A random gallery of "lone" shooters
By Michelle Malkin · July 29, 2006 06:44 PM
***updated...10pm Eastern-new details about Haq via AP - he "forced his way through a security door by holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl's head"...told 911 dispatcher, "These are Jews and I'm tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East..."***
***new photo of Haq via AP...***
July 28, 2006Seattle, Wash.Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, is arrested and charged with killing one woman and wounding five others at the downtown Jewish Federation building. The shooter declared "I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel," according to eyewitnesses. "There’s nothing to indicate that it’s terrorism related," according to the FBI.
10pm Eastern update: AP now reporting.
The man suspected in a fatal shooting rampage hid behind a potted plant in a Jewish charity's foyer and forced his way through a security door by holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl's head, the police chief said Saturday. Once inside, police say, Naveed Afzal Haq opened fire with two semiautomatic pistols. One woman, Pam Waechter, 58, of Seattle was killed at the scene. Five more women were wounded.
Haq, 30, was ordered held on $50 million bail Saturday pending formal charges of murder and attempted murder. Haq, a Muslim, told authorities he was angered by the war in Iraq and U.S. military cooperation with Israel. "He pointedly blamed the Jewish people for all of these problems," Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference Saturday.
July 25, 2006Dickinson, Texas.Dr. Wameeth Fadhli is charged with shooting an unarmed bicyclist, who was hit in the chest and shoulder. According to witnesses, the victim was riding his bicycle when a sport utility vehicle pulled alongside and Fadhli reportedly began firing what they described as a pistol. The witnesses told police the shooter was alone and wearing what appeared to be surgical scrubs. Galveston Daily News: "Assistant district attorney Xochitl Vandiver, who recommended [$60,000] bond after conferring with investigators, said the amount was higher than usual for that charge because of concerns for community safety. “At this point, this looks like it could have been just a random shooting, and that makes it a pretty scary crime,” she said." More.
June 25, 2006 Denver, Colorado.Michael Julius Ford kills one and injures five in a shooting spree. Rocky Mountain News: "Reports that Ford was upset about being taunted and harassed at work about his Muslim beliefs were downplayed by police and Safeway Monday, although they continue to look into all possibilities."
June 15, 2006 Owings Mill, Md. Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar, 24, guns down Paul Schrum, 62, in a movie theater. WBAL: "Detectives said there was no motive for the shooting and that Jabbar did not know anyone in the theatre, including Schrum." WJZ: "The family of the Baltimore County man accused of shooting and killing another man inside an Owings Mills movie theater says the suspect suffered from a mental illness..."
October 2002Black Muslim convert John Mohammed and protege Lee Malvo are convicted for their roles in a three-week, terror shooting spree that claimed ten innocent lives and injured three others. Malvo pleaded insanity. The jihadi snipers revisited.
July 4, 2002Los Angeles, Calif.Hesham Hadayet opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport while standing in line at the ticket counter of Israel's El Al Airlines, killing two and wounding four others before an airline security officer shot him dead. FBI officials initially discounted terrorism and reported on his "despondency" over personal affairs. A year later, the FBI admitted Hadayet's anti-Israel views and characterized his bloody acts as terrorism.
Update - more:
Feb. 23, 1997New York CityAbu Kamal, a Palestinian teacher shoots seven tourists on the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building, killing one. AP: "'[He carried a note blaming the United States for using Israel as "an instrument' against his people. The note found in Ali Hassan Abu Kamal's pocket contains 'rambling, angry stuff,' and appears to contradict claims by the man's family that the shooting had nothing to do with politics, a high-ranking police source said last night. The letter also expressed anger at France and England for using Israel as 'an instrument' against Palestinians, and indicated that Mr. Abu Kamal planned to vent his anger at the Empire State Building, the source said.'"
March 1, 1994New York CityRashid Baz, a Lebanese livery cab driver, opened fire on a van full of Hasidic Jewish boys on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing one and wounding several others. He was sentenced to 141 years in prison. ME Forum: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) at one point ascribed his motive to 'road rage.' But then, in December 2000, federal authorities changed their minds and announced that Baz’s actions were 'the crimes of a terrorist.'"
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Good companion reads/links:
LGF notes that mosques are getting extra protection following the murder of Jews.Hugh HewittAndy McCarthyIt's Just DanHyscienceComments at Belmont ClubMatt Rosenberg at SoundPoliticsDaniel Pipes flashback: Sudden Jihad Syndrome
Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch:
[O]nce again the media will ignore the question of why a man who describes himself as a Muslim American angry at Israel would think that murder of innocents was an appropriate outlet for his anger. No one will ever consider whether such behavior is encouraged by the texts and atmospherics of Islam, and if so, what can be done about it.
The shooting came a day after the FBI had warned Jewish organizations nationwide to be on alert after Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and al-Qaida's second in command urged that the war raging in the Middle East be carried to the U.S. However, the law-enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there is no evidence Haq was involved with any group.
When (if ever) will law enforcement officials realize that it is enough for Zawahiri and others to say this sort of thing? That that in itself is enough to move some Muslims to act? There doesn't need to be any organizational connection for there to be an ideological connection, an identity of motive and goal.
Yup.
It's the jihad, stupid.