FLL airport - Shooting today at 1 pm - 9 wounded

[Hikergirl]

He was charged in a domestic violence case for assault and criminal mischief in January 2016. He was acuused of violating the terms of his release because he was found to be living back with the girlfriend after a month.
What I don't get is how the Anchorage Police could give him his weapon back when those things were done months prior to his psych evaluation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Highly unlikely that he would be successful with an insanity defense. That is a very difficult defense to establish, and in most cases, means a showing that you cannot distinguish between right and wrong, OR are so insane that you were mistaken about what you are doing....the classic example being a person who shoots someone in the head believing it is a watermelon, not a head. If a person truly thinks that, and it can be proven, they will be remanded to the custody of the state for those criminally insane (often a far longer sentence than regular prison because, well, they are nuts and need to be locked up).

In this case, it seems he is likely to be quite mentally ill, but also not criminally insane. Those are not inconsistent statements. Both can be true, and in this case, likely are.

We do a very, very poor job with mental illness in this country. And, I believe that over the course of time, we are going to learn that these disorders are far more "physical" than mental. We just don't know enough about the brain (yet) to be able to identify and treat what are likely organic malfunctions of the brain (like Type I diabetes is a result of a mechanical dysfunction of the pancreas).

But, of course, today, we treat these people very poorly as if they can "control" their mental health and if they aren't well, it is surely "their fault." Sad.

Yeah my husband and I were discussing in terms of can they actually establish that he didn't know right from wrong (which to us at least with the information we knew at the time though he did know right from wrong just our honest opinions) for example if his legal rep was going to use the mental defense. I agree though it can be very difficult to establish and isn't often sucessful.

As for a mental illness in this country believe me I have my own opinions on the subject matter and much were formed during college as I was a psychology major (I graduated with a B.A. in psychology) and my own experience with my aunt who is mentally disabled (that is the term my whole family uses and the term I grew up knowing and is the only description I have for her) as well as my sister who was diagnosed with clinical depression as well as another friend who has several serious mental disorders.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Who knows? He could have said the "right" things and managed to get the weapon back. Often there is a big difference in rights with charges vs convictions and maybe that had something to do with why he still was armed.

If true, still competent enough to manipulate the situation.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

He was charged in a domestic violence case for assault and criminal mischief in January 2016. He was acuused of violating the terms of his release because he was found to be living back with the girlfriend after a month.
What I don't get is how the Anchorage Police could give him his weapon back when those things were done months prior to his psych evaluation.

It is a good question.

Some details: http://abc13.com/news/what-we-know-about-suspected-ft-lauderdale-gunman/1689929/

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Well, there is armed security to address the possibility of such incidents. Kind of sad in a way, but I took the family to Chuck E Cheese tonight, and they had an armed security guard on site. Looked like he carried a revolver, but also had heavy body armor. He was actually rather pleasant to everyone, but there was no mistaking why he was there.

We went to Bahama Breeze while on vacation in Raleigh, and they had an armed security guard working. Made us question whether or not to eat there....

 

[minnie56]

I just heard a police officer has been shot in Orlando ....how awful...you have to hope people didn't get ideas from the Fort Lauderdale tragedy

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I just heard a police officer has been shot in Orlando ....how awful...you have to hope people didn't get ideas from the Fort Lauderdale tragedy

Yes while very sad agree on that it is completely unrelated to the airport shooting...

 

[minnie56]

Yes while very sad agree on that it is completely unrelated to the airport shooting...

Yes, it sounds now related to another case

 

[robinb]

Yes, it sounds now related to another case

That shooter is accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend in December. Another office also died while in pursuit of the shooter . Very sad .

 

[lovemygoofy]

He was charged in a domestic violence case for assault and criminal mischief in January 2016. He was acuused of violating the terms of his release because he was found to be living back with the girlfriend after a month.
What I don't get is how the Anchorage Police could give him his weapon back when those things were done months prior to his psych evaluation.

This man wasn't convicted of a felony. If not convicted of a felony, you get your weapons. When his initial pysch eval happened in Nov, protocol has taking away immediate weapons whether in the car or house he was staying in. Unless found mentally unstable through a medical and court system then he gets his weapon back.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, it sounds now related to another case

Another case of what?

ETA: you also edited your post. It used to say:

"I just heard a police officer has been shot in Orlando ....how awful" which is why I quoted you saying it was unrelated to the airport shooting.

You added it to say at the end: "...you have to hope people didn't get ideas from the Fort Lauderdale tragedy"

I'm trying to figure out why it is related to the airport shooting other than the fact that it occured in the state of Florida.

 

[Hikergirl]

This man wasn't convicted of a felony. If not convicted of a felony, you get your weapons. When his initial pysch eval happened in Nov, protocol has taking away immediate weapons whether in the car or house he was staying in. Unless found mentally unstable through a medical and court system then he gets his weapon back.

There is a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 28, 2017. He was apparently ordered by the court to stay away from the girlfriend that he (allegedly) assaulted. That case was dismissed, but the assault one was not.
If one is not convicted, why is there a sentencing hearing?

Also I'd like to note that tomorrow when I fill out my 4473 form, there will be a question on there that specifically asks if I am subject to any court order restraining me from a child, or an intimate partner. Now, while that will not prohibit someone form obtaining a firearm, it certainly would set off a red flag if one were to answer yes.
So its a real shame that someone with so many KNOWN red flags was allowed to have his gun back.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This man wasn't convicted of a felony. If not convicted of a felony, you get your weapons. When his initial pysch eval happened in Nov, protocol has taking away immediate weapons whether in the car or house he was staying in. Unless found mentally unstable through a medical and court system then he gets his weapon back.

So he was likely found not to be mentally unstable during that time?

 

[lovemygoofy]

So he was likely found not to be mentally unstable during that time?

Now I don't know enough about how Alaska does things nor do I know anything about this man's case and how he received treatment. I can only tell you how we do things especially regarding if he was still active Guard.
To be formally labeled mentally unstable takes hospitalization in behavioral health (longer than the standard 72 hours) AND the hospital will go through the court system to label him permanently mentally unstable. However, due to him being in the Guard AND a Vet of Iraq war, most of the time he would be thrown in the VA system and more than likely lost. He was still in a Guard unit but from what I have read already AWOL several times and not seeing his assigned behavioral health specialist for that unit.

I would also suspect that his legal troubles would be transferred to Veteran Court as is typically the case at first when trying to get these young Veterans' help.

Again, some of this is speculation because I know nothing about this man personally or how Alaska treats their behavioral health Veteran patients.

 

[bcla]

We went to Bahama Breeze while on vacation in Raleigh, and they had an armed security guard working. Made us question whether or not to eat there....

I took my kid back to CEC. They had a different armed security guard that day, and he was better armed.

Also had a police call there that day. Not sure what happened, but they were interviewing a few customers and several employees. It looked more like some sort of dispute between the employees and the customers. Not sure if I want to go back. I've been doing some reading about CEC, and it seems like they tend to be a hotbed for police calls for one reason or another - mostly fights among adults. Parents get involved when one kid does something to another, one parent comes in to scold a kid, then that kid's parent comes in and takes offense. I guess birthday parties are an issue because it's costing them a lot of money.

Law enforcement at airports is nothing new. Back in the 80s I remember a situation at an airport in the U.K. There was a shooting around the ticketing area. These are easy symbolic targets.

 

[minnie56]

Another case of what?

ETA: you also edited your post. It used to say:

"I just heard a police officer has been shot in Orlando ....how awful" which is why I quoted you saying it was unrelated to the airport shooting.

You added it to say at the end: "...you have to hope people didn't get ideas from the Fort Lauderdale tragedy"

I'm trying to figure out why it is related to the airport shooting other than the fact that it occured in the state of Florida.

Related to the killing of his girlfriend ..which I heard after I posted

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Related to the killing of his girlfriend ..which I heard after I posted

Forgive me here but I'm trying to follow you.

What does the suspect who killed the officer at the Walmart in Orlando have to do with the FLL airport shootings though? The Orlando incident's suspect is accused of murdering his girlfriend in December and the FLL airport incident suspect was involved in a domestic violence issue with his girlfriend in January 2016 but the fact that the two incidents involve someone hurting/killing their girlfriend seems to be the only similarity even though the Orlando girlfriend thing just happened and the FLL suspect's girlffirned thing happened a year ago (at least basing off of previous comments on this thread).

Furthermore I just don't get why you added "you have to hope people didn't get ideas from the Fort Lauderdale tragedy" in there. I mean are you saying that the suspect in Orlando got the idea to go to Walmart and get into an altercation with the police and ultimately shoot and kill the police officer because of the FLL incident?

I'm just not seeing a connection here..could be just me though.

 

[Jennasis]

One thing I noticed from some of the video out there of people fleeing the terminal...I am confounded by how many people are running away with their luggage in tow. In one video a couple seemed to have dropped some bags and went back to get them.

I can't imagine what must go through ones mind in the heat of the moment, but I urge anyone who is running for their life to please drop everything and go.

 

[minnie56]

Forgive me here but I'm trying to follow you.

What does the suspect who killed the officer at the Walmart in Orlando have to do with the FLL airport shootings though? The Orlando incident's suspect is accused of murdering his girlfriend in December and the FLL airport incident suspect was involved in a domestic violence issue with his girlfriend in January 2016 but the fact that the two incidents involve someone hurting/killing their girlfriend seems to be the only similarity even though the Orlando girlfriend thing just happened and the FLL suspect's girlffirned thing happened a year ago (at least basing off of previous comments on this thread).

Furthermore I just don't get why you added "you have to hope people didn't get ideas from the Fort Lauderdale tragedy" in there. I mean are you saying that the suspect in Orlando got the idea to go to Walmart and get into an altercation with the police and ultimately shoot and kill the police officer because of the FLL incident?

I'm just not seeing a connection here..could be just me though.

There wasn't a connection in the end ..
It just happened to be a shooting the same state that initially appeared to be random..
Sometimes these acts of violence bring others out of the woodwork which absolutely turned out not be the case.

 

[wilkeliza]

One thing I noticed from some of the video out there of people fleeing the terminal...I am confounded by how many people are running away with their luggage in tow. In one video a couple seemed to have dropped some bags and went back to get them.

I can't imagine what must go through ones mind in the heat of the moment, but I urge anyone who is running for their life to please drop everything and go.

That phenomenon is actually why airlines may have to start doing away with overhead storage. Airlines are having a hard time evacuating planes in the 90 seconds they have to do so because people take the time to grab their luggage. If I can find the article again I'll share it but right now in real life situations and not crew members running drills it is taking upwards of 15 minutes to clear all passengers and the #1 issue seems to be people grabbing their purses, laptop bags, and even roller luggage.