Maryland Mall Shooter Was Soft Spoken Vegan Skateboarder, Used Legal Mossberg Shotgun
January 27 2014
by Dan Cannon
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I’m not going to make assumptions here and say that we have another public shooting (this incident doesn’t meet the criteria to be called a mass shooting) committed by a left leaning person, but we do have some new facts in the Maryland mall shooting case.
According to numerous media outlets, Darion Marcus Aguilar was a vegan and a skateboarder. The two people he shot were both inside of a local skateboard apparel shop. There may have been some connection there rather than this being a random act of violence. Aguilar committed suicide before police arrived, but he still had plenty of ammunition to keep firing if mass casualties were his goal.
Aguilar’s mother and friends describe him as friendly and outgoing, if not a little soft spoken.
The Mossberg shotun Aguilar used was legally purchased. Aguilar underwent and passed a background check to obtain the firearm. No expanded background checks would have prevented Aguilar from purchasing the shotgun. Firearms such as shotguns are legal even in countries such as Great Britain and Mexico, which have very strict gun control laws.
The shotgun was also completely legal under Maryland law. Last year Maryland passed some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, banning the purchase of some types of firearms.
We also know that Maryland is a “may issue” state for concealed carry permits, meaning that it is usually pretty hard for average citizens to get a permit to carry a firearm for protection. On top of that, the mall this incident happened at has a policy of no firearms. Aguilar ignored Maryland’s concealed carry laws and the mall’s policy.
Police are still trying to find a motive for the shooting. They did uncover a journal that showed Aguilar was experiencing some unhappiness with life, but nothing specific has been released yet.
Sources: CNN, TIME, ABC News, Baltimore Sun
Also noted, according to a Washington Post article, that in the shooter’s “journal” he expressed a dislike for “certain groups”. However, police have not disclosed which “certain groups” are mentioned in the journal.