Black Friday's Colorado Springs Incident: Three Dead

The Prediction

The breaking news today, happening in Colorado Springs, was predicted. I forecast this on Wednesday, noting this was possible on Black Friday.

On Wednesday, November 24, 2015, in "Predicting Terror: Thanksgiving & Black Friday,” I wrote:

I think the "copycat" calendar cannot be ignored. The Paris Terror Attacks occurred on Friday the 13th, exactly two weeks ago from Black Friday, November 27th. The copycat effect has an internal clock that often works on two week, one month, and one year anniversary cycles. Therefore, while organized terrorists might not do anything on this coming Friday, it actually is the lone player, triggered or inspired by the Paris events, who would.

The Incident

On November 27, 2015 - this year's Black Friday - at 11:38 a.m. (Mountain Time; 1:38 pm Eastern), the first “shots fired” call came in to the police of Colorado Spring, Colorado. An active shooter was reported at the Planned Parenthood building, 3480 Centennial Boulevard. Colorado Springs police, El Paso County Sheriff's Office and Colorado State Patrol officers responded to the scene.

At 2:17 p.m., Colorado Springs police tweeted that "officers are encountering gunfire" and the scene is still an active shooting.

The gunman engaged with police officers, exchanging gunfire, injuring five law enforcement personnel. Nine individuals have been taken to local hospitals; six to Penrose and three to Memorial. A dispatcher said one patient was wounded at Elite Vision, located an adjacent building at 3470 Centennial Blvd.

The area is near a shooting center, a bank, a grocery store, and other businesses. Colorado Springs Police report that Centennial Boulevard is closed in both directions between Garden of the Gods Road and Fillmore Street. Police closed Centennial Boulevard in both directions and customers were locked down at a King Soopers grocery store and several nearby shops at Fillmore Street and Centennial Boulevard.

The city, in the central part of the Colorado, has more than 400,000 residents.

"Colorado Springs is situated near the base of one of the most famous American mountains, Pikes Peak.” ~ Wikipedia.

Readers of this blog already know that Pikes Peak is very special. See here, from 2011.

At 4:00 pm Mountain, police reported the shooter was still active, and that all roads around the scene continue to be closed. One report said the suspect had a “high-powered rifle.” Police said the suspect may have also brought "devices," including propane tanks, to the clinic.

The Victims

One victim has been identified. His name is Garrett Swasey, 44, a member of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Police Department, Colorado, for six years. He is married to Rachel, and the father of two small children. Swasey was killed when he responded to help other officers under fire.

Swasey was a junior national couples ice dancing champion in 1992.

Swasey won the junior national championship in Orlando, Florida., in 1992, with partner Christine Fowler of Baltimore. Fowler and Swasey, in third after the compulsory phase of the competition, took the title by winning the original and free dance programs, according to a Baltimore Sun article.

Three years later, Swasey and ice dancing partner Hillary Tompkins competed in the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Providence, Rhode Island. The Denver-based ice dancing couple placed 13th at the championships and later performed on Musical on Ice shows at the Forum in Presque Isle, Maine, according to the Denver Post.

Swasey was also a volunteer in his community, the co-pastor at Hope Chapel in Colorado Springs for seven years.

Two others, civilians, were confronted and killed, one apparently at the entrance to the Planned Parenthood building. They have not been identified yet.

The Suspect

In initial reports, the suspect was described as a white man in his 40s wearing a long coat and a hunting hat.

The suspect surrendered to police at about 5:00 pm, Mountain Time.

Overnight, the gunman was identified as Robert Lewis Dear. He is shown above, a bearded Caucasian male, being taken into custody on November 27, 2015, outside the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Reportedly, Dear lives in is from Hartsel, Colorado. Hartsel is officially seven miles east of South Park. South Park (1997 - Present) is an American adult animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network, situated in and around the same named Colorado town. The real South Park existed before the television series.

Dear’s age has been reported to as both 57 and 59, but public records indicate that he is 57. His family is from South Carolina.

According to court records, Dear has an arrest record in both North and South Carolina. He has been convicted of several traffic offenses, but has been arrested several times on more serious charges.
His convictions include seat belt violations, driver’s license violations, operating a vehicle in an unsafe mechanical condition and driving a non-registered vehicle.
Dear was charged in Colleton, South Carolina, with two counts of cruelty to animals in 2002, but was found not guilty in a bench trial.
He was also charged in 2002 in Colleton with charges of “peeping Tom” and eavesdropping. Those charges were dismissed. Source.

The name Robert is a Germanic given name, from Old High German Hrodebert "bright with glory" (a compound of hruod "fame, glory" and berht "bright").

The name Lewis imports meaning in Freemasonry to designate the son of a Mason. Within Freemasonry, Lewis is a significant name. The Normans brought the name to England, where it was usually spelled Lewis, though the spelling is sometimes Louis in America.

Lewis is routinely said to mean "renowned warrior." In Freemasonry, the origins developed from the use of the "lewis," a device to lift stones to their required height and set them in place precisely. Source.

Dear is an early English surname. It has two possible origins. The first is from the pre-7th Century word deora, meaning beloved and used as a byname, whilst the second is from the word deor, used to describe a wild, swift animal, specifically a deer. In that case the name may have been a nickname for a fast runner, one who had some of the characteristics of a deer. The modern surname can be found as Dear, Deare, Deares, Deer, Deere and Deerr, with diminutives Dearan, Dearing, Deering, Doring, and others. Source.

Elkhart Makes 3 in 3

Authorities in Elkhart, Indiana say Shawn Walter Bair, 22, killed an employee and a shopper in a supermarket on January 15th, Wednesday night.

Krystle Dikes [left] had just started working as a stocker at Martin's Super Market [3900 E Bristol St] in Elkhart, Ind., though her real passion was caring for children and the 20-year-old continued to take babysitting jobs.
Rachelle Godfread, 44, had recently moved from southern Indiana to Elkhart, where she was closer to her son who played basketball at the South Bend campus of Indiana University.
On Wednesday night, the two were about 12 aisles apart in the supermarket when Shawn Walter Bair, 22, walked in and began firing. Both died before police shot Bair dead, not far from Godfread's body, according to Indiana State Police.
Bair also fired at another store worker but missed, and briefly took the store manager hostage before police confronted him. Chicago Tribune.

Above is a previous photo of Bair after he was arrested by Elkhart County Sheriff's Department in 2010.

Bair had a history of legal troubles that included a felony theft conviction from Martin's Super Market. He also had a history of drug problems. Three years ago, he was convicted for felony drug possession and sentenced to prison. He was reportedly able to avoid that sentence by going for treatment at the Oak Lawn Psychiatric Hospital.
Police also said his Faceboook page had pictures and references to serial killers. ABC News

"Elk" is a name we have met before, in the realm of mass shooters (e.g. Elk Grove, Illinois), just as we sometimes encounter "Oak" (e.g. Oak Creek massacre).

Bair has its origins in the Germanic "Bär." The original spelling of the German name "Bär" (meaning a beast) is now standardized as "Baer" in Germany and Switzerland. The established Bär families had a coat of arms with a bear carrying three sheaves.

The most common American spelling was "Bear" before the War of 1812. From then until just following the Civil War, the name continued to be spelled "Bear." At that time, some of the families changed the spelling of their surname to "Bair." Source.

The Elkhart event was the third mass shooting in three straight days.

Shootings occurred when a Reeves killed a man in a movie theater and a boy shot up a Roswell school, before the Elkhart killings (see here and here.) 

T. Peter Park sends in the note that Elkhart is the birthplace of Ambrose Bierce.

Aaron Alexis Id'ed As Shooter of Dozen Dead in Washington Navy Yard Shootings

Aaron Alexis has been identified by police as the dead Washington Navy Yard shooter, NBC News reports.

Alexis, 34, originally of Fort Worth, Texas, recently began working at the Navy yard as a civilian contractor, the station reported. USA Today and CBS News also report that an unnamed source identified Alexis as the shooter, who was confirmed dead by police earlier today.
LA Times Update: The shooter has been identified as a 34-year-old man from Fort Worth, Texas.

He was killed by police during a gun battle some two hours after the initial shootings, and was a government civilian contractor new to the Washington, D.C., area.
CNN Update: At least 12 dead in Washington Navy Yard shootings, District of Columbia mayor says.

Updated from original post: Police now say two shooters, including one in fatigues, have killed four people and wounded eight others at the Washington Navy Yard. Police initially said three shooters were involved, according to the Washington Post.

Three shooters are involved in the Navy Yard shooting, a police spokeswoman said. One of the shooters is “down,” police said, but two remain in a building on the grounds. One of the shooters at large is dressed in fatigues. At least one has a long gun, police said.

One tweet has this description of one shooter who has been "neutralized": "Black male, 5'10" 170 pounds with black shirt and black hat"

Another said "six feet tall."

CBSEveningNews:
Reports of shots fired at Bolling Air Base near the Washington Navy Yard. Police responding.

+++Earlier...

On Monday, September 16, 2013, the Washington D.C. Navy Yard is the scene of an active shooter who has shot various people, including a D.C. police officer.

A law enforcement spokesman confirmed at 9:20 a.m. that the officer was shot near the room where a lone gunman has barricaded himself after allegedly shooting at least three people, perhaps four, all in critical condition, on the Navy Yard grounds in Southeast Washington.

The U.S. Navy said that three shots were fired around 8:20 a.m. at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building, where about 3,000 people work.

S confirmed that "police closed the 11th St Bridge as well as M St SE between 2nd and 4th streets SE due to the shooting. In addition, Metro Transit Police closed the New Jersey Avenue entrance at the Navy Yard station. The Half Street entrance remains open."

Navy Seas Systems Command is the focus.

Ground stop is in effect at Reagan National Airport due to incident at the Washington Navy Yard.

Check back for further details.

Sikh Shooter Id

The early reports were sketchy. But now we know what the Sikh temple shooter was. He allegedly was an Army veteran, a racist, a supremacist, and a murderer. He sported a 9/11 tattoo. He lived on Holmes Avenue. Considering that James Holmes is the alleged shooter in Aurora, that is the kind of coincidence even a scriptwriter would be told not to put into a movie.

We also know the who. Sources have identified the dead suspect as Wade Michael Page. Reportedly, he was formerly connected to the Fort Bragg Army base at Fayetteville, North Carolina.

In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a Sikh temple committee member, Ven Boba Ri, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that people inside the temple described the shooter as a white male in his 30s. Ri further reported to the Journal-Sentinel that the gunman walked up to a Sikh priest who was standing outside the temple and shot him. Then he went inside and started shooting.

The UK's Daily Mail reported, "The lone gunman, who was shot down outside the temple, was allegedly wearing tactical gear and was armed with a single handgun. He was described by witnesses as a white male in his thirties."

The days of late have been framed by breaking news, screaming headlines, and visual overkill, from Oak Creek, Aurora, and Tucson. Is there any surprise that copycat violence is back in the news?

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Remember the Tube poster from the Olympics, the one with the red-haired figure in it? (See at the bottom of this posting.) Well, look over to the right, separate and alone. That person there is a Sikh.

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The Copycat Effect

(NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004)