Maine US Mass Shooting: Awesome Systems Brought Into Play - After A Major Systems Failure
Overview
The impressive briefing above took place in Maine last Saturday.
Well above par for such things. The body of a mentally-disturbed killer of 18, a highly trained ex-military marksman, had just been discovered inside the trailer of an 18-wheeler overlooked in the first search of a likely area.
He had a gunshot wound to the head - from a military style weapon designed to quickly kill many people in combat.
The lead briefer is the Maine equivalent of the head of a national public-safety entity like Scotland Yard or the Carabinieri or FBI.
Exceptional here is his vivid description of just how many seemingly excellent systems were brought into play after the fact. One can readily list 3 or 4 dozen.
However… In fact the mass shooting had been easily preventable.
Previously he had VOLUNTARILY committed himself to a psychological facility, but after only a few days he was released without further monitoring. And his family had WARNED the police about him.
See Monday’s headlines:
- Click for Post: Maine gunman spoke ‘aggressively’ of guns, former co-workers say, as more warning signs emerge
Click for Post: Maine shooter’s family warned cops he was armed and dangerous FIVE MONTHS before massacre
Click for Post: Suspect’s family warned police months before massacre
Click for Post: Cops Warned of Maine Shooting Suspect’s Declining Mental Health in May
Click for Post: Cops were sent to Maine gunman’s home weeks before massacres amid concern he ‘is going to snap and commit a mass shooting’
Click for Post: Maine gunman’s family contacted police months before massacre, sheriff says
Yet again the US’s plague of thousands of way-too-often under-funded, badly-trained, badly-managed, badly-connected local police forces is causing outrage.
Contrast with eg Italy.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/31/23 at 10:11 AM in Hoaxes Sollecito etc
Comments
We’ve had numerous past posts on chronically weak American public-safety systems
The Petito murder case in Wyoming that occurred after Utah police ignored existing good rules was the most recent.
So anger grows. Paranoia grows. Authoritarianism grows. Gun purchases grow. Police job vacancies grow. And mass shootings grow.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/31/23 at 11:25 AM | #
Wednesday. Maine LAW which clearly hampered the cops is now getting a lot of looks.
For the last 20-plus years various states, inspired by rampage shootings, brought in Red Flag Laws. By 2018 the number of states was five. After a mass shooting at a Florida school, that number doubled at least.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag_law
In the United States, a red flag law is a gun violence prevention law that permits a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who they believe may present a danger to others or themselves.
A judge makes the determination to issue the order based on statements and actions made by the gun owner in question. Refusal to comply with the order is punishable as a criminal offense.
New York State’s Red Flag Law has been invoked thousands of times - it happens routinely and generally quietly almost every day.
Last year a BIPARTiSAN federal law was enacted in Washington DC to provide funding and training in support of more Red Flag Laws.
You can see from the Wikipedia map that only Maine of the New England states does not yet have a Red Flag Law. It has only a weaker and much more cumbersome Yellow Flag Law - that only allows law enforcement to initiate a complaint, not family members. It also requires a medical professional to determine that the person poses a risk.
If you go back half a century, it was pretty easy to have someone committed. Sometimes patients were 100% well and a family member wanted, say, to marry again. Large mental institutions (asylums) existed around the United States.
Then the Federal law swung heavily the other way, and the asylums were emptied out. There is one huge ruin covered in ivy about 100 miles north-east of New York.
https://tinyurl.com/mr3ye959
https://tinyurl.com/4txy86k6
https://tinyurl.com/2y5c66t6
Accordingly, the number of mentally-ill homeless and prison inmates and dangerous gun freaks rocketed up. Every year some of them cause deaths.
There may be a trial soon in NYC of a bystander (an ex marine) in a subway car putting a homeless man in an illegal chokehold and killing him. The man had raved a bit, but in that case had no gun.
Passengers did feel threatened and the bystander might not have been charged, but the chokehold was ridiculously prolonged, contrary to the manual and training for marines, and passengers were warning him.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/01/23 at 10:05 AM | #
There’s still a mystery over what gun the Maine shooter used. Details have not been released.
In photos it looks like an AR15. Similar to a fully automatic military M4.
All such assault weapons are banned in New York State and other nearby states. Not yet federally or in Maine where no background checks are required.
A Maine member of the US House of Representatives has often voted against a federal assault weapon ban. He has announced that he won’t do that again.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/01/23 at 11:35 AM | #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Where next:
Click here to return to The Top Of The Front PageOr to next entry Twenty Ways To Smarten Up American Police Systems
Or to previous entry US Justice Systems Much In The News: #1 Lethality Assessment Protocol