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Police Thwart Potential Mass Shooting at Virginia Church Moments Before it Would Have Started

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by GatorJMDZ, Sep 27, 2023.

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  1. Sep 27, 2023 #1
    GatorJMDZ

    GatorJMDZ gatorjack VIP Member

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    Acting on a tip from a woman who reported the suspect's troubling social media posts, law enforcement agencies quickly cooperated with one another and prevented a likely mass shooting moments before it occurred.

    Rui Jiang was taken into custody at the church with a loaded semi automatic pistol, an extra magazine and a knife. A subsequent search of his home yielded "...a kill manifesto, the likes of which I’ve never read,” according to one of the law enforcement officers.

    Man arrested ‘minutes’ before mass shooting at Virginia church – NBC4 Washington
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2023
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  2. Sep 27, 2023 #2
    sierragator

    sierragator GC Hall of Fame

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    That is great if a slaughter was prevented! Kudos to leo and the tipster.
     
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  3. Sep 27, 2023 #3
    orangeblue_coop

    orangeblue_coop GC Hall of Fame

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    Fantastic job by law enforcement to prevent this scumbag from carrying out a massacre. They prevented what would’ve been yet another mass shooting in gun violent America aka just another Wednesday
     
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  4. Sep 27, 2023 #4
    defensewinschampionships

    defensewinschampionships GC Hall of Fame

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    Bravo Zulu
     
  5. Sep 27, 2023 #5
    defensewinschampionships

    defensewinschampionships GC Hall of Fame

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    Its funny the same people who decry LE are the same ones who want LE to have a monopoly on firearms. It only took three posts to make this thread political instead of celebratory.
     
  6. Sep 27, 2023 #6
    cocodrilo

    cocodrilo GC Hall of Fame

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    He's going to be charged with making threats and carrying a weapon to church. How much jail time could that be? How soon might this guy be back on the streets and going to church?
     
  7. Sep 27, 2023 #7
    mutz87

    mutz87 p=.06

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    Yes credit for police, and credit for the tipster in this situation.
     
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  8. Sep 27, 2023 #8
    oragator1

    oragator1 Hurricane Hunter Premium Member

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    A good friend of mine is a sometime parishioner at that church. He wasn’t there this Sunday though, was out of town. Crazy to think about that.
    Wonder why he chose that one? Bailey’s crossroads is 20 miles or more from Haymarket probably, there are 100 churches in between. Weird.
     
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  9. Sep 27, 2023 #9
    duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Happy ending here. But generally …

    … when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.*

    *this is not a knock on police, but rather a frank observation of their limitations and why people choose to defend themselves.
     
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  10. Sep 27, 2023 #10
    GatorJMDZ

    GatorJMDZ gatorjack VIP Member

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    Not much. The gun at church charge is a class 4 misdemeanor and is punishable by a maximum $250 fine and no jail. The making threats, if prosecuted as an act of terrorism, is a class 6 felony punishable by a minimum of 1 and maximum 5 years incarceration under Virginia law. Seems grossly inadequate for the situation.
     
  11. Sep 27, 2023 #11
    defensewinschampionships

    defensewinschampionships GC Hall of Fame

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    Having a gun at church is a class 4 misdemeanor in Virginia?
     
  12. Sep 27, 2023 #12
    wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    Nah, cops should be disarmed too
     
  13. Sep 27, 2023 #13
    defensewinschampionships

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    You're one of the few. We've had some good back and forths. You're consistent for sure.
     
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  14. Sep 27, 2023 #14
    GatorJMDZ

    GatorJMDZ gatorjack VIP Member

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    Code of Virginia:

    § 18.2-283. Carrying dangerous weapon to place of religious worship.

    If any person carry any gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger or other dangerous weapon, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

    Code 1950, § 18.1-241; 1960, c. 358; 1962, c. 411; 1975, cc. 14, 15.
     
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  15. Sep 27, 2023 #15
    mrhansduck

    mrhansduck GC Hall of Fame

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    Interesting. Is it a crime regardless of whether the church wants to allow guns or not? If so, I'd surprised if the law would survive a legal challenge.
     
  16. Sep 27, 2023 #16
    GatorJMDZ

    GatorJMDZ gatorjack VIP Member

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    My concealed carry permit has lots of exceptions where I can be arrested for CCF if I carried there...airports, courthouses, bars, and the bar section of restaurants to name a few. I believe those all to be perfectly legal (and justifiable) limitations on my recently expanded 2A "rights."

    Without researching it, I suspect Virginia has exceptions for employees of the church, etc.
     
  17. Sep 27, 2023 #17
    mrhansduck

    mrhansduck GC Hall of Fame

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    Not sure what the status is now, but this is one of the first stories that popped up when I searched.

    Judge blocks New York ban on guns in houses of worship | CNN Politics
     
  18. Sep 27, 2023 #18
    GatorJMDZ

    GatorJMDZ gatorjack VIP Member

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  19. Sep 27, 2023 #19
    mrhansduck

    mrhansduck GC Hall of Fame

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    I'm speculating entirely and not sure if it was even asserted in the above case, but even putting aside the recent 2nd Amendment jurisprudence, I also envision someone making a 1st Amendment argument as well, taking the position that it's discriminatory for places of worship to be singled out relative to similarly-situated venues and gatherings.
     
  20. Sep 27, 2023 #20
    Gator515151

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    Have you ever known poster #3 to post anything but anti right or anti police? Oh I guess anti white could be included.
     
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