no doubt.
Posted on 12/25/2008 7:25:38 PM PST by Callahan
COVINA, Calif. (AP) - Stinging from an acrimonious divorce, a man plotting revenge against his ex-wife dressed up like Santa, went to his former in-laws' Christmas Eve party and slaughtered at least six people before killing himself hours later.
Three people were listed as missing after Bruce Pardo's rampage - his ex-wife and her parents - and it was feared their remains were among the ashes of the home, which Pardo set ablaze using a bizarre homemade device that sprayed flammable liquid.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Prayers for the victims of this insane tragedy. The Universalists believe we are experiencing Hell here on earth and at times I'm inclined to believe it. What posessed this guy to shoot an 8-year old girl in the face while dressed as Santa Claus?
Uh, maybe California style divorce?
Just a thought.
Disgusting beyond words. The only consolation is that he killed himself, thus no longer posing any threat to any other human being on this planet.
If only someone else had been carrying......
Pure selfishness in an empty husk of a man, that’s what.
This world is full of unpredictable horrors. There is no cause for joy or thankfulness unless a savior was truly born this Christmas. We are powerless against the forces of evil. A baby girl opens the door and a monster shoots her and kills others. What the **** can anyone do to prevent such random horrors?
Would have made no difference if they had a gun in the house, this was totally unexpected from the looks of things.
Prayers for the victims. RIP.
“If only someone else had been carrying......”
And how do you know nobody was?
I thought that if someone was actually carrying, they could have stopped the guy. Going for a gun in a situation that unexpected may not have been quick enough, sad to say.
But who would think that they needed to carry to a family Christmas party?
Evil exists. It always has and always will.
“What the **** can anyone do to prevent such random horrors?”
I understand your feelings, but these acts are not random. Someone plans them out, sometimes in considerable detail ofer years.
Random would be someone just picking up a gun and shooting the first person they see.
This particular event was planned. Getting the gun, ammo, loading up, putting on the Santa suit, step by step a series of decisions leading to horror.
How do you prevent these things from happening? Reduce the success rate sharply, so that someone making such a plan would soon think EPIC FAIL (to use a net meme). Not completing the task, ridicule in the press (limited press coverage too), maybe living in prison with severe wounds, death before completion, public ridicule.
“If only someone else had been carrying......”
Or a handgun in a quick-access lockbox, it may have cut the toll down to three.
People generally don’t carry at parties, though I’ve been Designated Driver with a hot one in a holster a time or two, and known of other DD’s who have carried, but mostly for dealing with the street outside the party.
Santa had a flamethrower? WTF?
OTOH, I wish someone else in the house had possessed and used an intermediate caliber semiautomatic rifle with a full capacity magazine, or one of the other weapons that BHO and the 'rat Congress would take, to defend themselves. But those are in fact are pretty much banned in California anyway.
If he’d have been an Alaska trooper.....
bizarro Santa ping
How odd that the article never refers to the odd, bizarre pressurized device that dispensed a flammable liquid as a “flamethrower”, eh?
My wife and I asked that question years ago in Memphis,TN after the evening news came on.
The news reported several other shooting between thirteen and fourteen year olds. The newscaster was saying there is no answer!
Then I remembered, just that morning as we read through a chapter of Proverbs, and this is what Chapter 16, verse six said: “By truth and mercy iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
Our children have not been taught the “fear of the Lord.” Death is not the end, it is just the beginning!
The poor people who had to respond to this tragedy will be haunted as well
Proof for the existence of hell.
The saddest part of this story is that the shooter died without suffering by offing himself.
Yes, that’s true. However, from the perspective of the victims, it’s random. Many people go through nasty divorces, almost no one expects this. No one sits around thinking “what are the odds that my nasty ex-husband will shoot up the Christmas Eve party?” but I’m sure you know that.
As for the last part, that’s the ideal situation but it would take the perception and skill of a spectacular, nearly mythical hero. There is a shortage of them in the real world.
Please expand just a tad, if you would....
Words here, just aren’t enough. I’ll pray for their poor, innocent souls.
...†...
Even if 8-year-olds did carry, it would be tough to convince one to shoot 'Santa.'
“Many people go through nasty divorces, almost no one expects this. No one sits around thinking “what are the odds that my nasty ex-husband will shoot up the Christmas Eve party?””
Maybe they should think, “ what are the chances that the poor SOB that was totally ripped off and made to pay beyond his means and true responsibility going to do to me and my family for lying and painting him as a demon?”
Some times the dishonesty used against people can come back to haunt them beyond their wildest nightmares.
People can lie and crucify people in the legal system and never suffer for it. Not saying that is what happened in this case, but there is always the possibility.
Not if he shot first. But why would an 8 year old expect Santa to shoot? Anyone who opened that door would have got it because it was so unexpected.
But anyone who saw Santa shoot should not have hesitated.
Well, take comfort in the fact that he’ll be burning and suffering in hell for all of eternity.
Can any of us even begin to understand what went on in this bastard’s head? It could have been just about anything.
I can’t even begin to imagine myself shooting up a Christmas Eve party and shooting a little angel in the face. I can’t begin to comprehend this.
Doesn't the LA Times employ editors? How about violent and insane?
Prayers for the surviving family members...what a horrific deed.
Go to YouTube and check out some of the flamethrowers people build from fire extinguishers. These things are the real deal.
This guy didn't just snap. He planned it out, sat down and built one of these.
A can of hairspray and a Bic lighter can be a “flamethrower”. The article goes out of the way to avoid the theme, like NPR with “woman’s health clinics where abortions are sometimes performed”.
Pray for the families
But they did. Total surprise is extremely difficult to deal with, and I'll never try to second guess what was going on in a victim's mind in a situation like this. Santa Claus walks in shooting, then whips out a flamethrower to destroy the house with everyone in it. Suddenly. Yesterday morning, who imagined such a scenario? Nobody. Who then could have been even slightly prepared to act, Carrying or not? This is what 'terror' is all about.
I am curious as to what the terms of his divorce were --particularly since the article makes the effort to mention that he was only married for little more than a year yet "stinging from an acrimonious divorce."
Partially true if you’re Christian; Jesus will return and cleanse the world of all evil. Check out Revelation 21:3-4. A promise is a promise.
Covina native here. This is a real shame. Covina is still a decent place and I hate to have this plastered all over the internet, being the headline on Drudge and all. My prayers for the family. Otherwise, Merry Christmas FR.
no doubt.
It all depends on your family. I carry everywhere I go. A few members of the family carry also, including my poor, old, gray haired mom(78 and packin’ heat).
I played Santa for a couple of families in a run down neighborhood last night. “Santa” had a KelTec tucked in his fur trimmed boot. Although, by the time I got back to my car, it was at the bottom of my boot. Totally out of reach...
I don't know where you get your information, but people who carry usually carry all the time. At home, at church, all day long and all evening. These are the people who be useful to society. Someone who carries only part of the time just isn't going to be ready when a situation arises.
http://www.bundyology.com/hpg/813.html
Psycho-Dad lyrics
------------------------
Who's that riding in the sleigh.
Who's that firing along the way.
Who's got the most popped on christmas day?
Psy-cho Dad, Psycho Dad, Psycho Dad.
Yeah right, forcing them to duke it out in court to prove infidelity, mental cruelty, etc., would have made it a better situation. California’s no fault divorce is an effort to avoid that type of acrimony. That it failed here is tragic, but it’s not a condemnation of the no fault system. There are psycho sonsabitches everywhere.
Ditto
Maybe they should think, “ what are the chances that the poor SOB that was totally ripped off and made to pay beyond his means and true responsibility going to do to me and my family for lying and painting him as a demon?”
Some times the dishonesty used against people can come back to haunt them beyond their wildest nightmares. People can lie and crucify people in the legal system and never suffer for it. Not saying that is what happened in this case, but there is always the possibility.
None of that matters as long as the lawyers and the courts got their money.
Yeah, they were only married for a year. If she ruined him financially it could have pushed him over the edge.
But what if that ex-husband has issued death threats in the past and the state refused to fire him from his job as a state trooper and an “investigation” suggested iit was an abuse of power for the Givernor to even suggest that such a person be fired...
He was carrying a 2 1/2 foot tall fueler as shown here:
Doesn’t look like a toy.
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