Texas Gun Story of the Day, And by Day, I Mean Yesterday

[hoosier_daddy]

McKINNEY – A man seemingly bent on mass murder was shot and killed Tuesday morning after spraying the McKinney police headquarters with gunfire.
  Police say 29-year-old Patrick Gray Sharp of Anna drove his Ford F-150 pickup with an attached trailer to the station and set it on fire in an apparent attempt to draw people out of the building. The trailer held wood chips, roadside flares, gasoline and ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the type used in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. Heat from the fire in the trailer set off ammunition left in the truck.
Witnesses say Sharp screamed in the direction of the building and started shooting. Officers returned fire as Sharp retreated toward a wooded area across the street. He blasted more than 100 rounds at the building, breaking 23 windows.
"He had a plan. He was activating his plan. He was heavily armed," McKinney Police Chief Doug Kowalski said at an afternoon news conference, during which he confirmed Sharp's identity and talked about the unusual nature of the attack. "He looked like he knew what he wanted to do. What we don't know is why he wanted to do it."
Sharp was killed 50 to 200 yards south of the police station. It was unclear whether he was shot by police or died from a self-inflicted wound. Kowalski said he appears to have acted alone, although police haven't ruled out a conspiracy.
'Fine and dandy'
Neighbors said they saw Sharp leave Tuesday morning in his pickup pulling a trailer. They said they saw the same pickup and trailer on the TV news. Police said Sharp had a roommate, who is out of town.
The roommate, Eric McClellan, said he was on vacation when he received calls from state troopers and his stepfather telling him what had happened. McClellan said he was "still in shock."
Sharp, McClellan said, "was fine and dandy when I left Texas two days ago."
McClellan said he was questioned about Sharp by police and couldn't provide them with much information. He said he and Sharp kept guns in their residence because they like sport shooting.
"We're Texans," he said. "We have the right to bear arms."
Zeppy Benavides, who lives next door, called Sharp "a pretty quiet guy." They recently discussed putting a fence between their yards.
He said Sharp would fire handguns into the air on Christmas and the Fourth of July.
"We went inside. We didn't complain," Benavides said.
Kowalski said Sharp's body was found with a .223 assault rifle, a .12-gauge shotgun, and a .45 semiautomatic pistol. He wore a blue carrier vest with extra rounds of ammunition.
Kowalski said of the rifle, "We call them assault weapons. Other people may want to debate that, but I call them assault weapons."

An affinity for guns
 
Sharp had a MySpace page that showed him holding a number of firearms. One caption read, "I love guns more than toothpaste."
 
 Another photo showed a bullet-riddled steel plate. The caption read, "What if that was your face?" A third image showed a target with a photo of Osama bin Laden.
The page was last updated July 8. It described the owner as "fermented," one of the angriest of the options. It was made private Tuesday afternoon, and later removed entirely.
Neighbors said Sharp worked at Encore Wire Corp., a McKinney manufacturer. A spokesman there said he resigned several days ago.
Sharp took a few classes at Collin College years ago, officials said.
In addition to the college, some neighborhoods, the county administration building and nearby Vega Elementary School were put on lockdown.

[aesopsfable]

Liberals do get pissed when you give them a ticket for J walking.

[hoosier_daddy]

yeah, he sounds like a liberal.  can't get anything past you, bozo....

[sweetwater5s9]

The price of illegally acquired guns has been rising in the city since the mayor began his campaign against "the scourge of illegal guns", a police source said.
Many handguns are selling for about $200 more than they were, averaging about $700 to $1,000 apiece.

Rifles are selling for about $300 more, averaging between $1,200 and $1,500, the source said.
The black market for guns operates like any other market, experts said yesterday, meaning that when pressures are put on supply or demand, prices tend to rise.

"It's a commodity like any other commodity," a former agent and manager at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, William Vizzard, said.

He said New York City's violent crime wasn't increasing at a rate that would support the theory that demand for guns was increasing and thus pushing up prices.

The NYPD reorganized its gun units under one division and created a new detective unit, the Gun Enhancement Unit, which interviews every person arrested with a gun.

The police department and the BAFTE buy guns from criminals during the course of investigations. Officials from both agencies said no illegal gun sale is alike and that changes in price depend on several factors, including the legitimate price of the gun and the buyer's negotiating ability.

New York State has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. A gun license alone requires several visits to police headquarters, filling out a lengthy questionnaire, and about $400 in fees.

[hoosier_daddy]

sounds like a good plan...

[sweetwater5s9]

NY has a problem as do many other cities with the stealing and reselling of firearms due to the restrictive laws and high city fees to own one.  It does create a black market for criminals that makes tracking firearms and who has one difficult.
 
 

[hoosier_daddy]

well, also just because a city or a state has a good gun control plan doesn't mean the city or state next door does and people can just go there and "fill up" on their gun fix....

[Griobhtha]

ASSOCIATED PRESS



Published: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010

= "McKinney police: Gunman had explosives in trailer

McKINNEY
 — A 29-year-old man towed atrailer full of explosives into a suburban Dallas police station'sparking lot Tuesday, then set fire to his pickup and began shooting atthe building in an apparent attempt to lure them outside.

[Truman62]

Okay, let's all stop talking about "this guy."  All "this guy" wanted was attention, so he has had his few minutes of fame.  Fortunately no one else got hurt, so let's let him slip into obscurity...
 
Another Texas crazy bites the dust!

[hoosier_daddy]

he's dead, he won't notice.  why don't you go tell somebody else what to talk about?  somebody who might care...

[13]

McKINNEY – A man seemingly bent on mass murder was shot and killed Tuesday morning after spraying the McKinney police headquarters with gunfire.
  Police say 29-year-old Patrick Gray Sharp of Anna drove his Ford F-150 pickup with an attached trailer to the station and set it on fire in an apparent attempt to draw people out of the building. The trailer held wood chips, roadside flares, gasoline and ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the type used in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. Heat from the fire in the trailer set off ammunition left in the truck.
Witnesses say Sharp screamed in the direction of the building and started shooting. Officers returned fire as Sharp retreated toward a wooded area across the street. He blasted more than 100 rounds at the building, breaking 23 windows.
"He had a plan. He was activating his plan. He was heavily armed," McKinney Police Chief Doug Kowalski said at an afternoon news conference, during which he confirmed Sharp's identity and talked about the unusual nature of the attack. "He looked like he knew what he wanted to do. What we don't know is why he wanted to do it."
Sharp was killed 50 to 200 yards south of the police station. It was unclear whether he was shot by police or died from a self-inflicted wound. Kowalski said he appears to have acted alone, although police haven't ruled out a conspiracy.
'Fine and dandy'
Neighbors said they saw Sharp leave Tuesday morning in his pickup pulling a trailer. They said they saw the same pickup and trailer on the TV news. Police said Sharp had a roommate, who is out of town.
The roommate, Eric McClellan, said he was on vacation when he received calls from state troopers and his stepfather telling him what had happened. McClellan said he was "still in shock."
Sharp, McClellan said, "was fine and dandy when I left Texas two days ago."
McClellan said he was questioned about Sharp by police and couldn't provide them with much information. He said he and Sharp kept guns in their residence because they like sport shooting.
"We're Texans," he said. "We have the right to bear arms."
Zeppy Benavides, who lives next door, called Sharp "a pretty quiet guy." They recently discussed putting a fence between their yards.
He said Sharp would fire handguns into the air on Christmas and the Fourth of July.
"We went inside. We didn't complain," Benavides said.
Kowalski said Sharp's body was found with a .223 assault rifle, a .12-gauge shotgun, and a .45 semiautomatic pistol. He wore a blue carrier vest with extra rounds of ammunition.
Kowalski said of the rifle, "We call them assault weapons. Other people may want to debate that, but I call them assault weapons."

An affinity for guns

Sharp had a MySpace page that showed him holding a number of firearms. One caption read, "I love guns more than toothpaste."

Another photo showed a bullet-riddled steel plate. The caption read, "What if that was your face?" A third image showed a target with a photo of Osama bin Laden.
The page was last updated July 8. It described the owner as "fermented," one of the angriest of the options. It was made private Tuesday afternoon, and later removed entirely.
Neighbors said Sharp worked at Encore Wire Corp., a McKinney manufacturer. A spokesman there said he resigned several days ago.
Sharp took a few classes at Collin College years ago, officials said.
In addition to the college, some neighborhoods, the county administration building and nearby Vega Elementary School were put on lockdown.

And this years Darwin Award goes to the irreproducible Mr. Patrick G. Sharp.

[hoosier_daddy]

there is a slogan that definitely needs a t-shirt- "I love guns more than toothpaste."  that is some authentic frontier gibberish right there....