Call the Idaho Shooting What It Was: Terrorism

In my town, they stole a march on the Fourth of July by shooting off the town fireworks during the last weekend in June. (I highly recommend fireworks over a river for patriotic thrills.) Elsewhere in our gasping, wheezing democratic republic, there were several spontaneous—if unfortunate—exercises in Second Amendment freedoms in advance of the national celebration. From KHQ NonStop Local:

The timeline of the incident began around 1:21 p.m., when a brush fire was reported. At around 2 p.m., firefighters responding to the blaze reported being shot at by a gunman. Two firefighters were struck and later died from their injuries, one from the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and the other from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue. A third firefighter was injured, recently underwent surgery and is in stable condition. At about 7:40 p.m., deputies detected a cell phone activation in the area. They later found a deceased man with a gun nearby. While the body has not yet been identified and a motive has not been determined, deputies believe he was the lone shooter. They said there is no ongoing threat to the community. Fire officials at the press conference said the brush fire has burned approximately 20 acres. Crews are still working to assess and manage the fire.

This is a classic terrorist maneuver. Create a situation that requires the immediate involvement of first responders, and then shoot the ones that show up. Variations on the theme in the past include calling in a bomb threat to a target facility and then, after the inevitable evacuation, set off the bomb in the parking lot where the employees have gathered once the police and the fire department have arrived. The Provisional IRA had a fondness for this tactic, as did anti-choice murderer Eric Rudolph. This guy apparently wanted a more personal touch to his killing. So he used a gun, because America, that’s why. Meanwhile, down in Houston, an armed woman took a highway hostage.

The woman who held up traffic on the North Freeway for five hours on Thursday is not facing any charges, according to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office. The 64-year-old woman was instead referred for a mental health evaluation.

The 64-year-old woman was instead referred for a mental health evaluation after the standoff on I-45 in the Spring area. The woman’s daughter told KHOU 11 News that she visited her mother on Friday, a day after the ordeal. She said she appears to be doing much better and is eating and drinking. Authorities said she intentionally crashed into an 18-wheeler before pulling out a lawn chair and sitting in the middle of the southbound lanes.

Yoicks!

Authorities initially responded to the scene after getting reports of a crash. They said the person who called 911 told them that a woman at the scene of the crash was armed with a gun. Authorities later said that the woman had intentionally crashed into an 18-wheeler on the highway, got out of her vehicle, pulled out a lawn chair and held a gun to herself. No one was injured in the crash, investigators said. When first responders got to the scene, they said the woman ignored their demands, prompting the standoff. Negotiators from multiple law enforcement agencies showed up at the scene to talk to the woman. Authorities said they called a family member to come to the scene to see if they could help resolve the situation.

I am delighted that the episode ended peaceably, and that the police seem to be acting with considerable empathy toward this obviously troubled human. But you don’t exactly have to be Raymond Chandler to dream up other—and very familiar—scenarios that end up with body bags as their primary accessories. Why is that?

Guns. Too damn many guns.