I was wondering why the tale of a rifle-toting man shot in an Ohio Walmart didn’t trigger the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America anti-gun group’s hysteria alert system. After all, MDA’s only success has been their unsuccessful attempts to get chain stores and restaurants to ban legally carried firearms from their premises. When the story first hit the net, John Crawford’s death at the hands of a brace of Ohio cops seemed to make MDA’s point that guns should be banned from Walmart – forgetting the fact that a crazy man with a gun in a store argues for allowing gun owners to exercise their gun rights within a Walmart. Well, it turns out . . .
A man shot dead by police in a U.S. supermarket may have been killed after picking up a toy gun, his relatives have claimed.
John Crawford was gunned down at a Walmart store in Beavercreek amid reports that he was waving a rifle at customers, including children.
But relatives of the 22-year-old have contacted civil rights organisations after claiming he was holding a toy gun in the toy section of the shop when the incident unfolded.
LeeCee Johnson, who has claimed to be the mother of Mr Crawford’s two children, said she was speaking to him on the telephone when police descended on the scene . . .
Tasha Thomas who has said she was Mr Crawford’s current girlfriend said he was not armed when he walked into the store and that she was in another aisle when the incident happened.
The Daily Mail’s summation of the story’s new arc puts a whole new spin on Mr, Crawford’s ballistic bad end. It also tells us something very important about anti-gun true believers – some of whom have promised to call 911 whenever they see someone practicing open carry. Malicious intel can kill:
The drama unfolded on Tuesday night after a witness at the scene told a 911 dispatcher that a man with a rifle was near the pet supplies section and appeared to be loading a firearm.
‘There is a gentleman walking around with a gun in the store. … He’s, like, pointing it at people,’ the witness said . . .
Authorities say a customer also died after suffering a medical problem during the evacuation of the store Tuesday. Police identified her as Angela Williams, 37, of Fairborn.
An update from abcnews.go.com adds a little more depth to the ‘toy gun’ claim.
A man who was fatally shot by police in a Wal-Mart store in a Dayton suburb after officers say he waved a weapon at customers was carrying an air rifle, Ohio’s attorney general said Thursday.
Attorney General Mike DeWine released a brief statement after the state’s crime bureau said it had taken over the investigation of the shooting at the request of Beavercreek police. Police had said John Crawford, 22, waved a rifle at customers Tuesday night and was fatally shot when he wouldn’t drop the weapon. DeWine said the man had a “variable pump air rifle” made by Crosman Corp.
And then there’s the racial question. Was Crawford guilty of PWGWB (Playing With Guns While Black)?
After the shooting, Chief Dennis Evers, Beavercreek police Department, said: ‘Officers confronted the subject inside the store area near the pet supplies holding a rifle. The officers gave verbal command to the subject to drop the weapon.
‘The subject later identified as John Crawford was shot after failing to comply with the officer’s commands.’
It seems that what we have here is a failure to communicate, by the “witness,” the 911 dispatcher, Mr. Crawford (perhaps) and the cops in question. You can pretty much guess what happens next: lawsuit, wrist-slap, taxpayer-funded payout and a call to ban toy guns from Walmart. One way or another, the bottom line is that Mr. Crawford was killed by anti-gun culture. You have been warned. Again. Still. [h/t MS]