counties sheriffs office...

lots of bleeding heart lib types in Moscow Id... so expect some new town ordinances, old hippie broads protesting etcetera...

 

[Cpl Nobbs]

word just in

Sherrif Deputy Brannon Jordan survived

Moscow Police Officer Lee Newville died of his wounds

 

[MD_Willington]

IIRC if he was the one that used to do the child safety seat checks, my family knew Lee Newbill.

We went to Moscow today, police everywhere, the streets are cordoned off.

Very surreal and quiet.

This was not a sniping case... just an ambush, the distances are not that far.

Saying an SKS was the rifle used... wouldn't doubt it, you can get them in Moscow, actually one guy was selling a yugo that was pimped out on Palouseads.com, I offered the seller $200 for the rifle... who knows, maybe that was the rifle. You never know.

People in small towns never figure stuff like that will happen... People wonder why I'd like to stay armed, I think this is "case in point"...

 

[Orthonym]

I've already posted on the other thread on this subject, but it seems the sillier topics were more popular.

Joe Huffman, of Boomershoot, lives near there, and has posted pics on his blog.

Look at blog.joehuffman.org.

 

[MD_Willington]

The area is well known to us, my son was born in Gritman, the big brick hospital building in the pictures.

 

[ZeSpectre]

One thing that bugs me is we're doing the same thing here that we need to train the general populace out of.

We're focusing on the tool(s) used and not the criminal. Seriously, automatic, semi-automatic, etc... it really just doesn't matter. What I want to know is details about the person so maybe someone else headed down that road might be noticed and intercepted before they do something similar.

 

[Cpl Nobbs]

this sitution WILL be brought up with the University of Idaho in response to the over riding state law and banning CCW on campus. (funny that the AG'S office still hasn't gotten back to me, only been a month....)

 

[MD_Willington]

Well.. there was an incident a few weeks back where someone was mugged at knife point on campus...

Plenty of folks have no idea what goes on in Moscow or Pullman... both are University towns...

Moscow forgets that they've had more than one shooting in their town lately...