Home to the Wright Brothers, Dayton (OH) is often referred to as the Birthplace of Aviation. The University of Dayton mascot is the Flyers, and while the FIRST FOUR games of the the upcoming NCAA men's basketball tournament will be held here in a couple weeks, basketballs are not the only thing flying around Dayton.
Although we may all be getting fatigued from the multiple gun violence diaries that are frequent here, it is part of helping to keep the spotlight on the topic so it does not fade away as it has in the past. And this week, Dayton seems to be a place where the topic is staying alive for the worst possible reasons. (Continue below the fold)
The first gun homicide in Dayton in 2013 happened only 3.5 hours into the new year. A young man was shot inside a home in Dayton. That was eventually ruled a justified homicide in self-defense. Although the shooting was ruled justifiable, the alleged shooter was on probation for improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and was prohibited from owning a firearm.
After that though things settled down for a few weeks, but in late January a rash of shootings, mostly into buildings or cars, started taking place. From Jan. 21 to Feb 19 at least 22 incidents where shots were fired occurred. There were several injuries, and in one case, several shots were fired into a bedroom where a toddler was asleep. The toddler was thankfully unharmed.
Also on Feb 10 a man was shot by police in a local park after dark after pointing an assault rifle at police. Apparently the man has been suicidal in the recent past.
With all the bullets flying around, it was just a matter of time before some started doing more serious damage. In the last week alone, there have been 6 homicides in Dayton. Now keep in mind, this is just the city of Dayton itself.
Man killed in his car at a car wash
A 27 year old mother was gunned down in her own home IN FRONT OF her 2-year old son and one year old daughter who were left unattended after the shooting.
95 year-old shot multiple times in his own home
Man shot at a party at a vacant house. (article notes that two other people showed up at the local hospital with gunshot wounds but there were from STILL OTHER non-lethal shooting incidents elsewhere that night.)
Man shot in his vehicle on a city street
And just today, another man was found shot dead in his home.
Like I said, this is just Dayton itself. Here is a story of shots fired into a house in the nearby small city (and rapidly becoming an expanded suburb) of Xenia.
And of course the obligatory idiots with guns who shoot themselves:
One in a residential area.
One at a Wal-Mart parking lot (the jokes right themselves)
And of course, the now rapidly becoming cliche of shooting themselves at a gun show.
Of course, this is just Dayton, and does include all the others gun deaths in this gun-crazed country. A partial list of those, as always, can be found in Tom Begnal's continuing diary series.
And in somewhat related news, two schools north of Dayton have experienced a rash of students leaving (prank?) threatening notes about potential school shootings or killings. These incidents have caused panic, confusion, disruption of the learning process as kids miss school in fear, and tremendous taxpayer expense.
Troy High School and Junior High
Tipp City High School and Junior High