Fatal Shooting in Toy's R Us

DrDavidM

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Witnesses: Fatal shooting followed toy store brawl

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Writer Sat Nov 29, 7:30 am ET
PALM DESERT, Calif. – The shooting occurred in a crowded toy store on the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but authorities say it wasn't related to the bargain-hunting frenzy. Instead, two men pulled guns and killed each other after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said.
Authorities released few details about the mayhem that broke out at the Toys "R" Us store around 11:30 a.m. Friday, sending scared shoppers fleeing. Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said the fight was not over a toy and that handguns were found by the men's bodies. He refused to say whether the shooting was gang-related.
The victims were identified as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs, and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City. No one else was hurt.
Witnesses Scott and Joan Barrick said they were checking out of the store when the brawl began between two women, each with a man. The women were near the checkout area, but the Barricks did not think the women had purchases.
One woman suddenly started punching the other woman, who fought back as blood flowed from her nose, said Scott Barrick, 41. The man who was with the woman being punched pulled a gun halfway out of his pocket, then shoved it back in, he said.
"He pulled his gun right next to me. I turned to look for my wife, and she was already hiding," Scott Barrick said.
"I was scared," said Joan Barrick, 40. "I didn't want to die today. I really didn't want to die today, and I think that's what we were all thinking."
The other man pulled a gun and pointed it at the first man but forgot to cock it, Scott Barrick said. The first man tried to run but was blocked by the line of people, then ran back toward the store's electronics section as the other man fired his gun, he said.
The first man reached a dead-end in electronics, turned around and ran toward an exit, pulling his gun and firing back, Scott Barrick said.
"He went up to the cash register, he went to put his hand on the thing and he just went phoomp," he said, indicating the man fell.
He said he did not see what happened to the other man.
Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other.
"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper."
Ray Turner, 20, said he was two aisles away when two women began shouting and screaming at each other and he had a clear view of the fight until a crowd clustered around them. Both women had children, he said.
"We thought it was just a fight and then someone yelled: `He's got a gun! He's got a gun!' You really couldn't see nothing because there was a crowd," Turner said.
Rafael Gomez, 11, said he and his father had been in the store about 20 minutes before the shooting but were in a nearby Pizza Hut when they saw people pouring out of the store screaming.
"We just saw them running and crying. I was kind of scared," Rafael said. "We got lucky."
Toys "R" Us issued a statement expressing outrage over the violence.
"We are working closely with local law enforcement officials to determine the specific details of what occurred," the statement said. "Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to associate the events of today with Black Friday."
Palm Desert is a resort town about 120 miles east of Los Angeles.





"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper."


That would be me for one. This is the obvious reason why.
 

Who indead. How about those of us that would like to be able to defend our selves from idiots like these.
 
Shopping Mayhem

What a toxic mix!......Holiday shopping offered at 12:00AM Friday after a day and night of heavy drinking and turkey consumption. Trippin' on Triptophan and all boozed up! Hey...Let's go shopping where we will get all pissed off when they run out of Cabbage Patch Kids and start beatin' the crap out of one another because little Sally NEEDS that doll and Johhny REALLY WANTS that X-Box.....and Dammit....I need that flat screen before you even to try to cut my place in line you SOB......See how it all goes down???.....That's what I tell my wife after she comes back from a shopping experience at Walmart yesterday morning!!! She said I was right about how nasty people could be during shopping ventures like this. AND.....I have never been shopping the morning after Thansgiving!!! Damn, I must be clairvoyant!

Surfcc
 
Sounds like that balanced itself out; too bad they had to endanger everyone else. Now lock the women in a room together and the problem will be 100% taken care of.

Actually, it's possible that there may be some social value to giving a "release valve" for violent, stupid people to settle their mutual differences in an appropriate forum. That way, you don't get these kind of incidents in public that could put others in danger. It gives them an outlet for their aggression, and it's also a subtle way through which those people establish roles in social hierarchies, the same as animals do on National Geographic. When chimps fight, all the others in the group gather around and root for whoever they want to win. Watching the fight sends a message to everyone in attendance as to the changes in the roles of the combatants. This is important because to be successful in the group, you have to know what's going on with everyone else. It's like watching an election, a competition for a job, a football game, etc.

These kinds of social forums for violence seem to pop up here and there, only to be smothered by those who insist that reasonable conflict resolution can solve everything. Well, it should be able to solve everything - except for when it comes to unreasonable morons. Some people just want to fight and hold grudges.

At one time we had the institution of weapons-based dueling; that was eventually stopped. It was long ago preceded and eventually entirely replaced again by semi-public fistfighting in isolated or private areas. This continues today (and you can see it on Youtube). We also have a similar institution in Jerry Springer.

"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper."
That's funny, because I took a loaded weapon into Toys R' Us a couple of months ago while being a "casual shopper" with a friend.
 
This is crazy. Anti's will have a field day with this one. In my eyes, the first person who pulled their gun should not have done so. The second person, in my opinion, was acting in self defense. This unfortunately will hurt us.
 
This is crazy. Anti's will have a field day with this one. In my eyes, the first person who pulled their gun should not have done so. The second person, in my opinion, was acting in self defense. This unfortunately will hurt us.
It sounds like all four of them were probably troublemakers who shouldn't have been allowed near firearms in the first place.
 
I don't care what the stores think about loaded weapons in their stores. The stores that have signs posted.... oh well, "better to be tried by twelve than carried by six". I am the casual shopper, and I am going to be armed in case there is a psychopath with a gun. Obviously these were four individuals that didn't have any business owning a firearm in the first place.
 
People are crazy

people are crazy. I am thankful in our area we don't have any gang bangers. Good post Dr.

JW- Right you are. People are NUTS. However, I also used to think we didn't have any "gangbangers" in our sleepy little seaside town here on Cape Cod.....until I sat on a Grand Jury in Barnstable County, this past August through October. How wrong I was. Don't kid yourself JW. These Gangbangers are everywhere. They are distributing their drugs coast to coast and everywhere in between. They will kill anyone who gets in their way. They kill indiscrimantely. Up here in the People's Republic of MA, it's not the criminals who are at fault, it's the drugs. It's not the criminals who kill, it's the guns. They blame inanimate objects for the actions of criminals. Such the way it is in the Cradle of Liberalism here in Massachusetts. Get used to it. We've got at minimum, with this new administration, four years of Massachusetts style gun control coming your way in Anywhere USA. Never mind Obama, it's Eric Holder and Ms. Napalitano, who scare the crap out of me. I only point this out because I know which lever you pulled on election day. :)

Sincerely,

Surfcc
 
JW- Right you are. People are NUTS. However, I also used to think we didn't have any "gangbangers" in our sleepy little seaside town here on Cape Cod.....until I sat on a Grand Jury in Barnstable County, this past August through October. How wrong I was. Don't kid yourself JW. These Gangbangers are everywhere. They are distributing their drugs coast to coast and everywhere in between. They will kill anyone who gets in their way. They kill indiscrimantely. Up here in the People's Republic of MA, it's not the criminals who are at fault, it's the drugs. It's not the criminals who kill, it's the guns. They blame inanimate objects for the actions of criminals. Such the way it is in the Cradle of Liberalism here in Massachusetts. Get used to it. We've got at minimum, with this new administration, four years of Massachusetts style gun control coming your way in Anywhere USA. Never mind Obama, it's Eric Holder and Ms. Napalitano, who scare the crap out of me. I only point this out because I know which lever you pulled on election day. :)

Sincerely,

Surfcc

You nailed it perfectly, MA blames the items not people. I live in MA and struggle with the 2A issue here. USA with MA 2A laws? Watch out!
 
JW- Right you are. People are NUTS. However, I also used to think we didn't have any "gangbangers" in our sleepy little seaside town here on Cape Cod.....until I sat on a Grand Jury in Barnstable County, this past August through October. How wrong I was. Don't kid yourself JW. These Gangbangers are everywhere. They are distributing their drugs coast to coast and everywhere in between. They will kill anyone who gets in their way. They kill indiscrimantely. Up here in the People's Republic of MA, it's not the criminals who are at fault, it's the drugs. It's not the criminals who kill, it's the guns. They blame inanimate objects for the actions of criminals. Such the way it is in the Cradle of Liberalism here in Massachusetts. Get used to it. We've got at minimum, with this new administration, four years of Massachusetts style gun control coming your way in Anywhere USA. Never mind Obama, it's Eric Holder and Ms. Napalitano, who scare the crap out of me. I only point this out because I know which lever you pulled on election day. :)

Sincerely,

Surfcc

Exactly. There is no really safe place. You would think that if any place was it would be some place like Cape Cod. There is evil everywhere and the only person that can protect you from it 24/7 is yourself.
 
No kiddin'! I helped indict a couple of gangbangers from off Cape who used a MAC-10 and a Taurus .44 to shoot at and terrorize a young man on Cape Cod, because he happened to confide in another "friend" (who was connected to said Gansters) that he recently inherited a lot of money. They wanted his money to continue funding their own illegal ways.
 
No kiddin'! I helped indict a couple of gangbangers from off Cape who used a MAC-10 and a Taurus .44 to shoot at and terrorize a young man on Cape Cod, because he happened to confide in another "friend" (who was connected to said Gansters) that he recently inherited a lot of money. They wanted his money to continue funding their own illegal ways.

In all honesty....God Forbid I am ever in a situation where my life is in danger, I will hold MA and the police department responsible for anything that happens to me or my family because I was not allowed the right to carry. Gangbangers and BG's are everywhere...Cape Cod...Boston....NH....VT....DC....IL....FL...they don't just hang out in one place. Wake up and smell the coffee PRMA!
 

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