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Tuesday, September 8, 2020
BPSCLM? (Bass Pro Shop Customers Lives Matter) Foiled Mass Shooting?
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Below are some details out of Spanish Fort, Alabama where Robert Smith (photo seen above) loaded up his magazines, rifles, pistols, ammo, and a shotgun then headed to the local Bass Pro Shop. Wearing body armor, Smith commenced firing into the ATV/Boating department of the store. Fortunately, Smith was taken into custody along with a female subject who was later released. The only injury noted was slight and to a local police officer while attempting to subdue Smith. This story was kept on the "down low" until this morning. The first reports I heard on a local television station stated that over 1,000 rounds had been fired by Smith from an AR-15 and AR-10. There was also a couple of reports that mentioned the female with Smith was actually "throwing" ammo to Smith so he could reload magazines. Robert Smith's family released a statement yesterday saying this was "out of character for Robert and he just wasn't himself". Police say they are convinced Smith was there to carry out a "mass shooting". In addition to the eight guns found in Smith's possession at the scene, ten more guns and over a thousand rounds of ammunition were found in Smith's home after the fact.
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Good job by the PD on minimizing injuries. As far as the silly comments about the vast array of weapons and ammo, I think that's a good minimum store for a free citizen. Once you start shooting at other folks you lose my good will, of course.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised the term "arsenal" wasn't used to describe Mr. Smith's collection.
DeleteGuy got to "ride the lightning", pretty damn stupid walking around with a weapon in your hand. If that gun had come up AT ALL he would have been well ventilated immediately.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the dumbass was on drugs? More'n likely...
Good thing it was a black guy; more than 1000 rounds fired, not one person hit. Beyond stereotypical. Pity that means this won't qualify as a mass shooting, and there is no category for "extreme fussilade with no effect".
ReplyDeleteAre they implying that the evil AR platform isn't the omnipotent killing machine is has been rumored to be?
DeleteSHOCKED!
Shocked, I tell you!
I guess it only works on pedophiles, rapists, and violent felons. Who knew?????
Seriously: Having a rifle, doesn't make you a rifleman. That applies to our side as well.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
I get your messages Drew458 and Leigh. Although it is possible, I am really doubting that the perp fired 1,000 rounds even with two rifles. In the last news clip the CLEO said "several rounds". It is like SIGraybeard said, "first reports are never right". I am surprised some customer didn't light up Mr. Smith in the parking lot before local law enforcement arrived.
DeleteBoy, that article on TV10 sure is different from the first reports, but it's a truism that the first reports are never right.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking today that this is a Bass Pro Shop. There is usually a decent amount of firearms and ammunition in the gun section (I haven't been in one in a while even before all the "social unrest" and COVID mess). It seems like someone would have broken out a rifle and ammo and returned fire if this had gone on very long. I'm just glad the guy didn't go into the store before he began shooting.
DeleteHey Jeffery,
DeleteI don't disagree with the thinking, but I believe the shops don't have the firing pins in the displayed weapons. Trust, but verify that one. po
Had I been behind the counter and the guns indeed had the firing pins removed, I'd have broken out the "stock" (not displays) and have handed out the ammo. The only gun I've ever bought from BPS was a Henry AR7 .22 I can't remember if they sold me the display or not. Anyhow, it seems like it was and and the guy pulled the box from underneath the a counter. The whole transaction didn't take very long. There guns are usually higher than most online sources. However, I had waited until that one was on sale. If I remember correctly, I paid $144 and some change out the door. That was about five years ago.
DeleteI also have to commend both the actions of the Bass Pro Shops employees, but especially that of the police. They would have been totally justified if they had just executed the guy right then and there. The amount of restraint that they used, in just using a taser on him, rather than shooting him, seems to be appropriate in this case, and worked out well. It showed bravery, also, knowing that they guy had just fired 1K rounds and most likely was on drugs, and that he could have very well have turned his gun towards the police at any time.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the MSM won't show this, as an example of just how great of a job most police officers do, when faced with a life or death situation. I hope that the man and his family appreciate just how compassionate and professional the police were in dealing with this man, who might end up proving to have either been under the influence of drugs, or having some mental disorder that he was dealing with, such as PTSD or an organic mental disorder. In any case, I am relieved that this entire event ended up with nobody getting seriously injured, although a police officer was injured during the subsequent arrest, which while it was not told what his or her injuries were, most likely involved a struggle to subdue the accused.
So this was an incident that, while it could have been another Las Vegas mass shooting event,instead was going to turn out to be a footnote that the Brady Bunch will attempt to bury, as not helpful to their narrative. All of us, gun supporters or anti gun people, should breathe a strong sigh of relief that this turned out the way it did. Not due to the political reasons, but because of the lack of fellow Americans getting injured or killed. That is always the first thing that we need to focus on, and worry about the political fighting later.
pigpen51
Amen pigpen51! I was just talking about this with my wife and Dad how it turned out alright. Blessed that it didn't turn ugly at all. po
DeleteI'm Irish. And drunk! Doubly Irish.....
ReplyDeleteI was going into work this morning and heard a news blurb on this at ~0530 from the local Mobile, AL radio station (I live in PNS, FLA). The announcer said a local Spanish Fort man will be spending the morning in jail for a shooting at the BPS in SF. A police officer was slightly wounded and active shooter training was recommended for the future x,y,z... Local police searched the house and 1000 rounds of ammo and 18 guns were discovered and confiscated. Relatives say he was having trouble assimilating to a death in the family and caring for another member of the family.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize it was a person that didn't fit the narrative until I got to work and folks were talking about it as well.
Sheesh...keep your powder dry and your head on a swivel...po
I live about 70 miles north of Birmingham and we receive those stations via DirectTV. I didn't see anything pertaining this story on the evening news tonight. As of late, those stations cannot complete more than a few paragraphs without mentioning COVID, Pandemic, Tuscaloosa's mayor Walt Mattox (their pick for our future governor), AL football, or the closing of restaurants/bars in Tuscaloosa. I mainly watch for the local weather.
DeleteI'll bet the Shop had almost no guns and Zero ammunition. Cabelas in Hammond had nothing today.
ReplyDeleteBeware of BLM - Blacks Loading Magazines...
ReplyDelete"...ten more guns and over a thousand rounds of ammunition were found in Smith's home after the fact."
ReplyDeleteNext time there's a "mass shooting event" if you can find out the guy's address and beat the cops there - FREE AMMO!! (The guns have serial numbers, and may or may not be hot, FYI, the ATF website used to have a serial number checker, if they're hot, strip 'em for parts and the receivers go into the nearest large body of water. But, still, FREE AMMO.
Can I have his ammo.....
ReplyDelete