Couldn't be much worse

[peternap]

With the General Assembly starting and the Senate Courts of Justice Committee stacked with  anti gunners (The House us OK) this happens.
It's made every blog in the world inluding the UK. The guy had a concealed handgun permit and most of the proposed legislation this year is what I call perks for permits,,,No I don't like it, see my story. http://news.oldva.org/blogroll/trees-guns-freedom-maybe-no-more/

I'm afraid this will be a none productive session. Damage control only

http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=11846331
Eight Dead in Appomattox; Suspect Surrenders

APPOMATTOX, Va. (AP) -- Bomb technicians discovered a "multitude" of explosives Wednesday at a home where eight people were found dead, police said. The killings launched an all-night manhunt that ended when the suspect surrendered at sunrise.

Christopher Bryan Speight, 39, was wearing a bulletproof vest but had no weapons when he turned himself in to police around 7:10 a.m., Sheriff O. Wilson Staples said. Authorities say he fired at a state police helicopter, rupturing its gas tank and forcing it to land, but no one on board was hurt. Police still have not revealed a motive or identified the victims.

Staples said Wednesday that Speight lived in the home where three bodies were found inside and four outside. The eighth victim, who was found barely alive on the road just outside the house, died at the hospital.

Police were concerned that Speight might have rigged the house with explosives, and state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar said bomb-sniffing dogs found a "multitude of devices inside and outside the house." Bomb technicians were exploding the devices, a process expected to continue into Thursday.

Authorities have not said how Speight was related to the victims. Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller also would not say what Speight said when he turned himself in.

He was wearing camouflage pants and a black sweat shirt when officers put him in a sheriff's car at state police headquarters later Wednesday. He was being taken to Appomattox Regional Jail and had not been charged.

Police did not identify the dead, but rumors flew around the county, which has about 14,500 residents. Appomattox County Schools Superintendent Dorinda Grasty said she did not have the list of confirmed victims but expects the school system will be affected. Schools had planned to stay closed for the day before the gunman surrendered, but the flag was at half-staff in front of Appomattox County High School and Grasty said crisis teams will be available when students return Thursday.

The drama that started around noon Tuesday paralyzed the rural area about 100 miles southwest of Richmond that is best known as the place where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to end the Civil War. Police with dogs and heat-sensing equipment swarmed the woods and warned residents to stay indoors with doors locked.

"This is a horrific tragedy," Geller said at a news conference Wednesday. "It's definitely one of the worst mass killings in Virginia, probably since the Virginia Tech tragedy in April of 2007."

Appomattox County court records show a concealed weapons permit was issued to a Christopher Bryan Speight three times between 1999 and last year. The issue dates match the five-year renewal period for concealed handgun permits under Virginia law.

Authorities earlier said Speight had a high-powered rifle and Staples said investigators believe he had weapons training based on the weapons found in his home, though they have no information to indicate he was in the military.

Speight's uncle, Jack Giglio of Tampa, Fla., said his nephew was a deer hunter, though as far as he knew Speight did not have any specialized weapons training.

"We're shocked, of course," Giglio said. "I'm not aware of any problems with him. It's kind of out of the blue. We're still trying to pick up facts too."

Giglio said he hadn't seen Speight since 2006, when they both attended the funeral for Speight's mother, who died of brain cancer.

State police backed by other agencies spent Wednesday night enforcing a perimeter around a swath of woods that was 2 miles long and 1,000 yards wide.

The house where most of the bodies were found is located on a gravel road, with woods and farm fields surrounding it. On Wednesday morning, police had the road blocked about 100 yards from the house.

The drama began around noon Tuesday when deputies responded to an emergency call about an injured man along the side of a narrow country road.

A deputy who answered the emergency call heard more gunshots and soon the area, about 3 miles from the state police district headquarters, was filled with law enforcement from all over, with more than 100 responding.

[peternap]

Just got worse


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/82231277.html?cmpid=15585797

Nova grad reportedly stepped in front of gun to save friends in Old City shooting

By STEPHANIE FARR
Philadelphia Daily News

farrs@phillynews.com 215-854-4225

A representative for the family of a Villanova grad who was shot six times allegedly by a law student in Old City last weekend, said that the victim stepped in front of the gun to save his two friends.

Edward "Eddie" DiDonato Jr., 23, is still in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he's expected to undergo his fourth surgery today, said Gina Furia Rubel, a close friend of the DiDonato family who is acting as their spokeswoman.

"The fact that Eddie is alive is a true miracle," she said at a news conference held outside the Criminal Justice Center in Center City yesterday.

Rubel, who is also president and chief executive officer of Furia Rubel Communications, a local public-relations and marketing firm, said that DiDonato's feeding tube has been removed but he still has "a long road ahead."

Gerald Ung, 28, a Virginia native in his fourth year at Temple Law School, is accused of shooting DiDonato in his hand, chest and abdomen six times in six seconds, according to police and Rubel.

She said that two of those bullets were fired from just 4 1/2 feet away. DiDonato, of Blue Bell, suffered injuries to his lungs, liver, intestines and colon.

The shooting, which occurred outside Fox 29's studios, on Market Street near 4th, was caught on video by the station's surveillance cameras. The DiDonato family has seen the video, Rubel said.

Despite more than two dozen witnesses allegedly on scene, details about what led to the altercation remain scant.

Police will only say that there was an argument before the shooting. Rubel said yesterday that DiDonato and some friends were walking to get a cab after a night out in Old City and they were "messing around" on some scaffolding.

"One of them was pushed, something ensued and Eddie got shot," Rubel said, noting that the family had been told that DiDonato stepped in front of the gun and saved the lives of his two friends.

His family considers him a hero, Rubel said.

Ung waited at the scene for authorities to arrive and his gun was confiscated, police said.

"The family isn't saying anything about the man accused of doing this," Rubel said. "Right now all the family cares about is that Eddie survives this awful tragedy."

DiDonato, the son of Center City attorney Edward DiDonato Sr. and Marianne DiDonato, sister of city Republican leader Michael Meehan, graduated from Villanova last spring.

Ung was to graduate from law school this spring. He is charged with attempted murder and related offenses. He was released Monday on 10 percent of $200,000 bail.

Repeated calls to his family's home in Virginia have not been returned.

A Facebook group titled "Gerald Ung is Innocent" had grown from 36 members Tuesday night to 173 last night.

[Squirl]

The only reason that the Philly story is news is the victim is part of a very wealthy and powerful family.  Old city is one of the main clubbing spots and every other month there is a drunken stabbing or shooting at 2:30 a.m..

The story doesn't mention his father is one of the wealthiest and politically connected lawyers in Philadelphia. It does mention that his uncle is a powerful politician.

I hope for the best for the victim, but there are too many little details that are suspicious, to give a clear conclusion as to the guilt of the shooter in this.

[peternap]

The only reason that the Philly story is news is the victim is part of a very wealthy and powerful family.  Old city is one of the main clubbing spots and every other month there is a drunken stabbing or shooting at 2:30 a.m..

The story doesn't mention his father is one of the wealthiest and politically connected lawyers in Philadelphia. It does mention that his uncle is a powerful politician.

I hope for the best for the victim, but there are too many little details that are suspicious, to give a clear conclusion as to the guilt of the shooter in this.

EVERY story stresses that he is a Va CHP holder.

[RainDog]

EVERY story stresses that he is a Va CHP holder.

Sure. Fits perfectly with the liberal media's narrative. Think they'd pass that up?