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Shooting in ToysRUs

1K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  Wisconsin Ann 
#1 ·
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081128/world/toy_store_shooting_1

Splain said one witness though the incident began as a fight over a toy that got louder and louder before shots were fired...
Because, God knows, if little Johnny doesn't get the right toy on Christmas morning, life as we know it will be OVER! Shooting strangers in a toy store over a TOY?!? What in the heck are people thinking?

Does anyone else feel like a freaking alien in this world we've created? This is OBSCENE!
 
#3 ·
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081128/world/toy_store_shooting_1



Because, God knows, if little Johnny doesn't get the right toy on Christmas morning, life as we know it will be OVER! Shooting strangers in a toy store over a TOY?!? What in the heck are people thinking?

Does anyone else feel like a freaking alien in this world we've created? This is OBSCENE!



Hi Tracy;
Yup, I just don't get it. I can't imagine someone taking a gun to a toy store. My dh and I have taken a step back (a few years ago now) from all the Christmas consumerism. I do remember when Cabbage Patch Kids were the craze. One woman got her arm broken by another woman for one of those dolls. I didn't think it could get any worse. Wow! Was I ever wrong.
You know last year I think it was Momoffour had the right idea. She made her girls quilts for Christmas and those little angels appreciated them. I love to hear of parents who make wonderful Christmas memories by making homemade gifts for their children. Of course there are those of us who can't. I tried making a teddy bear in the 80's. The teddy bear turned out ok but I carry the scars from the hot glue I tried to use to glue the bow on.
tamilee
p.s. got to save for that cataract surgery,I'm having a difficult time reading what I type and what others post. reckon I'll try to find some stronger glasses.
 
#5 ·
Some days I just want to cry through the whole thirty minutes of the news. Yesterday was one of those days with the situation in Mumbai, and the killings over Black Friday shopping deals.
 
#10 ·
Hi Tracy;
Yup, I just don't get it. I can't imagine someone taking a gun to a toy store.
I can. I've taken a gun into a toy store. I take one where ever I go. Took one to the grocery store this afternoon. Took it to the gas station. Took it to the hospital while I was visiting someone later on. Never shot anyone. When the little elderly lady pulled out in front of me when i was pulling into the gas station I didn't whip it out and shoot her. I posed no danger to anyone except someone who would attempt to do me harm.

Why does the thought of one of your fellow citizens being armed scare you so? Are you scared of me? Do you wish to make it illegal for me to carry a weapon? Do you want someone to come to my house and take it away? Do you want to put me in jail for it?
 
#12 ·
I can. I've taken a gun into a toy store. I take one where ever I go. Took one to the grocery store this afternoon. Took it to the gas station. Took it to the hospital while I was visiting someone later on. Never shot anyone. When the little elderly lady pulled out in front of me when i was pulling into the gas station I didn't whip it out and shoot her. I posed no danger to anyone except someone who would attempt to do me harm.

Why does the thought of one of your fellow citizens being armed scare you so? Are you scared of me? Do you wish to make it illegal for me to carry a weapon? Do you want someone to come to my house and take it away? Do you want to put me in jail for it?
Yeah but your sane, get someone that isn't sane carrying a gun now thats scary!!
 
#13 ·
Because it's their 2nd amendment right. Too bad they also have the right to be stupid. This makes a good argument for gun control.

Toys 'R' Us, indeed.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A man charged with child abuse resulting in the death of his 3-year-old son told police he was playing a game with the child, according to the criminal complaint filed in Raleigh County Magistrate Court.

Gary Wayne Garretson, 44 of Coal City, shot his son Anthony Garretson in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun, according to the complaint. Garretson told police he didn't know the gun was loaded.

Garretson said he had pointed the unloaded shotgun at his son in the past as part of a game saying, "that he was going to get him and Anthony would respond saying that 'you can't get me daddy,'" according to the complaint.
From: http://wvgazette.com/News/200812010198
 
#14 ·
The radio DJs I listen to in the mornings when I take my oldest to school were talking about 'black Friday' incidents. One lady said when she was a kid during the Cabbage Patch Kid craze, an older lady walked up to her in the store (she was 6 or 7), slapped her across the face and took her doll. The lady's mother saw the incident, walked up and decked the older lady for slapping her daughter, knocking her cold! Another lady called and said that when her son was little (from the sounds of things he must have been in the 2 - 4 range), it was the Furby thing. A lady walked up and bit her son, then took away the Furby that he was holding and ran. She checked on the kid and handed him off to grandma, then went looking for the biter. Said she found her in line to pay for the Furby and asked her "do you remember me?", to which the lady responded "No, should I?". The mother said, Yes, you just bit my son and took his toy, and then punched the lady, took the Furby and walked off!

I am so glad that we rarely (if ever) buy actual TOYS for our kids! And I am constantly amazed at the animalistic, brutal I-am-the-center-of-the-universe attitude of people who claim to be grown-ups. Makes me want to put a fence around my acreage and electrify it!
 
G
#15 ·
The radio DJs I listen to in the mornings when I take my oldest to school were talking about 'black Friday' incidents. One lady said when she was a kid during the Cabbage Patch Kid craze, an older lady walked up to her in the store (she was 6 or 7), slapped her across the face and took her doll. The lady's mother saw the incident, walked up and decked the older lady for slapping her daughter, knocking her cold! Another lady called and said that when her son was little (from the sounds of things he must have been in the 2 - 4 range), it was the Furby thing. A lady walked up and bit her son, then took away the Furby that he was holding and ran. She checked on the kid and handed him off to grandma, then went looking for the biter. Said she found her in line to pay for the Furby and asked her "do you remember me?", to which the lady responded "No, should I?". The mother said, Yes, you just bit my son and took his toy, and then punched the lady, took the Furby and walked off!
I can believe it!

Once when my brothers and I were kids, my mother took us to the Astrodome for some event (I don't remember what). I don't remember if it was before the show, or during intermission, or what, but a man announced over the loudspeaker that a certain kiosk was giving away these wood and rubber pitchforks, one for each child until the supplies were gone. We happened to be close enough that my mother and us kids RAN for that kiosk. It was a MADHOUSE. Women shoving and pushing and cussing. My mother was very determined, but we got there just before they ran out, so my mother grabbed 3 of the toys (1 for each of us), and a lady ran up to her and tried to take them away from her! My brothers and I was enjoying the show. We thought our mother and this strange lady were about to come to blows, and they darn near did! :D But my mother hung on to those toys and got us away from the crowd. She handed one to each of us and told us to HANG ON to them! She didn't have to tell us that. We KNEW! LOL.
 
#16 ·
Two words: Online shopping.

I honestly cannot imagine wanting any material item THAT bad. Unless it was the last bit of food and my kids were starving. A toy? Sheesh.

When my daughter was about 4, I think, the big toy of the season was the Tickle Me Elmo. There were news reports of crazy people fighting in stores over that silly doll. I knew right then, no way was my daughter getting one - probably not ever. She never cared much for Elmo anyhow. ;)

About the gun thing -- I agree with Quint. So what if there are gun control laws? People are still gonna have guns, and it won't be the GOOD people who have them.
 
#17 ·
Between the employee of Wal-mart that was trampled to death and this story it has just made our family sick. We have very little use for consumerism and all the mentality that goes with it. I want the old fashioned peace on earth good will towards men life I had when I was growing up. I do not remember any gifts per se but sitting in the dark with Christmas carols playing with my family watching the Christmas lights inside and snow falling outside. That is my idea of Christmas "family" not how many presents someone gets or gives.

My sil gave about 500 worth of bdy presents to her 12 yo dd. She bought tons of stuff, towels, washclothes, shower curtain, toilet seat cover etc etc, for a bathroom that the kid doesn't even have. They live in a 2 bdr mh with 1 bath and the mom is determined to get a new place, but just declared bancruptcy so can't get financing. She spends more on Christmas than we do on house payments for a year. I was embarrassed for her and her daughter at the bday thing as was everyone else there. I really dread our Christmas because she will be there and it will happen again.

Laurie
vtfarma
 
#18 ·
There are very few incidents that happen with LEGALLY OWNED guns. I bet any amount of money (I currently have 26 cents in my account) that this doofus' gun was NOT a legally owned one. Tighter gun control laws just give free rein to the criminals to wax war on law abiding citizens. I bet we will never hear if the guy legally owned the gun or not. It is not as much fun for the media to slant the story if it wasn't.

This is another example of breakdown in our society's priorities. It is truly a sad world we live in when a toy is more important than someone's life.
 
#19 ·
When my daughter was about 4, I think, the big toy of the season was the Tickle Me Elmo. There were news reports of crazy people fighting in stores over that silly doll. I knew right then, no way was my daughter getting one - probably not ever. She never cared much for Elmo anyhow. ;)
I believe that's probably just about the same time I bought Mitchell the Elmo that says the alphabet - seems like he was a little younger, but it seems that the Elmo thing managed to hold on through two Christmases.

He wanted the Elmo, but I took one look at the goofy laughing thing and knew it wasn't coming in my house. At least the alphabet one made an attempt at being educational.
 
#20 ·
There was in interview early on with one of the Toys R Us employees...while they were still in the store. This lady said she heard one of the shooters say something like "now it's payback time" (cant' remember the exact quote she gave). She thought it was more a gang type shooting at the time. Said the two seemed to know each other.
 
#21 ·
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081128/world/toy_store_shooting_1



Because, God knows, if little Johnny doesn't get the right toy on Christmas morning, life as we know it will be OVER! Shooting strangers in a toy store over a TOY?!? What in the heck are people thinking?

Does anyone else feel like a freaking alien in this world we've created? This is OBSCENE!
Not that it matters with the end result and all, but they weren't arguing over a toy, they were fighting over a previous matter (they knew each other). It just happened to coincide within a toy store or else this particular shooting never would have made the news.
 
#22 ·
Yeah but your sane, get someone that isn't sane carrying a gun now thats scary!!
My position has always been that if you can't be trusted with a firearm or other dangerous item then you shouldn't be walking around loose without a minder.

If people are so defective that they can't be trusted with guns, pointed objects or dangerous things then lock THEM up, put THEM in an institution. Don't turn the entire nation into an asylum so they won't run amok.
 
#23 ·
Well, well, well. Now we learn the truth that was so skillfully hidden by the media during the first breathless reports about the shootout at the Toys R Us.

Turns out that the two shooters were not in fact common Christmas shoppers but were instead members of rival gangs who apparently frequent that Toy R Us and the mall. Gang signs were flashed, colors were dissed and hilarity did ensue.

Oh and unsurprisingly the police didn't recover the guns used. Apparently the respective crews made off with the murder weapons.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/11/shots-were-fire.html
 
#24 ·
Quint, if you look back at my first post on this, the media didn't cover it up. I referenced a Fox report/interview with an employee who said she thought it was gang related. There have been other reports that said the 2 men knew each other and were arguing over something one of the women said to the other. There's no grand conspiracy to hide the truth.

all that said...what difference does it make to the story? There were people killed in a Toys R Us (some reports have said the bodies were outside but the argument started inside) I foresee metal detectors at stores in some areas fairly soon. Or at the very least, armed security guards. and of course...prices will reflect the extra security just because people are idiots.

Walmart now...that's turning into a real circus. The man who was trampled to death wasn't an employee of Walmart, but of a temporary hiring service...SOoooo the family of the man can sue for any amount of money they want to. If the guy had been employed by Wal-Mart, there is a cap on the amount that someone can sue their own employer for.

Not only that, but it turns out that the Mall that Wal-Mart is part of there is partially responsible for the barricades and security...so they're likely to be sued as well.

What bugs me is the police had been there earlier because of the unruly crowd. While the police were there, the crowd was under control. The police left (some reports say they were asked to leave by the Mall...hasn't been confirmed) and the crowd got more and more agitated with the wait. All that tragedy could have been avoided by hiring a few security guards. Even ONE might have done it.
 
#25 ·
I think for the most part none of these people fear any kind of consequences. They go to prison get out after 8 years instead of real justice being done. When people feared and respected the laws and their fellow human beings this didn't happen much. A criminal is still a criminal.
 
#26 ·
I think for the most part none of these people fear any kind of consequences. They go to prison get out after 8 years instead of real justice being done. When people feared and respected the laws and their fellow human beings this didn't happen much. A criminal is still a criminal.
Unfortunately true :( Seems to just get worse, too. A child sees an adult steal something and not get caught. "ah, stealing is okay". Then it's reinforced later with someone stealing something AND getting caught...but getting a slap on the wrist.

And so many people seem to just not CARE about anyone else but their own little selves. Not just in the U.S., but reports of it happening all over the world...France with the horrible amount of unemployed who are turning into real problems; China with the supervisor types being paid off to cut corners on toys, milk, etc.; the Somali pirate problem...

gah. I need to watch a nice sweet gentle Christmas movie and get this out of my brain!
 
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