| In Oakland County,
Mich., a .45-caliber handgun was stolen from a private home by a man who used
it a short time later to kill Larry Nehasil, before being shot dead himself.
Nehasil's family said: "Larry died doing the job he loved,
serving the city in which he grew up as a child with pride and honor." Larry
Nehasil, 48, father of two, was a cop.
On a sunny afternoon in Chualar, in Central California, a woman was selling
ice cream from a pushcart when two men approached and fired four shots with a
handgun. The vendor, age 31, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rasheed Ola-Seyi Lasaki, a student at Florida A&M in Tallahassee, due
to graduate in April, walked across the parking lot near his apartment and was
shot dead. Police don't know who did it or why. Lasaki, described by his teacher
as "an extremely pleasant young man," was studying criminal justice.
In Savannah, Ga., police stopped a white Monte Carlo that they believed had
been stolen. The driver, 19, pulled a handgun and fired two shots into the police
car. The officers were not hurt.
At a community in Montana known as Outlaw Hill, 81-year-old Thomas Kyros shot
and wounded his neighbor, Georgia Smith, then reportedly pointed his gun at police
and was shot dead.
In San Jose, Calif., a drive-by shooting at a shopping center left a 20-year-old
man dead - the sixth shooting death during 2011 in a city that at this time in
2010 had none.
To the north, in San Leandro, 24-year-old Roy Benson was found outside a theater,
shot through the head. Police have no suspects.
James Hardaway died in a Tuscaloosa, Ala., hospital. Hardaway, 30, was eagerly
anticipating the birth of twins in May and had recently purchased clothes for
them. He was sitting on his living room couch when a bullet came through the
window and struck his head.
A 10th grade student in Los Angeles brought a handgun to school in his backpack.
When it discharged during class, two students were seriously wounded. The boy
who owned the gun said, "I'm sorry," and then was arrested.
In Nebraska, Sen. Mark Christensen introduced a bill to allow teachers and
administrators to carry concealed handguns in schools. Christensen authored the
bill two weeks after a 17-year-old student at Millard South High killed his vice
principal and shot his principal before killing himself.
Despite objections from police officials, a Wyoming Senate committee gave
approval to a bill allowing people to carry concealed handguns without a permit.
Police in Spartanburg, S.C. said a caller to 911 was "calm, controlled
and methodical" as he reported that he had shot and killed his father and
great-aunt, and critically wounded his grandma. The caller was 14.
For those honoring Dr. King, and those mourning in Tucson, this week began
with emotions of particular significance. Elsewhere in America, it was a very
ordinary time.
(c) Peter Funt. This column was originally distributed by the Cagle Syndicate.
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