Unusual "random" shooting...

[Heartland Patriot]

This one doesn't make sense with the information that is currently known. It didn't seem as if there was a robbery, even. Could it have been some sort of gang thing? How do you protect against something like this or is that even possible? I hope that law enforcement gets this guy, who knows what else he will do.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/20/[abbreviated profanity deleted] ... z24526Qqpp

[chasfm11]

....was shot while sitting inside a white Volkswagen outside the apartment complex where she lived Saturday afternoon,

If the shooter knew her and was waiting nearby, it is unlikely that anything but great situational awareness would have helped her. If she has simply walked from her apartment to the car, got in it and driven away, her vulnerability may have been reduced, whether her shooter was stalking her or simply looking for a random victim. For me, sitting in the car in a public place is a more vulnerable circumstance because you can only use the mirrors to see what is behind you.

It is a sad situation that is unlikely to be solved.

[The Annoyed Man]

I see a lot of people who get in their cars and then just sit there for a few minutes doing stuff like checking email on their phones, texting, whatever, before they start their cars and leave. Those kinds of things cut down your situational awareness. I used to be the same way, but I don't do it anymore. I get the car started and rolling as soon as I can safely do so, and the reason is that it struck me one day just how unawares I was of what was happening around me outside my car while I was doing that. I was answering an email on my phone one day and was totally surprised by someone opening the passenger door of the car on my left. I never noticed her walk up, and I did not hear the conversation she was having with the guy getting into the driver's seat of their car. I was completely unaware until I heard the passenger door open and saw movement out the corner of my eye.

Never again. Anyway, I'm not surprised that this victim was surprised. Happens all the time. Fortunately, most of the time the other person isn't a killer.....just somebody getting into their own car.

[jimlongley]

I see a lot of people who get in their cars and then just sit there for a few minutes doing stuff like checking email on their phones, texting, whatever, before they start their cars and leave.

Me too, and it's usually after they have loaded all the stuff out of their basket into the car and I am waiting for them to pull out so I can have that parking spot.

[schufflerbot]

very sad. looks like a potential gang initiation to me, but i digress.

[Heartland Patriot]

very sad. looks like a potential gang initiation to me, but i digress.

Not at all...I'm curious as to what folks (hopefully calculatedly) guess why it happened, since it wasn't a robbery.

[Scott in Houston]

very sad. looks like a potential gang initiation to me, but i digress.

Not at all...I'm curious as to what folks (hopefully calculatedly) guess why it happened, since it wasn't a robbery.

Aren't those "initiations" that we hear about extremely rare to non-existant? That's what I was told... that gang initiations where someone was randomly murdered are stories more fueled by rumor than anything else.

[Heartland Patriot]

very sad. looks like a potential gang initiation to me, but i digress.

Not at all...I'm curious as to what folks (hopefully calculatedly) guess why it happened, since it wasn't a robbery.

Aren't those "initiations" that we hear about extremely rare to non-existant? That's what I was told... that gang initiations where someone was randomly murdered are stories more fueled by rumor than anything else.

Yes, I have heard that too, that its just an "urban legend". Like I said, the thing just does NOT make sense...some big piece of info missing, I guess.

[chasfm11]

Based on the fact that a lot of calls for LEOs are domestic violence related, I'm going to guess that this one was, too. While the story suggests that she didn't know her attacker, the odds are better that she did.

Maybe part of my thinking is not wanting to believe that there are those out there who randomly assassinate a stranger for absolutely no gain except perhaps for the thrill of killing. A person like that has a level of callousness that almost defies comprehension.

[ClarkLZeuss]

Based on the fact that a lot of calls for LEOs are domestic violence related, I'm going to guess that this one was, too. While the story suggests that she didn't know her attacker, the odds are better that she did.

Maybe part of my thinking is not wanting to believe that there are those out there who randomly assassinate a stranger for absolutely no gain except perhaps for the thrill of killing. A person like that has a level of callousness that almost defies comprehension.

I'm going to suggest a third possibility, that the attacker knew her, but she did not know him. Basically a stalker that got some kind of thrill from killing his object of obsession. With her being a high-profile player, she may have garnered some unwanted attention (through no fault of her own).