Shooting in Santa Clara.....WTF is going on!!!

[rabagley]

My prediction: it's going to get worse. In bad economies, suicide rates go up, and murder-suicides go up with them.

The weapon of choice in the US for suicide? Firearm.

Weathering this storm will take concerted will.

[Cru Jones]

If it wasn't a firearm, the killer would have used a knife. If it wasn't knife, the killer would have used gas and a match. A firearm just happens to be the easiest way out for a coward.

[yellowfin]

Last sentence in news story..."The Rivermark development is a well-manicured new community with lush green lawns."

At least this place has nice grass...the news is sometimes hard to read or listen to.

They had to sneak in a line to avoid discouraging people from wanting to buy a house there. "Nevermind the murder suicides, our landscaping is #1! Now selling new homes starting at $400k, with this one now reduced for quick sale!"

What I for one find disgusting is the commercial exploitation of all these disasters by the media. Murder and atrocity gets these guys ratings, so they cheer it on because they're making money off of it. Ditto the anti gun orgs. These people have absolutely no shame in holding up dead bodies and say "Listen to us!"

[mooster]

They had to sneak in a line to avoid discouraging people from wanting to buy a house there. "Nevermind the murder suicides, our landscaping is #1! Now selling new homes starting at $400k, with this one now reduced for quick sale!"

4 years ago, I actually camped out overnight in their parking lot to get in line for one of their townhomes. In the end I decided not to execute on it as $630k was way to high for a townhouse with no yard. The other deal breaker was that it was on the departure path for SJC and you could not hold a conversation outside during certain parts of the day.

[Turbinator]

4 years ago, I actually camped out overnight in their parking lot to get in line for one of their townhomes. In the end I decided not to execute on it as $630k was way to high for a townhouse with no yard. The other deal breaker was that it was on the departure path for SJC and you could not hold a conversation outside during certain parts of the day.

I was at Rivermark's opening weekend, too. The place was crazy packed. People were going around from development to development looking at the models and looking at pricing. They sold out very well, obviously. Rumored that the area's ground has contamination as there used to be manufacturing or farming located there. Not sure how true this is as I have not bothered to research it at all.

Turby

[mecam]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/30/BAFN16PCHC.DTL

Six dead in apparent murder-suicide

Matthew B. Stannard,Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writers
Monday, March 30, 2009

(03-30) 11:46 PDT SANTA CLARA -- Six people, including three children, were shot and killed and a seventh victim is fighting for her life in what Santa Clara police are investigating as a murder-suicide, one of the deadliest such incidents in the Bay Area in recent memory.

The suspected gunman is believed to be among the dead inside a home on Headen Way in the city's upscale Rivermark community north of the Montague Expressway, said Santa Clara police Lt. Phil Cooke.
"We do believe this appears to be a family-on-family murder-suicide," Cooke said.
The identities of the victims weren't immediately released.
"We are currently trying to identify the victims and the relationships between them," said Santa Clara police Capt. Mike Sellers.
Authorities would not disclose a motive for the shooting that occurred about 8:30 p.m. Sunday or say whether any notes were found. Sellers said the home was not in foreclosure.
Whatever the reason, police and residents were struggling to come to terms with the horrific loss of life in the Silicon Valley city.
"The situation is obviously terrible for the community," Sellers said.
Ivy Hopkins, 33, who lives nearby, pushed her two young children today in a stroller near the crime scene, which was blocked off by yellow tape.
"I can't imagine someone shooting little children. It's awful," said Hopkins, as she began crying.
Sellers said the gunman was in his 40s and the victims included a man in his 30s, a woman in her 20s, a boy about 10 years old, a girl about 4 years old and a girl about 1 or 2.
Another victim, a woman in her 30s, was in critical condition at a local hospital. The youngest victim was taken to the hospital but died early today, Cooke said.
That victim managed to come out of the house after being shot several times, Sellers said. A neighbor saw the injured woman and called police.
Officers arrived shortly after the shooting and found five people unresponsive inside the home, police said.
"They made heroic efforts trying to save the lives of the children," Sellers said.
But it was too late. The five were pronounced dead at the scene. All had been shot. Their bodies were found in different parts of the home, Sellers said.
Residents of the normally tranquil neighborhood of townhomes said the slain children apparently went to private schools.
Two handguns were found inside the residence, but police are awaiting the results of ballistics tests before determining whether one or both weapons were used, authorities said.
Police had no previous reports of problems at the home, Cooke said.
Santa Clara, a city of 108,000, is usually immune to the kind of gun violence that has plagued other communities.
But in November, an engineer who was fired from his job returned to the firm and shot and killed three colleagues at SiPort, a startup that makes wireless chips.
The latest tragedy has shaken the Silicon Valley city anew and is prompting city leaders to urge community members to look out for each other.
"Certainly it is a grievous tragedy, and the city's thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims," Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan said today. "Words just can't describe the enormity of the tragedy."
She added, "When things get tough in life, in the world, it seems that these kinds of incidents erupt, and I would just urge all of our community to pay attention to your neighbors. So often the greatest regret is the feeling that this could have been prevented if somebody had seen something or someone could have intervened in some way."
E-mail the writers at mstannard@sfchronicle.com and hlee@sfchronicle.com.

[TripleT]

If it bleeds it leads, as long as a gun is involved. Betcha' nobody heard about the 23 year old a**hole in Boston that brutally killed his 19 year old sister and then decapitated his 5 year old sister, on her birthday, in front of a cop who finally shot him to prevent the perp from finishing off his 9 year old sister that had slipped away to call 911. Oh, forgot to mention, all this was done with a completely unregulated, unregistered, assault knife. No gun = no story...