Gordon Blvd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> believe it or not, there are a LOT of ppl dont
> even know what gender I am..............
Hell gordon there are a lot of ppl who don't beleive you know what sex you are.
So, I coud beleive what you say... lol

Maybe she should have gone to a local vet then.
At least they are used to seeing blood & understand putting loved animals down.


-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading between the lines, though the woman may
> have been depressed, she also had an incurable
> medical condition that caused ongoing physical
> pain.
>
> She did what she had to do to end her own
> suffering.
>
> Why not at home? It’s possible she just didn’t
> want her husband to see her that way. If that was
> the case, she wouldn’t have wanted to do it
> outdoors either, since animals were liable to get
> to her body before her husband found her.
>
> Instead, she chose a relatively anonymous but
> orderly indoor space.
>
> It’s unfortunate that shoppers and store
> employees were exposed to this. It's worth
> considering how this upset could have been avoided
> if only the lady’s doctor had been able to
> provide her with a more humane way to put herself
> down.
>
> Unfortunately, in our culture – where people
> feel personally persecuted by strangers who opt
> out of a life of torment (who’s selfish, again?)
> – this sort of mercy is offered only to animals.

I have sent some of the VPs at Target (Corporate office) emails suggesting that they set up a Kiosk/ Mental Counseling Service at all Target Locations.

Walmart offers "eye exams". Targets could offer Mental Health Screenings.

No better place for a Mental Health Kisok than near the Self Help books in the back of the store.



-------------------------------------------------------
> believe it or not, there are a LOT of ppl dont
> even know it happened..............

Update: Shooting Reported At Burke Target
Burke resident dies of gunshot wound.
By Beth Lawton and Susan Larson
May 1, 2012
http://burke.patch.com/articles/shooting-reported-behind-burke-target

We have published a follow-up to this story with information and resources to help the community cope with and heal from this tragic event. Read it here:

Suicide Prevention and Survivor Healing

UPDATED 5:00 p.m.

A 56-year-old Burke woman died from a gunshot wound to the head Tuesday, according to Fairfax County Police.

“Preliminarily, our detectives believe this shooting was self-inflicted,” said Lucy Caldwell, Fairfax County Police Public Information Officer. “The final determination, however, will be made by the Office of the Medical Examiner.”

The woman’s identity will be released once next of kin are notified.

Police responded to the Target store in Burke at about noon today for the report of a shooting. Witnesses report seeing EMS performing CPR on the victim as she was taken on a gurney to an ambulance.

The shooting took place inside the store. “The victim was a guest and not a team member,” said Target spokesperson Molly Snyder. She said the store is currently closed, as staff work with local law enforcement on the investigation.

Target store operator Sarah said management hopes to reopen the store at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

UPDATED 3:35 p.m.

A 50-year-old female was transported to INOVA Fairfax Hospital suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head, according to a police communication. Patch is awaiting confirmation and additional details from the Fairfax County Police.

_________

Police have responded to the property around the Target store in the 10300 block of New Guinea Road in Burke for a reported shooting.

The circumstances surrounding the event are not clear.

Fairfax County Police Department Public Information Officer Lucy Caldwell said there does not appear to be any threat to public safety at this time and shoppers should not be alarmed if they notice an increased police presence in the area.

Patch will report more details as they become available.

Burke Target. Stock photo by Susan Ujka Larson.Credit Susan Larson
Attachments:

A suicide in Burke. Should we have reported it?
By Tom Jackman
Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 05/11/2012
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/a-suicide-in-burke-should-we-have-reported-it/2012/05/11/gIQA9bWIHU_blog.html

When former NFL star Junior Seau committed suicide, the media reported it. Here, a fan stands outside Seau’s house. But most of the time, the media ignore suicides. Should we? (Denis Poroy - AP) One morning last week, a woman walked into a busy Target department store in Burke and shot herself to death near the books section. The Washington Post did not report the death, and a number of you have asked why. In the comments section, I’ll be interested to hear whether you agree with the editors’ decision.

In general, the mainstream media have informally agreed not to report on suicides. There are several reasons for this. One, there are a lot of suicides. Way more than you’d think. In Fairfax County in 2010, there were 14 homicides but 86 suicides. Covering them all would be difficult.

Two, the media do not want to encourage suicide. We do not want people to think they can go out in a blaze of glory by killing themselves. There has been extensive research that shows that media coverage of suicides may be linked to an increase in suicides, particularly among teens and in “copycat” cases.

Three, the killer does not remain to face charges or answer questions, as in homicides, and there is no subsequent push for justice or accountability. The motivations are complicated, if they are ever known. Mental health or messy domestic situations cloud the picture.

There are exceptions, of course. Suicides by prominent people are covered. Suicides in public places — jumping off a bridge at rush hour, leaping from a downtown skyscraper — are sometimes covered.

So that brings us to the suicide inside the Target store, at the intersection of Roberts and New Guinea roads. Fairfax County police said it happened about 11:30 a.m. Officer Don Gotthardt said investigators do not believe it happened in view of anyone. The store was closed for most of the day, and reopened that night with the immediate area of the suicide curtained off.

The police did not issue a press release, but word of the shooting spread. The Post’s Justin Jouvenal called the Fairfax police public information office and obtained the information available at the time, while the woman was still alive and police were just starting to investigate. A blog item was posted. But when the woman subsequently died, and police confirmed it was a suicide, The Post chose not to report any further.

The Washington Examiner did a short report on the episode, as did Patch.com, which followed up with a story about suicide prevention. The Post’s deputy local editor, Mike Semel, said “The incident at the Target store was tragic. While the Target is a public place, the suicide occurred outside anyone’s view. Therefore we determined that it did not meet any of our criteria for reporting on suicides. In addition, we did not think reporting the event would have provided any value to our readers.”

If you were the editor, what would be your call?

If she had ingested a poisonous pill in Target and collapsed, then there wouldn't have been physical danger to others. There wouldn't have been any more to report than a medical issue causing someone to collapse.

But that isn't what happened. Somehow I seriously doubt this poor woman was in a state of mind to consider the path of the bullet she would use behind her unfortunate intended target. Whether anyone "saw" it or not doesn't change the fact that someone else could have been hurt or killed. Someone else could have picked up the gun. Lots could have possibly happened. I am baffled as to why the Post didn't report it.


> we did not think reporting the event would have
> provided any value to our readers.

If a black male had entered the Burke Target and fired a handgun it would have been somewhere on A1. Probably below the fold but it would have been there. I don't know what the motivations were but "no value to readers" as one doesn't make any sense given the other stuff you report.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2012 08:36AM by justsayin.

@just-yr full of it, bro. You suggesting black male firing gun in Target is a a bad analogy cause you suggest criminal action, not suicidal. It would have been on A1 only if it was criminal - c'mon man I know you can do better than that :) As for the Post - they made a judgement call, plain and simple. No biggie
@Lucy - I think more ppl go into Walmart with bad eyes then go into Targets with suicidal intentions. Besides, I think that at this point in time in our society, dealing with mental health issues is a PRIVATE matter and not one you wanna be seen dealing with by yr neighbors at the local Target, y'dig? Nice idea, though :)
@Shane - if your really care about what sex I am more than the topic at hand, then nah, I prolly wasnt speaking to you in the first place, so no worries LoLz

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @just-yr full of it, bro. You suggesting black
> male firing gun in Target is a a bad analogy cause
> you suggest criminal action, not suicidal. It
> would have been on A1 only if it was criminal

Maybe you don't know that discharging a firearm in Fairfax County without a good life-threatening reason is a criminal act? I have sympathy for this woman and her family, but her actions were PLAINLY criminal in addition to suicidal. She endangered lives, and the fact that no one ended up being shot post-exit-wound is a blessing BUT irrelevant to the fact it was a dangerous and criminal act.

ok, I'll give you that about the firearm.......but you know darn well what you were insinuating, the picture you were painting with our colored friend pulling the trigger was QUITE a different scenario than a suicide. You know that very well............

I'm not insinuating anything... I will plainly state that a minority male perpetrator doing the same thing is more "newsworthy" than a 50-some-year-old white woman doing it.

justsayin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not insinuating anything... I will plainly
> state that a minority male perpetrator doing the
> same thing is more "newsworthy" than a
> 50-some-year-old white woman doing it.


I'll agree with this.

Not shocked but I see once again "the race card" is being played again. Is that the case here? I doubt it, as the Washington Post and their mininons are for bigoted policies such as affirmative action, and love to do positive write ups on racists such as Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Sister Soulja, and then of course anyone else of a minority group that spews out hatred.

Tis a shame. Its 2012. This has nothing, nada, zip to do with race. What it has to do is with a sick woman, who ended her life. I thank God that the bullet did not hit anyone else, I feel sympathy for her family, and that's the bottom line. Whether she's white, black, hispanic, asian, green, blue, purple is irrelevant. What is is this woman thankfully only took herself out, no one else was hurt, hopefully the Crisis Response Teams and others can help those that witnessed such a disgusting act, and her family can get some peace during this difficult time.

I agree, it should not be different but I am guessing it is. Or that may not have been the reason at all why the Post didn't report on it, I just don't buy the "not nersworthy" argument. This wasn't someone who died of a heart attack at work or collapsed on the sidewalk, that happens many times a day and there isn't room in the Post for that.

Newsworthy: second-grader in MD removed from school because she didn't live in the county boundaries

Not newsworthy: woman shoots self in department store

If nothing else it would have answered the question for many area residents what happened that was so serious that the cops were there all day and why the store was closed.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2012 11:25AM by justsayin.

If the lady had been a black guy and the same shit went down, I think the Post would have made the same call and not run the story. It's not any more newsworthy just cause a brotha kills himself - if fact, it's prolly less newsworthy cause less ppl care about blacks than whites around here anyways.........tell me I'm wrong about that, eh? LoLz

Anywho, I still stand by my belief that it would only have been a news story if the gun was used in a robbery or something like that, no matter what race it was.

edit :For example, this white woman made WAAAYYY more news with her gun than Target lady

http://youtu.be/qy_YgzdfQ_0



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2012 12:19PM by Gordon Blvd.

I was in the store at the time of the incident.....heard a "pop" nothing alarming till I heard excited voices and a request for someone to call 911!!! The extended legs of a person could be seen on the floor and Target Members were trying to close off the area from viewing. Police were quickly on the scene followed by many more officers and the Fire Dept and EMT's. I left the area so as not to get caught up in the situation.

She did this in the in the area by books and magazines, near the electronic dept.

Yeah I saw that she appeared alive too - it was in the book section. The police responded very quickly but a child did see it. I spoke to a woman in the parking lot who said she and her daughter who appeared to be about 5 saw the whole thing - the victim shot herself right in front of the girl. Extremely upsetting to know this - for all involved.

I am a friend of the family. Some People on here are just unbearably rude. This was not a woman who "showed the signs" you seem to think are always so obvious. She was a mom of 2 wonderful children and belover wife. No one will ever know why she chone to end he life and in such a way...have some compassion for the family that is mourning. Pray for the medics and first responders these are not easy situations for us to handle no matter how many we respond to. Pray for the alleged child that was a witness to be able to erase this from her mind and not be scathed...JUST PRAY. DON'T HATE. Don't assume you know based on an experience or news report...everyone handles things differently.

Fairfax Underground is, by its nature, mostly rude. Expecting or asking for anything else is futile, and just encourages trolls. Unfortunately, this woman chose to end her life in a public violent act, for reasons apparently known to her alone. Like it or not, members of the community are affected by it and will comment on it in a variety of ways. Yes, it's sad for the family, but that's life in the internet age.

A dear friend of mine is the mother of an accident victim who was pilloried on this board. She read the board & was upset, but had the good sense not to visit the board again. I suggest that you & any family members follow her example.

Agreed completely. I was saddened to hear of this, and may her family feel love instead of these inciteful comments at this time. Yes, @Ems 108 has it correct. There are some people just looking for a reaction, or who have yet to see what its like to lose a loved one in traumatic circumstances. Later on, they might just regret such statements.

What a selfish person. Especially to do it in front of others and children like that!!! Before anyone comments rudely my first husband killed himself in front of me!!! So I can tell u first hand

Angi,

I am sorry you had to contend with this. No rudeness, just a thought. Do you know what was going through his mind at the time? There's just so much we don't know yet, and especially with regards to the "why's."

My sympathy to you, and to this family of the Target incident. Either way, I am glad that no one else was hurt by the actions of those who took their lives.(Physically). Mentally and emotionally, there are scars that you and others are going to carry for the rest of your life. Carry on with grace and peace this morning. As you know, "not get over, but through." Same goes to the family in question, friends of her, and Target employees/customers, EMS, first responders,etc.

A neighbor is reporting she was caught shoplifting and when the police were called, she killed herself with a concealed weapon she had on her at the time. When is suicide ever easier than a shoplifting sentence?

@Dawn - dunno where you got yr info but it is bogus as hell - tell that neighbor to STFU, k?

http://obituaries.fairfaxmemorialfuneralhome.com/debra-anderson-obituary/

Sook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://obituaries.fairfaxmemorialfuneralhome.com/d
> ebra-anderson-obituary/


And this added to the discussion in what way? IDIOT

It is an obit of the shooter... that is off-topic for this thread?

@just - I dunno............it's just the shark was jumped long ago on this thread. I gotta agree with Moron that Sook's a jackass digging up the past cause the obit doesnt tell me anything new, y'know?

I've wanted to shoot myself on more than one occassion while visiting these type of stores. Especially Walmart, but that's more of a catch 22. At first, the horrible people shopping there make me want to just end it all right there, but then I start to feel better about myself the more I look at those disgusting animals.

fuck you.

Thank you for this. She was actually one of my best friends aunts and I can't believe the awful jokes people are posting.

Have respect for friends and family of someone with such an illness

Ks34 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you for this. She was actually one of my
> best friends aunts and I can't believe the awful
> jokes people are posting.
>
> Have respect for friends and family of someone
> with such an illness

Sorry but once you shoot yourself in front of children, you lose my respect.