I'm going to start a new thread (which anyone is entitled to skip) because there are some serious issues being reported in the Winder shooting...
First of all I was struck, since the suspects name was released, by the unintentional irony of a mass shooter having the name "Colt". Of course his parents may have named him after a young horse. But with some of the details emerging about his parent, it seems more likely to me that they either named him after Samuel Colt or the type of weapons Sam Colt manufactured... That's an aside...
But there are some really troubling aspects to this case that you may or may not have heard in passing. Colt lived with his Dad, while Mom was raising the 2 daughters. The relationship seems a mite acrimonious as Mom was arrested last year for keying Dad's truck. Also when Mom was physically arrested they found her in possession of both meth and fentanyl, as well as a glass pipe.
GA has no "red flag laws", so even though LEO's questioned both father and son last year over a possible threat regarding a school shooting, they both just denied any knowledge. I think Colt even claimed someone hacked his Discord. Ultimately since no crime had actually occurred there was really nothing police could do. Another interesting tidbit, the tip to police came from Discord users in both CA and Australia, which both have very stringent rules regarding gun ownership.
So in this local report from Fox 5 Atlanta, there is some audio of how the questioning session went. Dad admits that his son has access to the weapons but claims they aren't loaded. He also maintained that he was trying to promote a healthy outdoor lifestyle for his son, and keep him away from "video games", because as the NRA will tell you video games and the violence they promote are one of the reasons the US has so many school shootings. Makes you wonder what will happen in schools around the world when the rest of the world Discovers video games...
Dad further explained that he and Colt liked to hunt together, and seemed proud that his 13 yr old son bagged his first deer. Now you'd think that after a visit from law enforcement Dad would at least keep an eye on his son and maybe limit his access to the weapons till he got older. But instead Dad decided it made sense to buy Colt an AR 15 for Christmas, presumably so Colt could shoot more deer...
Of course during the interview Dad also brings up the issue of his son being picked on at school, and recounts some examples.No doubt that will be offered as a possible motive. But here's the fly in that ointment imho...
The interview was conducted last year. Post interview two key events occurred, the first being Dad buying the rifle. But the 2nd was Colt and Dad moved, as Colt transitioned from Jr High to High School. But he didn't just change buildings, but they moved into a completely different District in a different county.. So I guess we're supposed to believe that two totally different sets of students in two seperate school districts uniformly decided to "pick on" the kid in successive years? Now imho, that's a hell of a coincidence...
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Now obviously the kid should never have access to a weapon. But this is a prime example of parents (at least a father) who should also not have access to weapons. Imho, someone this irresponsible should not be allowed to own firearms. I'm not even sure they should be allowed to have kids...
Thoughts?