• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Appomattox Shooter Massacres 8, Now In Custody

HankT

State Researcher
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
6,215
Location
Invisible Mode
imported post

This kind of case is one of the main reasons I carry a gun and am prepared to defend myself. The odds are tiny, but it is possible to meet up with a goof like this.

There's no reasoning with a fellow like this. For me, if presented with this homicidal maniac, Plan A would be flee. If not possible, Plan B would be to stop the threat.


It's a dman shame that guys like Speight have guns. It would be far better to take guns away from murderers like he is than deal with the human wreckage.





Christopher Speight, 39, is being sought in connection with the fatal shootings of eight people in Virginia (AP)







Massacre gunman gives in to police

January 20, 2010
(UKPA) – 1 hour ago

A gunman wanted for murdering eight people in a house then firing at a police helicopter has surrendered after a huge manhunt.

The drama began on Tuesday when a man was spotted barely alive along the side of a narrow country road in Virginia.

He died on the way to the hospital.

Police answering the emergency call heard more gunshots, and seven other men and women were found dead at a nearby home.

They surrounded a stretch woods overnight and as teams tried to flush out the gunman, he fired at a police helicopter and hit a fuel tank, forcing it to land.

On Wednesday morning 39-year-old Christopher Speight approached officers at the scene of the shootings and turned himself in.

The search had paralysed the rural area near Appomattox, best known as the place where Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant in 1865 to end the US Civil War.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jgVMO7X4voBZLjEnU4xcCnuCAK5A
 

tekshogun

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,052
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
imported post

Unfortunately, no one becomes a criminal until they've committed a crime. Since I don't support actively taking guns away from people, I will have to take my chances. Plus a crazy man hellbent on killing will do it one way or another.
"you may ask why I did what I did... but what choice did you give me? How else could I have gotten your attention?" In the news with reporters interviewing his neighbors, they say that "he was a quiet man."

I am glad that they at least caught the fool.

They pointed out that importance of Appomattox.

Why did theynot point outthat yesterday was Robert E. Lee's birthday? Maybe he was little upset that the Confederate States of America surrendered to the United States of America.


To Hell With Not Being Armed
 

Nutczak

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
2,165
Location
The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
imported post

tekshogun wrote:
Unfortunately, no one becomes a criminal until they've committed a crime. Since I don't support actively taking guns away from people, I will have to take my chances. Plus a crazy man hellbent on killing will do it one way or another.
"you may ask why I did what I did... but what choice did you give me? How else could I have gotten your attention?" In the news with reporters interviewing his neighbors, they say that "he was a quiet man."

I am glad that they at least caught the fool.

They pointed out that importance of Appomattox.

Why did theynot point outthat yesterday was Robert E. Lee's birthday? Maybe he was little upset that the Confederate States of America surrendered to the United States of America.


To Hell With Not Being Armed
Because some people would have raised hell if they did, it is for the same reason that 90% of the time when a criminal is not white, they do not give a description of the perp.
 

tekshogun

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,052
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
imported post

Nutczak wrote:
tekshogun wrote:
Unfortunately, no one becomes a criminal until they've committed a crime. Since I don't support actively taking guns away from people, I will have to take my chances. Plus a crazy man hellbent on killing will do it one way or another.
"you may ask why I did what I did... but what choice did you give me? How else could I have gotten your attention?" In the news with reporters interviewing his neighbors, they say that "he was a quiet man."

I am glad that they at least caught the fool.

They pointed out that importance of Appomattox.

Why did theynot point outthat yesterday was Robert E. Lee's birthday? Maybe he was little upset that the Confederate States of America surrendered to the United States of America.


To Hell With Not Being Armed
Because some people would have raised hell if they did, it is for the same reason that 90% of the time when a criminal is not white, they do not give a description of the perp.

90%? Perhaps. :)

I did mean the question about his birthday as a bit of a morbid joke, mainly in reference to the fact that the cowardly fools that shot-up Columbine Highschool did so on Adolf Hitler's birthday. Not necessarily as a part of the plan as I have never heard any particularlyofficial word that was their intention.
 

HankT

State Researcher
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
6,215
Location
Invisible Mode
imported post

tekshogun wrote:
Unfortunately, no one becomes a criminal until they've committed a crime. Since I don't support actively taking guns away from people, I will have to take my chances. Plus a crazy man hellbent on killing will do it one way or another.
"you may ask why I did what I did... but what choice did you give me? How else could I have gotten your attention?" In the news with reporters interviewing his neighbors, they say that "he was a quiet man."

I am glad that they at least caught the fool.


It remains to be seen whether there were any previous indications that Speight was not capable of handling the responsibility of possessing guns.

It would be much better for society to relieve guys like Speight of their guns (or explosives) before they start shooting up the place.

Too much human carnage results to casually write such mayhem off to bad luck for the deceased.



Explosives found at Va. slaying suspect's home
January 20, 2010[/b] By The Associated Press

DENA POTTER (Associated Press Writer)


(AP) — Bomb technicians discovered a "multitude" of explosives Wednesday at a home where eight people were found dead, police said. The killings launched an all-night manhunt that ended when the suspect surrendered at sunrise.

Christopher Bryan Speight, 39, was wearing a bulletproof vest but had no weapons when he turned himself in to police around 7:10 a.m., Sheriff O. Wilson Staples said....

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/explosives-found-at-va-slaying-suspect-s-home-1.1715122
 

Dreamer

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
5,360
Location
Grennsboro NC
imported post

The one REALLY odd thing about this case is that it hasn't received a lot of airtime, at least not on the big cable news networks like CNN and MSNBC. You'd think that they would be all over this one, especially considering some of the upcoming 2A court cases and proposed bills in various state legislatures...

Hopefully, this case will sort of slip under the radar of the MSM, and get buried under the media frenzy about Haiti, the MA Senatorial election, and the storms in CA.

A guy who shoots 8 friends and relatives over a housing dispute, shoots at police helicopters, and rigs his house with explosives is NOT what the OC/CC movement needs in the media right now, ESPECIALLY since this wackjob was a VA CHP holder...

But if the MSM is going to make hay of this case, I DO like the fact that they seem to be stressing in their coverage that he was a security guard. That fact sort of negates the assertion of the anti's that only cops and "trained security" people should be trusted with guns...

If just ONE of the victims had been OCing (or even CCing), this event might have turned out MUCH differently.

And people wonder why I carry on my own property...
 

Nutczak

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
2,165
Location
The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
imported post

Dreamer wrote:
But if the MSM is going to make hay of this case, I DO like the fact that they seem to be stressing in their coverage that he was a security guard. That fact sort of negates the assertion of the anti's that only cops and "trained security" people should be trusted with guns...

I think you nailed it with your quote above. If he was just regular jo-bloe that was employed in any other field, they would be all over this alot heavier calling for everyone to be disarmed and saying how the constitution of the United States is an outdated document that should be changed Etc Etc Etc.....

Lets look at how quickly the "Tyler Peterson" news calmed down afterthis police officershot 7 of his high-school friends with his police-issued AR-Variant while they were eating pizza and watching movies, he was employed by 2 different law enforcement agencies at the time he went and murderedthosekids.
 

tekshogun

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,052
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
imported post

HankT wrote:
It would be much better for society to relieve guys like Speight of their guns (or explosives) before they start shooting up the place.

Too much human carnage results to casually write such mayhem off to bad luck for the deceased.

Hmmm, you bring up an interesting point, but it only brings me back to nowhere (at least no where good), how would you go about getting guns and explosives out of the hands of people that have not done anything wrong yet? That is the philosophy that many anti-gunners go on; that those who carry guns are ticking time bombs waiting to use their implements of death and destruction. TAKE THEIR GUNS! Or am I just reading your comment wrong?

Even less good comes out of actively trampling on rights to save some lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to right off the deceased as insignificant, but wouldn't we be worse off in a country that took guns away from non-criminals or people not found to be "mentally unstable?"

Nutczak wrote:
Dreamer wrote:
But if the MSM is going to make hay of this case, I DO like the fact that they seem to be stressing in their coverage that he was a security guard. That fact sort of negates the assertion of the anti's that only cops and "trained security" people should be trusted with guns...

I think you nailed it with your quote above. If he was just regular jo-bloe that was employed in any other field, they would be all over this alot heavier calling for everyone to be disarmed and saying how the constitution of the United States is an outdated document that should be changed Etc Etc Etc.....

Lets look at how quickly the "Tyler Peterson" news calmed down after this police officer shot 7 of his high-school friends with his police-issued AR-Variant while they were eating pizza and watching movies, he was employed by 2 different law enforcement agencies at the time he went and murdered those kids.

+1 for Dreamer and +1 for Nutczak.

And thanks for reminding me of Tyler Peterson, I remember when that happened. It blew me away, in a manner of speaking. I had almost forgotten about that case. It did slip out of the media rather quickly. As I think about it, certain mass shootings tend to get major airtime while others either do not get mentioned or they fall out of mainstream-media-grace rather quickly while others are practically etched into history.
 

since9

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
6,964
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
imported post

Dreamer wrote:
A guy who shoots 8 friends and relatives over a housing dispute, shoots at police helicopters, and rigs his house with explosives is NOT what the OC/CC movement needs in the media right now, ESPECIALLY since this wackjob was a VA CHP holder...
Yes, well... The best way to approach this is to remind people that this could happen anywhere, as criminals, including the criminally insane, will do things like this, and that if any of his friends or relatives were armed, the odds would have been much better for a more favorable outcome.

Reducing those odds even further by disarming law-abiding citizens is the worst sort of twisted logic out there.
 

Task Force 16

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
2,615
Location
Lobelville, Tennessee, USA
imported post

Dreamer Wrote:
The one REALLY odd thing about this case is that it hasn't received a lot of airtime, at least not on the big cable news networks like CNN and MSNBC. You'd think that they would be all over this one, especially considering some of the upcoming 2A court cases and proposed bills in various state legislatures...
It's not odd really. The MSM is so wrapped up with losing a senate seat in Mass, that nothing else matters to them. And because they aren't showing any concern about 8 people being murdered, it seems reasonable to assume that they don't really care about "people dieing" but rather gaining and maintaining control over the people.

To them, 8 dead bodies is insignificant; losing a philabuster proof senate, now that's a really seriouscrises.
 

Tomahawk

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
5,117
Location
4 hours south of HankT, ,
imported post

HankT wrote:
It's a dman shame that guys like Speight have guns. It would be far better to take guns away from murderers like he is than deal with the human wreckage.
Well, Hank, why don't you turn in your guns then, until we make sure you're not a nut or something. Not permantly, just until we decide you're good to go.
 

Alexcabbie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
2,288
Location
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
imported post

Well, I seem to remember a case where a guy barged into a house and tied everybody up, and beat them to death with a hammer except for the little boy and girl; whom he kidnapped and abused. Eventually the boy was killed but he was caught when he walked into a general store with the girl.

He used a hammer. A hammer. Not a "goof with a gun" but a "hammerhead with a hammer".

Regardless, the good news is that folks like Speight and Hammerhead still qualify as NEWS. So does a fire, and still we keep fire extinguishers at hand. In the same vein, everyone should have a hammerhead extinguisher -ie a weapon - handy. Fires and BGs are both things no one expects but which flare up suddenly and must be dealt with quickly and decisively.

BTW wasn't there another mass murderer named "speight"?. I was thinking of the Chicago nurse-killer, but that was Richard Speck.
 

HankT

State Researcher
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
6,215
Location
Invisible Mode
imported post

tekshogun wrote:
HankT wrote:
It would be much better for society to relieve guys like Speight of their guns (or explosives) before they start shooting up the place.

Too much human carnage results to casually write such mayhem off to bad luck for the deceased.

Hmmm, you bring up an interesting point, but it only brings me back to nowhere (at least no where good), how would you go about getting guns and explosives out of the hands of people that have not done anything wrong yet? That is the philosophy that many anti-gunners go on; that those who carry guns are ticking time bombs waiting to use their implements of death and destruction. TAKE THEIR GUNS! Or am I just reading your comment wrong?

Even less good comes out of actively trampling on rights to save some lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to right off the deceased as insignificant, but wouldn't we be worse off in a country that took guns away from non-criminals or people not found to be "mentally unstable?"

Hmmm, I don't know how it would be done. I don't even know if it could be done. But it would be good for some smart people to think about how it might be done. And some of those smart people should be gun guys. Like you and me.

Wouldn't hurt anything to think abou how to prevent fools and maniacs with guns from committing mayhem at will. One difficult part to the thinking excercise would be how to protect all of our 2A rights. We'd have to make that a constraint to the thinking process.

But, why should some goof with a gun, if he could somehow be stopped before he shoots a bunch of people, including children,

As for you suggesting that I'm an anti, that's pretty silly. I would place a small bet that I own more guns than you. Lots more. I think that guns are fine. I think that 2A is fine.

It's goofballs with guns like Christopher Speight who are the problem. And they are a problem for both the general population and for us pro gun/rights guys. You're a bit mixed up on the anti allusion, TG.

Is it so wrong to think about how to stop a Christopher Speight from shooting and murdering 8 humans--before he actually does it?

I don't think so. It's only rational to be concerned about the loss of innocent human lives. And to think about preventing such unnecessary (?) loss.
 

Task Force 16

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
2,615
Location
Lobelville, Tennessee, USA
imported post

HankT wrote:
tekshogun wrote:
HankT wrote:
It would be much better for society to relieve guys like Speight of their guns (or explosives) before they start shooting up the place.

Too much human carnage results to casually write such mayhem off to bad luck for the deceased.

Hmmm, you bring up an interesting point, but it only brings me back to nowhere (at least no where good), how would you go about getting guns and explosives out of the hands of people that have not done anything wrong yet? That is the philosophy that many anti-gunners go on; that those who carry guns are ticking time bombs waiting to use their implements of death and destruction. TAKE THEIR GUNS! Or am I just reading your comment wrong?

Even less good comes out of actively trampling on rights to save some lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to right off the deceased as insignificant, but wouldn't we be worse off in a country that took guns away from non-criminals or people not found to be "mentally unstable?"

Hmmm, I don't know how it would be done. I don't even know if it could be done. But it would be good for some smart people to think about how it might be done. And some of those smart people should be gun guys. Like you and me.

Wouldn't hurt anything to think abou how to prevent fools and maniacs with guns from committing mayhem at will. One difficult part to the thinking excercise would be how to protect all of our 2A rights. We'd have to make that a constraint to the thinking process.

But, why should some goof with a gun, if he could somehow be stopped before he shoots a bunch of people, including children,

As for you suggesting that I'm an anti, that's pretty silly. I would place a small bet that I own more guns than you. Lots more. I think that guns are fine. I think that 2A is fine.

It's goofballs with guns like Christopher Speight who are the problem. And they are a problem for both the general population and for us pro gun/rights guys. You're a bit mixed up on the anti allusion, TG.

Is it so wrong to think about how to stop a Christopher Speight from shooting and murdering 8 humans--before he actually does it?

I don't think so. It's only rational to be concerned about the loss of innocent human lives. And to think about preventing such unnecessary (?) loss.

The problem with trying to determine who might be a potential threat, is that not all of them will give off any signs that they may be a problem. Some times you'll have some one that is just fine, or seems so, that may be experiencing problems in their life. They may appear to everyone that they're dealing with everything OK, until one day something occurs. That final straw that triggers absolute frustration or rage that boils up suddenly, and disaster erupts.

Or you may some one who ahsn't got any problems at all. Then one day something emotional traumatic happens to them and all hell breaks loose.

Nope, you can't prevent all human explosions from detonating, because you can't always hear the ticking, that is, if there's ticking to be heard.
 

longwatch

Founder's Club Member - Moderator
Joined
May 14, 2006
Messages
4,327
Location
Virginia, USA
imported post

The signs were there. When his coworkers started joking hes going to kill someone, it was time for someone to have a word with him. I'm not saying the authorities, or he should have had his guns taken away, but his friends or associates could have intervened, and its certainly possible someone did to no avail. Ultimately Speight is responsible for his actions but if someone had made the effort to get involved it might have made a difference.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21virginia.html

Just days before Christopher B. Speight surrendered to the police in connection with the killings of eight people in Appomattox County, Va., on Tuesday, co-workers said they had noticed that he had seemed sullen and on edge when he showed up for his job as a security guard at a small grocery store.

Mr. Speight, 39, had been distant since his mother died of cancer in 2006, they said, but in recent months he was increasingly angry with family members who he believed were trying to steal the farmhouse that his mother had bequeathed to him.
“On Saturday, he was here, and he wouldn’t come inside. He wouldn’t talk to anybody,” said Tonya Maddox, a cashier at the store. “We joked that he was going to shoot someone.”
 

tekshogun

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,052
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
imported post

longwatch wrote:
The signs were there. When his coworkers started joking hes going to kill someone, it was time for someone to have a word with him. I'm not saying the authorities, or he should have had his guns taken away, but his friends or associates could have intervened, and its certainly possible someone did to no avail. Ultimately Speight is responsible for his actions but if someone had made the effort to get involved it might have made a difference.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21virginia.html

Just days before Christopher B. Speight surrendered to the police in connection with the killings of eight people in Appomattox County, Va., on Tuesday, co-workers said they had noticed that he had seemed sullen and on edge when he showed up for his job as a security guard at a small grocery store.

Mr. Speight, 39, had been distant since his mother died of cancer in 2006, they said, but in recent months he was increasingly angry with family members who he believed were trying to steal the farmhouse that his mother had bequeathed to him.
“On Saturday, he was here, and he wouldn’t come inside. He wouldn’t talk to anybody,” said Tonya Maddox, a cashier at the store. “We joked that he was going to shoot someone.”


Those are not signs that someone is going to kill someone. They are behaviors of exihibited by someone who is sad, distraught, angry, mad, broken, defeated, lost, confused, scared, and the list goes on. That is every day people, but people exhibiting these feelings and behaviors don't go killing other people everyday. Some do.

If I come to work, talk to few people or no one, seem on edge, apathetic, highly irritated, etc, this is no reason for someone to preemtively take my weapons away or totake any other action that would involve an invasion of my privacy, detainment for the assessment of mental health, or any other unlawful treatment of me.

Most people that have worked a real job, have had close loved ones die, or feel as though they have been let down or defeated in some major way have suffered some form of those emotions above. The issue is that a very small percentage of people go to the step of killing another person as an outlet, for whatever reason.

I have even joked about weird people going off and killing someone or themselves. It hasn't happened yet.


Arm yourself and take your chances. There is no better way.
 

The Donkey

New member
Joined
Sep 21, 2006
Messages
1,114
Location
Northern Virginia
imported post

Itsfrequently uncomfortable to get in the face of a friend or acquaintance who is going off . . . but that is exactly what needs to happen if we are to avert tragedies like this.

"An armed society is a polite society": perhaps: but we need to make sure we are nevertoo polite to help out someone in pain who can act out in pain with the force of arms. And in an armed and pained society, that can be nearly anyone.
 

Alexcabbie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
2,288
Location
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
imported post

One of the bones I have to pick with psychology and psychaitry is that the human mind is quite impossible to quantify. I am the oldest of five kids, and my parents for a time tried raising us according to Benjamin Spock's "Baby and Child Care"; saying when we misbehaved (as if we wouldn't hear and understand) "the book says..." We even made up a silly "Simon Says" game called "The Book Says" wherein you had to do some ridiculous thing like kiss your own foot if "the book" said you would. (eventually Mom and Dad pitched the book and just began libreral doses of "cowhide tea" - that's "the belt" if you didn't know - and we all turned out pretty much okay.

A donut will getcha a dollar that this Speight character was raised by parents who thought that spanking just taught violence and who overindulged his expectations; was taught in schools where "Musical Chairs" was played without removing any chairs; where he was told by any and every adult with whom he came in contact with that he was entitled to be happy all the time etc. Spoiled brat kids make the absolute worst adults, and thanks to the "enlightenment" of the 1960s-1980s, we now witness a bloodbath at Appomasttox, VA. How perversely apropos.
 

GLOCK21GB

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
4,347
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
imported post

Just glad they got the guy it's too sad so many had to die. He even tried to shoot down the police chopper it had to make a forced emergency landing. But now if guns did not exist, he would have used a bow and arrow's .... it's not the gun that kills, it's people.
 

Alexcabbie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
2,288
Location
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
imported post

I bet the Circuit Court docket for this worm is gonna be so massive it'll overload their website. Let's see... eight counts of capital murder, two counts of attempted murder of a police officer (maybe more) two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, umpteen counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and more; plus about 30 misdemeanor counts.

I would almost wish he were spared the death penalty and were locked up in Red Onion Supermax for life so that we could be spared weenies with candles singing "Kumbayah" on the news when he is executed. :banghead:
 
Top