From the Charleston Gazette Editorial Page
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Editorials/200308159
August 16, 2003
Insanity
Sniper stalking valley?
Horribly, three Kanawha countians mysteriously were shot to death at service stations this week — a ghastly sequence that smacks of the psychotic pair of snipers who killed 13 in the Washington, D.C., region and southern states in a three-week spree last October.
Sunday night, Gary Carrier Jr., 44, of South Charleston, a father of four, was killed by a bullet to the head as he used a pay phone at the Bigley Avenue Go-Mart.
Thursday night, Jeanie Patton, 31, a school cook, was killed by a bullet to the head as she pumped gas into her car at the Campbells Creek Speedway mart near her home.
About an hour later, Okey Meadows, 26, was killed by a bullet to the head as he paid for milk at an outside cashier’s window at the Cedar Grove Go-Mart.
Is a mentally ill sniper, or snipers, cruising the Kanawha Valley, gunning down nighttime customers at convenience stores, just for warped thrills? Police aren’t sure — but they have no other explanation, so far. The notion is almost too monstrous to contemplate.
Until an answer is known, and the danger ended, West Virginians should exercise caution while in public places. However, the peril from a crazed sniper is so unpredictable that it might be impossible to take protective action.
West Virginia is suffering an epidemic of shootings this month — but most of the others seem to have discernible explanations. Here are some Mountain State news items:
Aug. 2 — Dennis Lovejoy, 44, of St. Albans, was charged with firing many pistol shots at a car on U.S. 60 in a “road rage†incident — reportedly because occupants of the car laughed at him.
Aug. 3 — Harl Hager, 30, of Lincoln County, was shot twice, and Amy Linville was charged with malicious wounding.
Aug. 5 — Don Spears, 69, of Wyoming County, was shot to death as he sat in a reclining chair at his home, and a companion, Nicky Stanley, 45, was critically wounded.
Aug. 9 — When a Greenbrier County deputy stopped an Ohio car, the driver pulled a gun, wounded the officer, and sped away. The driver, John Mayhew Jr. of Columbus, then killed his teenage daughter, who was sitting beside him in the car, police say, and tried to kill himself. Mayhew faces two other murder charges in Ohio.
Aug. 11 — George E. Jones Jr., 31, of Rand, was charged with shooting at his father. The father, reportedly wounded in the abdomen, couldn’t be found.
Aug. 12 — Garth Vance Lester III, 25, of Raleigh County, was charged with shooting his 5-year-old son to death, and trying to kill himself, after a raging dispute with his wife.
Aug. 14 — Duane Harris, 27, and Danielle Thrift, 19, were shot to death as they sat in a parked Cadillac on Charleston’s West Side. Harris was a notorious drug dealer, and the teenage girl’s former boyfriend, Roger Foye, was killed in an apparent botched drug deal last month.
All these horrors have one common element — guns. Easy access to murder instruments in gun-polluted West Virginia makes it easy for sickos to “waste†others. Carrying concealed pistols is common among drunks, psychos, raging husbands, cocaine dealers, teenagers and others who shouldn’t be armed.
Authorities make little attempt to disarm these dangerous people. Gun-control laws are pathetically weak, because politicians fear the votes of gun-lovers. Even if the laws were toughened, it might be impossible to find and confiscate all the illegal pistols.
When gun horrors erupt, the “right to bear arms†lobby always says the victims should have been armed, so they could shoot back. Apply that proposal to the 5-year-old Raleigh County boy killed by his father — or the three unsuspecting customers shot in the head at convenience stores — and you’ll see that the lobby’s cure is as grotesque as the daily news.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Editorials/200308159
August 16, 2003
Insanity
Sniper stalking valley?
Horribly, three Kanawha countians mysteriously were shot to death at service stations this week — a ghastly sequence that smacks of the psychotic pair of snipers who killed 13 in the Washington, D.C., region and southern states in a three-week spree last October.
Sunday night, Gary Carrier Jr., 44, of South Charleston, a father of four, was killed by a bullet to the head as he used a pay phone at the Bigley Avenue Go-Mart.
Thursday night, Jeanie Patton, 31, a school cook, was killed by a bullet to the head as she pumped gas into her car at the Campbells Creek Speedway mart near her home.
About an hour later, Okey Meadows, 26, was killed by a bullet to the head as he paid for milk at an outside cashier’s window at the Cedar Grove Go-Mart.
Is a mentally ill sniper, or snipers, cruising the Kanawha Valley, gunning down nighttime customers at convenience stores, just for warped thrills? Police aren’t sure — but they have no other explanation, so far. The notion is almost too monstrous to contemplate.
Until an answer is known, and the danger ended, West Virginians should exercise caution while in public places. However, the peril from a crazed sniper is so unpredictable that it might be impossible to take protective action.
West Virginia is suffering an epidemic of shootings this month — but most of the others seem to have discernible explanations. Here are some Mountain State news items:
Aug. 2 — Dennis Lovejoy, 44, of St. Albans, was charged with firing many pistol shots at a car on U.S. 60 in a “road rage†incident — reportedly because occupants of the car laughed at him.
Aug. 3 — Harl Hager, 30, of Lincoln County, was shot twice, and Amy Linville was charged with malicious wounding.
Aug. 5 — Don Spears, 69, of Wyoming County, was shot to death as he sat in a reclining chair at his home, and a companion, Nicky Stanley, 45, was critically wounded.
Aug. 9 — When a Greenbrier County deputy stopped an Ohio car, the driver pulled a gun, wounded the officer, and sped away. The driver, John Mayhew Jr. of Columbus, then killed his teenage daughter, who was sitting beside him in the car, police say, and tried to kill himself. Mayhew faces two other murder charges in Ohio.
Aug. 11 — George E. Jones Jr., 31, of Rand, was charged with shooting at his father. The father, reportedly wounded in the abdomen, couldn’t be found.
Aug. 12 — Garth Vance Lester III, 25, of Raleigh County, was charged with shooting his 5-year-old son to death, and trying to kill himself, after a raging dispute with his wife.
Aug. 14 — Duane Harris, 27, and Danielle Thrift, 19, were shot to death as they sat in a parked Cadillac on Charleston’s West Side. Harris was a notorious drug dealer, and the teenage girl’s former boyfriend, Roger Foye, was killed in an apparent botched drug deal last month.
All these horrors have one common element — guns. Easy access to murder instruments in gun-polluted West Virginia makes it easy for sickos to “waste†others. Carrying concealed pistols is common among drunks, psychos, raging husbands, cocaine dealers, teenagers and others who shouldn’t be armed.
Authorities make little attempt to disarm these dangerous people. Gun-control laws are pathetically weak, because politicians fear the votes of gun-lovers. Even if the laws were toughened, it might be impossible to find and confiscate all the illegal pistols.
When gun horrors erupt, the “right to bear arms†lobby always says the victims should have been armed, so they could shoot back. Apply that proposal to the 5-year-old Raleigh County boy killed by his father — or the three unsuspecting customers shot in the head at convenience stores — and you’ll see that the lobby’s cure is as grotesque as the daily news.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
isn't there some sort of law on the books against this BS?