meanwhile elsewhere  ...

AP NEWS

California churchgoers detained gunman in deadly attack

LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. (AP) - A man who opened fire during a lunch reception at a Southern California church on Sunday was detained by parishioners, according to a sheriff's official who called their intervention an act of "exceptional heroism and bravery."

Read more from AP NEWS

today, in Texas ...

• 14 students and a teacher were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday morning.
• The shooter has been identified as 18-year-old Salvador Romas, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. Romas is dead.
• Authorities believe the suspect acted alone.
• The suspect's grandmother was shot and killed prior to the school shooting. Authorities believe the shootings are linked.
• Two police officers were also shot. They are expected to survive.

https://www.wlwt.com/article/uvalde-texas-elementary-school-shooting/40096081

Amerie Jo Garza, 10

“So the gunman went in and he told the children, ‘You’re going to die.’ And she had her phone and she called 911. And instead of grabbing it and breaking it or taking it from her, he shot her,” Arreola added. “She was sitting right next to her best friend. Her best friend was covered in her blood.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-school-shooting-victims-teacher_n_628d7e34e4b0b1d9844e63a3

Can you conjugate mass shooting responses?  I see where Ted Cruz drops the thoughts part and now just concentrates on 'fervently' praying.

Prayers 
Thoughts and Prayers
Yet more Thoughts and Prayers
Thinking and Praying Profusely
Fervently Lifting up in Prayer

21 times, the same headline.

Gotta watch and hear the whole thing. It's not clearif those who applaud at the end where in on it or just approved.

Just in case ... the actual text is worth recording here:

My name is Jason Selvig and I'm from West Palm Beach, Florida, and I would like to say that I am sick and tired of the leftwing media and frankly, people in this room today spreading misinformation about Wayne LaPierre. Whenever there's a mass shooting, they all say that Wayne LaPierre isn't doing enough to stop these mass shootings, and even implying that Wayne LaPierre has played a part in making it easier for these shooters to get guns, to get weapons.

You heard it after Las Vegas, you heard it after Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, you heard it after Columbine, you heard it after Parkland, you heard it after Virginia Tech, you heard it after Sandy Hook, you heard it after El Paso, you heard it after Buffalo.

You kept hearing that Wayne LaPierre isn't doing enough, and frankly, that's not true. The NRA, under Wayne LaPierre's leadership, has provided thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. And maybe these mass shooting would stop happening if we all thought a little bit more, and prayed a little bit more.

So I'm asking everyone in this room to think. To pray. Give your thoughts and your prayers, and your thoughts and your prayers, and your prayers and your thoughts, and if we give enough of these thoughts and these prayers these mass shootings will stop.

So, I want to thank you, Wayne LaPierre, for all your thoughts all your prayers.

Thank you

America, America !

What's more traditional than fireworks on the Fourth of July!

It's early yet today:

"This doesn't happen here" said an uninformed source.

Chicago Sun-Times

6 dead, more than two dozen hospitalized in mass shooting at Highland Park Fourth of July parade; shooter sought

The shooter appeared to have fired "a high-powered rifle" from a rooftop, police said. "This doesn't happen here," said a witness who ran to safety with his family. "It shouldn't happen anywhere."

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