Austin, Texas state house (courtesy 900congress.com)

It figures that the only time there’s an event like this in our home town, all of the TTAG staff is back at their point of origin instead of on the ground covering the event. Anyway, from reports it sounds like last night around 2 AM a person began randomly shooting at government buildings and trying to set them on fire. Reports indicate that “over 100 rounds” were fired, but the only person to actually be harmed is the shooter — who is now dead after a single well-placed round from a good guy with a gun. From CNN . . .

A man shot up a federal courthouse and a Mexican consulate — which he also seemingly tried to set ablaze — early Friday before being shot dead outside the Austin, Texas, police headquarters, that city’s police chief said.

The shooter fired “over 100 rounds” in a roughly 10-minute span, but he did not hit anyone even though the bullets ricocheted at a typically busy time in downtown Austin, when streets fill up with people after bars close for the night.

“This Thanksgiving … weekend, I give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased,” police Chief Art Acevedo said. “That’s something that we should all take a lot of comfort in.”

[…]

Authorities have not offered a motive, but the police chief said that the shooter’s “violent anti-government behavior” — as evidenced by attacking buildings that belong to Mexico’s government, the U.S. government and, in the police headquarters, the city government — may have come from ongoing and often vitriolic debates in society.

I think the police chief in Austin might be on to something. Thanksgiving dinner with relatives is often enough to drive people to insanity — I have no idea how I survived the night with my New York Democrat relatives without popping a brain aneurysm — but going out and shooting at buildings is not something that you hear happen all the time. Especially at 2 in the morning.

Details are a little sketchy on the actual motives behind the man’s actions and what he used, but the basics will be enough to send MSNBC on one of their typical rants:

Acevedo didn’t name the shooter but described him as a male Austin resident about 50 years old who had a criminal history.

Crazy old man with a gun who hates the government. Great.

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31 COMMENTS

  1. A man shot up a federal courthouse and a Mexican consulate

    Obviously, he had recently lost a lawsuit involving a tainted taco.

  2. I love the fact that after he was shot, police decided the vest he was wearing looked suspicious, so nobody approached him ’til the bomb squad arrived, assuring that he would be dead by that time.

    • I don’t know what the vest actually looked like, but if it exploded while guys were handcuffing the suspect and killed some cops, people would laugh at the incompetence. If it exploded while medics were working on the guy and killed some of them, people would curse the incompetence and demand the cops lose their jobs and face prosecution for criminal negligence.

      In today’s culture of liability, sometimes you can’t win.

  3. Obvious displeasure over the illegal immigration reform executive act by the troublemaker in charge. ( The community organizer in chief)

  4. Nick said: “I have no idea how I survived the night with my New York Democrat relatives without popping a brain aneurysm”.
    You have our deepest sympathy, Nick.
    On a related note, sort of, why does the New York Times think they know what’s best for the rest of the country that doesn’t want their condescending advice?

    • The New York Times doesn’t care that the rest of the country disagrees. They see themselves as the intellectual elite, and therefore should have the ability to dictate to the rest of the world the way things should be run. Nevermind that hey have no idea what they’re talking about, the fact that they live in New York City makes them better than the rest of us redneck uneducated toothless hillbilly yokles. Words used to describe all people in Texas, overheard at my home in New York, by the way.

        • In Texas cops can rein in two horses with one hand and pull a Wild Bill Hickok shot putting the threat down. In New York cops can have a two hand hold, aim, and still hit ten innocents all the while only grazing the suspect. It was also noted by a witness that the suspect could have shot up a bar full of people and only fired at his perceived enemies, which were obviously agents of the governments.

      • My Texas friends refer to my Arkansas comrades as inbred, toothless hillbillies too. I encourage my flat-land friends stay home with their own kind.
        Funny though, every time I mention that I’m headed to the cabin in the Ozarks, they all start inviting themselves.
        If I’m stupid enough to let them go they spend the whole time bitching about not being able to get an internet connection.

    • It’s not just the New York Times. A high percentage of northeastern urbanites seem to feel like they should be consulted on everything the rest of the country does, and seem to be quite put out when they discover that the rest of us don’t give two-thirds of a half-eaten shit what they think.

    • This could almost be a Far Side cartoon. ‘Three days after getting in line at Chuy’s he still couldn’t actually see the restaurant…’

  8. In his briefing this morning, the police chief was already blaming heated political rhetoric for the shooting. I don’t think he was referring to the heated rhetoric that caused arson and looting earlier this week.

  10. 50 years old with a criminal record. So he can’t legally own guns. Wow. But he blamed anti government rhetoric. Got it. It reminds me of Rush Limbaugh being blamed for the Oklahoma bombing.

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