Cosmoline
Member
More details have come out about the football game shootout that took place near one of my bike trails a few weeks ago:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime/story/8000599p-7893684c.html
At least they're pretty horrible shots. But if the bystanders hadn't moved quickly for cover and ran away the toll would have been greater. What amazes me is this fight wasn't about money or women or even gang turf. It was over one guy getting too rough in a pickup game of contact football. The shooters--all islanders--just dug out handguns and started blasting away towards each other.
On a tactical level, how do you deal with people like this? How can you even predict when one is going to take offense and go for his gun? The usual rules are right out the window. Look at one crosswise and he may start blasting. Anchorage has always had the mob and various gangs, but these characters are something different. They appear to be motivated by bizarre codes of honor that arise from a mix of island mores with LA gang lifestyle. Combine that with firearms and they're capping rounds at each other left right and center. But how can they so carelessly throw away their own lives, and risk so many others, over something so trivial? Before seeing this gang war unfold I would have said this sort of thing only happens in bad movies.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime/story/8000599p-7893684c.html
Police said their investigation of the scene turned up 53 bullet casings, a mixture of .380, 9 mm and .45-caliber. The casings were strewn from the sideline of the football field to the parking lot.
At least they're pretty horrible shots. But if the bystanders hadn't moved quickly for cover and ran away the toll would have been greater. What amazes me is this fight wasn't about money or women or even gang turf. It was over one guy getting too rough in a pickup game of contact football. The shooters--all islanders--just dug out handguns and started blasting away towards each other.
On a tactical level, how do you deal with people like this? How can you even predict when one is going to take offense and go for his gun? The usual rules are right out the window. Look at one crosswise and he may start blasting. Anchorage has always had the mob and various gangs, but these characters are something different. They appear to be motivated by bizarre codes of honor that arise from a mix of island mores with LA gang lifestyle. Combine that with firearms and they're capping rounds at each other left right and center. But how can they so carelessly throw away their own lives, and risk so many others, over something so trivial? Before seeing this gang war unfold I would have said this sort of thing only happens in bad movies.