While everyone was busy freaking out over hostages in Australia, here in Pennsylvania we saw some domestic terrorism of our own, as Iraq War veteran Bradley Stone apparently went on a shooting spree in Montgomery County. Six dead, and the suspect is still at large.
Now, I don’t have cable TV, but my understanding is this wasn’t big news. And really, why should it be? We never call white gunmen “terrorists”, shooting sprees are a dime a dozen these days, and scary brown Muslims in Australia have more sizzle.
On the other hand, as you can see, this latest incident in Wayne LaPierre’s America did give the police in sleepy little rural Lower Salford (population 142,000 or so) the opportunity to break out their Army surplus tank , so there’s that. It would have been more impressive if they, ya know, actually CAUGHT the guy, who as of this writing is still on the loose despite the local police looking like they just drove in from the set of the newest Mad Max movie and blowing up the wrong people:
SWAT teams descended on Pennsburg after police responded to shootings in Lansdale, Lower Salford Township and Souderton beginning before 4:30 a.m. The search for the shooter ultimately led to a standoff on Souderton’s West Penn Street, which ended shortly before noon after what sounded like a concussion grenade went off and an unidentified male, evidently seriously wounded, was removed from the home and taken by ambulance to a waiting medical helicopter.
Towamencin Township Police Chief Tim Dickinson said the person was not the suspected gunman and the SWAT teams had moved to another location in Pennsburg.
Would it be rude to ask what’s the point of all this tactical equipment in a place like Lower Salford where this kind of crime is a total anomaly, and where, regardless of how heavily they’re armed, the cops can’t catch a suspect who “is known to use a cane or walker”? It’s day two, and they still can’t find him. Just another day in Armed America…
ETA: The police say they found his body. From what I’ve read, Stone was troubled after returning from Iraq. He was described as “a changed man” by people who knew him, and my local rag says he was a member of at least one PTSD group on FB, as well as several veteran’s groups. IANAD, but it is not hard for me to guess that if Stone had PTSD, it very likely played a role in what has happened. And that makes Tom Coburn’s actions even more despicable.
