Wake-up crews at your local TV station soon may have to include mass-shooting and police-killing forecasts alongside drive-time traffic reports and weekend weather:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A gunman killed eight people and wounded several others before killing himself in a late-night shooting at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, police said, in the latest in a spate of mass shootings after a relative lull during the pandemic.
Five people were hospitalized after the Thursday night shooting, according to police. One of them had critical injuries, police spokesperson Genae Cook said. Another two people were treated and released at the scene. FedEx said people who worked for the company were among the dead.
A witness told WTHR-TV that he was working inside the building when he heard gunshots.
“I see a man come out with a rifle in his hand and he starts firing and he starts yellin’ stuff that I could not understand,” Levi Miller said. “What I ended up doing was ducking down to make sure he did not see me because I thought he would see me and he would shoot me.”
Know your killings
The Indianapolis event was the deadliest mass-shooting since 10 died in a Boulder, Colo. grocery store on March 22. Eight others died in a spree-killing (“killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders“) in Atlanta on March 16.
These gunfire deaths follow the News-at-Six video released Thursday of a Chicago police officer gunning down a 13-year-old kid.
And in the murder (by strangulation) trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin:
Judge Peter Cahill told the 14 members of the jury that they should return to court at 9 a.m. CDT on Monday and be prepared to hear closing arguments from attorneys on both sides. Following that, Cahill will instruct the jurors on the laws in the case before the panel members start verdict deliberations. Two members of the jury will be informed that they were alternates and will not be part of deliberations
The jury will be sequestered during its deliberations.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death last Memorial Day. If convicted of the most serious charge, he could face 10½ years to 15 years in prison under sentencing guidelines for first-time offenders. But he could receive a lesser term.
Know your travel advisories
A friend just returned from Cabo San Lucas. Before she left, I checked the State Department’s travel advisories for Mexico. The state of Baja California Sur is not on it, but five Mexican states are on the Department’s “Do Not Travel To” list because of crime and kidnapping. Another 11 are on the “Reconsider Travel To” list because of crime.
And what of travel to this country?
Before the pandemic hit but after 2019 mass shootings in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, the Japanese government described the United States as a “gun society” and warned its citizens to “be aware of the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United States.“
France’s warning addressed gun culture in the U.S.:
In the French advisory’s “Culture” section, the diplomatic service warns French visitors that “carrying firearms is authorized and common” in several US states. “Visitors must therefore, in all circumstances, keep their calm and sang-froid.”
Amnesty International called gun violence in the U.S. a human rights crisis threatening travelers without regard to race, country of origin or sexual orientation:
“People in the United States cannot reasonably expect to be free from harm,” said Ernest Coverson of Amnesty International USA. “A guarantee of not being shot is impossible.”
So, if there is rain in your forecast this weekend, don’t forget the umbrella. A Kevlar vest or heavier body armor is recommended now any day of the week.