UPDATE: Two Victims Identified in Columbia Mall Shooting Near Baltimore

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It is always a mistake to speculate on the motive for mass murder until you know the identity of the murderer, and so we must resist such temptation in regard to today’s incident at the Mall in Columbia, a Howard County suburb of Baltimore, Maryland:

Three people were killed and one was injured by gunfire shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday on the second floor of a crowded Mall in Columbia, according to Howard County police. One of those who died was found near a gun and ammunition and is believed to be the shooter.
Howard County General Hospital officials reported they are treating four people, including one who was shot in the foot. The other three individuals were not being treated for gunshot wounds, but for injuries related to panic at the scene.
Police confirmed shortly before 3 p.m. that the shooting took place at Zumiez, a shoe store, and that the shooter had used a shotgun. . . .
Police reported the area is now secure. “We are confident it was a single shooter,” said Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon, who spoke at the mall.
McMahon said he could not confirm any motive for the shooting. He said police do not know yet whether the incident was the result of a dispute between people who knew each or a random act of violence.

The fact that the gunman used a shotgun suggests that this wasn’t a case of a local gang-banger deciding to bust a cap on rival thugs; such crimes usually involve pistols. No, this was either robbery, a desperate revenge killing or an act of inexplicable madness.

We’ll see if Ann Coulter’s prediction is correct. By the way, nobody ever got shot while shopping our Amazon links. Just sayin’ . . .

UPDATE: OK, police have now identified the victims as “two employees at the skate shop Zumiez, Brianna Benlolo, 21, of College Park, Md., and Tyler Johnson, 25, of Ellicott City, Md.” A witness told the Baltimore Sun that “the gunman appeared to be between 18 and 21 years old.”

Just based on that, I’d guess this is a personal revenge killing. Either the shooter was a recently fired employee, or else he had a romantic interest in the girl, who spurned him. But I hasten to add, that’s just a guess. The gunman apparently committed suicide afterwards.

 

16 comments

  1. But I thought Maryland had strict gun laws. I know they cross-check traffic stops of out-of-state plates against other states’ databases of CCW permits and use permits to further question and request searches of travellers.

    I bet there are plenty of “panic-related injuries” – shotgun blasts indoors, even in a mall, would sound like explosions.

  2. So THREE people are being treated for “injuries related to panic” and ONE person is being treated for being shot in the foot.

    Why didn’t the headline read “One Person Shot in Foot at Baltimore Area Mall”?

  5. My prediction is pretty much the same as Coulter’s but with this addendum: He was on (or on-and-off) some hideous medication that has “homicidal thoughts or actions” as a side effect. The TV clowns will refuse to mention the drug, and instead tell us that “We need to diagnose mental illness sooner”… when the damned problem is that they ARE diagnosed and then put on medication that erases the conscience!

  9. The level of coverage by the MSM will be directly related to the amount of melanin in the shooter and the victims. Chicago’s deadlier than Baghdad and has been for years, but since the shooters and victims are black, no coverage after the first report.

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