When In Doubt, Shoot It Out...
Well, that certainly sounds like the right thing to do whenever one is in COMBAT, but considering the nature of some people these days, creating a WAR ZONE in an urban environment such as a residential street or at a local business seems (imho) like nothing short of domestic terrorism.
Now to me, there is NO distinction between terrorists...they're ALL the damn same, in that they all cause people to deviate from their normal routines, and that is as pure a form (or definition) of terrorism as you can probably find anywhere.
When you can effect the citizenry to change THEIR behavior through violent acts against them or the area they live in...
THAT. IS. TERRORISM.
With that in mind, we've some updating to do on yesterday's story I brought you regarding that triple shooting uptown, along with some other "fun" things that have occurred since then.
So buckle up, tighten the chin strap, charge your weapon, check the safety, and get ready to rock and roll.
*** (( Gangs tied to double slaying
Club patrons say retaliation was motive - Holly Abrams The Journal Gazette
Gang activity played a role in a weekend shooting at a north-side club that left two men dead and another wounded, Fort Wayne police said Monday.
The second of two men slain in the shooting Sunday morning at Rick O’Shay’s Irish Pub was identified Monday as Jaquan Dartavis Gentry, 22, of Fort Wayne. Gentry’s shooting death was ruled the 23rd homicide in Allen County this year.
His death followed that of Jeffery James Moore, 23, also shot at the pub Sunday.
A third man injured in the shooting was identified Monday by Fort Wayne police.
Demetrius Masterson, 26, of Fort Wayne, suffered minor injuries.
He was treated at a hospital and released, according to officer Raquel Foster, police spokeswoman.
No arrests have been made in the double slaying, but police have determined gang activity played a role, Foster said, adding that police believe more than one shooter was involved.
"It appears to be two groups with an ongoing feud," she said. "I don’t think it was a preplanned meet." Fort Wayne police dispatchers received multiple 911 calls from cell phones just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday, reporting gunfire had rung out inside the bar at 4610 Parnell Ave., within the Coliseum Plaza strip mall.
The first officer to arrive found an injured man on a sidewalk outside. A second injured man was on the floor inside, and both were being tended to by patrons and bar staff, police previously said. All available northeast-side officers, along with Allen County police, totaling nearly 40 officers, were called to the shooting scene, according to police dispatch logs. An estimated 200 patrons left the bar in a wave of panic.
Police later learned Masterson was shot at the same location and had been taken to the hospital by non-emergency personnel.
Paramedics took Moore and Gentry to a hospital in critical condition. Moore was pronounced dead about 3 a.m. Sunday and Gentry about 9 a.m. Sunday.
Police are interested in speaking with any witnesses. Greg Lewis, executive director of Fort Wayne Crime Stoppers, said he received more than a dozen calls and messages from witnesses wanting to share information about the slayings. But although callers had colorful details on what happened, Lewis said, most were reluctant to identify themselves.
He said people are still being urged to come forward and talk frankly with police. Lewis said callers indicated the local gangs involved in the shooting were The Mob and the Cash Money Boys.
"It’s generated a lot of information," he said, adding that callers indicate the double slaying was retaliation for several other city shootings over the past few weeks. "These groups have been picking at each other for several weeks."
Witnesses are urged to call Fort Wayne police at 427-1222 or leave an anonymous tip at Crime Stoppers, 436-7867.
Victim shot before
This was not the first time Masterson has been wounded by gunfire.
He was critically hurt in a 2005 shooting on Creighton Avenue that left a city woman dead. Michelle Nesbitt, 27, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Masterson and another man were shot but recovered, according to police.
Additionally, both Gentry and Masterson have spent time in prison, according to records kept by the Indiana Department of Correction.
Masterson has felony convictions in Allen County for dealing cocaine and criminal recklessness. He was arrested in 2006 after detectives bought crack cocaine from him three times, police said.
Gentry was arrested in 2008 after several shots were fired into a crowded parking lot at Piere’s Entertainment Center, 5629 St. Joe Road. After the gunfire rang out, he jumped into a Jeep, where police found a .40-caliber Glock in his pocket, according to court records.
He was convicted in 2009 of criminal recklessness and unlicensed possession of a handgun and sentenced to prison for the shooting.
Club now quiet
Rick O’Shay’s, also known by the name Broadripple, was not open Sunday and is regularly closed on Mondays, according to its website. The establishment includes a three-room bar with a sizable dance area in back. This is the second deadly shooting near the club this year.
Fort Wayne police have been called there 32 times this year, according to department statistics. Among the calls were reports of fights, disturbances, warrant arrests and two assaults. According to police statistics, in 2009 there were 24 calls to the club.
The co-owners of the plaza where the pub is located, George and Christine M. Kotsopoulos, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
The property at 4610 Parnell Avenue has not been sold since 2006, when the Kotsopouloses’ company, Coliseum on Parnell LLC, took ownership, according to the Allen County recorder.
It is unclear what role George Kotsopoulos plays in the club’s day-to-day operations. His phone number is disconnected, and he could not be reached for comment Monday. ))
Imagine that...more gang activity. well, maybe not a "gang" per se, but at LEAST a clique!
The Cash Money Boys is a group my wife has heard of before, so we know there is membership in the school systems here.
I stated here yesterday that it would be "interesting" to find out if this latest shooting was RELATED to the rolling gun fight we had in our area on 28 October...seems like there might be little doubt NOW.
If you're going to have a "meeting", you have to find an area where some parameters have to be met:
1) It should be a neutral area (remember West Side Story)
2) It should be an area that you can attempt to lose yourself quickly, if need be (like my ghettohood).
3) It should be an area where you can have some sort of "backup".
4) It should be an area where you can create chaos to mask your crime and/or escape.
If whatever area chosen meets most or all of these criteria, then you can "play" without much cause for concern.
Personally, I think all these thugs should be rounded up, placed in some arena, and be allowed to fight until ONE is left standing...then ARREST his sorry ass...JUST like ancient gladiatorial games.
We've already got a LOT of "Rome" in this nation as it is, right?
But, we're not quite finished yet...
Yesterday around 1430 hours, I heard THIS come across the radio:
*** (( Woman in parked car shot, hurt - The Journal Gazette
A woman was seriously wounded Monday afternoon after being shot while sitting in a parked car on the city’s southeast side, according to Fort Wayne police.
The shooting was reported just after 2:30 p.m. Monday near Spatz and McKinnie avenues.
The victim’s identity has not been released.
She was taken to a hospital in serious condition, said officer Raquel Foster, police spokeswoman. The woman was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked car when she was shot.
The shooter fled in a vehicle.
No arrests have been made. ))
What was NOT said in the paper was that the suspect vehicle was believed to be a full-size Dodge RAM pickup, white in color with the letters RAM in RED.
Now, it could be a king cab, or regular body...no one's sure at this point.
And yes, friends, there is STILL MORE...
*** (( Man rushed to hospital after drive-by shooting
Man shot in neck while lying on couch
Updated: Tuesday, 09 Nov 2010, 5:25 AM EST Published : Tuesday, 09 Nov 2010, 3:47 AM EST FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne police are investigating an early morning drive-by shooting.
It happened at 1:30 Tuesday morning, at a home in the 4300 block of McMillen Park Drive.
The 911 caller said someone fired several shots at the house, and a male lying on a couch was hit in the neck.
Medics took the victim to the hospital in serious condition. No word yet on his condition or if police have any suspects. ))
Like I said, let them kill EACH OTHER the hell off...then maybe we can get back to the job of reclaiming our neighborhoods AGAIN.
All this crap that's been going down (and so much more behind the scenes that never gets reported) is the RESULT of an entitlement-driven portion of the populace. THIS is what your tax money is buying (or at least funding).
The only "bang" for YOUR buck these days occurs along our streets or in a nightclub parking lot.
And it's the WRONG kinda bang from the WRONG kinda people for all the WRONG kinda reasons.
Along those lines, there is a gun "buyback" at a Best Western in town this week...
Actually, the ad shows the "collectors" wanting military firearms, and paying decent money for them. A TEC-9 is going for a grand (in your pocket). The National Gun Collectors Association in conjunction with the International Military Gun Collectors Association are sponsoring this event on Coventry Rd.
Now, we all know that the THUGS won't be stopping by to sell their SKS rifles, right?
If anything, they'll be scoping out potential houses for guns to steal and THEN take to the show to get some (drug) money.
What continues to amaze me, is HOW the pipeline for such illegal weapons continues to operate.
Sure, burglaries account for SOME of these street weapons, but someone MUST be skirting the system to BUY some of them as well.
And how many guns are coming INTO Fort Wayne from other sources?
How's the "straw-purchase" collars been going lately?
Not much heard about that in recent months.
I mean if a THUG can get a .40 cal Glock, which is certainly not a "Saturday night special", HOW the hell is he getting it in the first place?
And this is the killer (no pun intended)...WHERE is the OUTCRY from our local BLACK COMMUNITY?
ALL I've heard from all these people is the sound of CRICKETS!
How's about a meeting with every city agency involved in this clusterf$ck having a news conference with ALL the media there, stating that this will NOT be tolerated any longer, and that federal, state, county and city law enforcement are banding together to conduct STINGS or other OPS that will clean the scum off our streets.
If I were the mayor or FWPD chief, I'd be on the horn UNTIL I got some answers from all those with a vested interest in the city's future, telling them to get with the program to stop the violence...NOW.
Then again, I've been saying forever that we NEED MORE PATROLS in our part of the ghettohood.
And we also need some accountability from these landlords that dump any group of human refuse into their rentals, without ANY serious background check.
And we need to do it NOW, because it is the RIGHT time...and the RIGHT thing TO DO.
Did I get MY guns so I could wreak havoc in MY neighborhood or shoot up a bar after midnight?
F$ck NO!
Did I get my weapons illegally?
Nope.
Am I law-abiding?
Yasureyoubetcha!
So, why DID I get my weapons in the first place?
Why did you get YOURS?
We used call it a DEFENSIVE POSTURE.
We arm ourselves to NOT become a STATISTIC.
We arm ourselves, because our FAMILY means something to us.
We arm ourselves, because our U.S. Constitution grants me that right.
We arm ourselves to guard against ANY form of tyranny, foreign OR domestic.
And like the saying goes...
"It's always better to HAVE it and NOT need it, then to NEED it, and NOT have it".
Another saying regarding gun ownership goes like this:
"When SECONDS count, the police are just MINUTES away."
And I have NO trouble with ANY citizen legally defending themselves in or on their own property with the use of deadly force.
The law-abiding CITIZENS are often the unseen "eyes and ears" of the law-enforcement, and it would be wise for every department to remember that.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.