Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

On Saturday, four members of the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America held a lunch meeting in Arlington, and nearly 40 armed members of Open Carry Texas, a gun rights advocacy group, waited outside. Police monitored the incident at the Blue Mesa Grill, but took no action because state law allows people to openly carry guns.

“I was terrified,” a woman who helped coordinate the meeting told the Times. She spoke on the condition of anonymity because she said she feared for her safety. “They didn’t want to talk. They wanted to display force.”

Open Carry Texas claims the men, women and children armed with about two dozen semi-automatic rifles were not ready to confront anyone. “In reality, the peaceful gun owners were posing for a photo,” the group said in a statement. Moms Demand Action released a statement calling the group “gun bullies” who “disagree with our goal of changing America’s gun laws and policies to protect our children and families.”

That night in Arlington, a shooting at an apartment complex left two men dead and a third person injured.

Here is today’s report.

—Jennifer Mascia

Four musicians, three of whom were Iranian expatriates, were killed, and one person was shot and wounded, in a murder-suicide in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y., early Monday. The gunman, Ali Akbar Mohammadi Rafie, climbed to the victims’ house across adjacent roofs until he found his way to a third-floor landing. He fired through a window, striking and killing Ali Eskandarian, 35, a singer and songwriter who had been living in the apartment above. The gunman then climbed inside, found Arash Farazmand, 28, the drummer of a band called the Yellow Dogs, in his bedroom and opened fire, killing him. His brother, Soroush Farazmand, 27, the band’s guitarist, was shot in the chest in a second-floor bedroom. Rafie then shot another resident in the arm before ascending to the roof and shooting himself in the head with a .308-caliber assault rifle.

—The New York Times

A 25-year-old man was shot multiple times and killed in the Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., Monday afternoon. Two men were spotted running from the scene. Six others were wounded in a six-hour span in Philadelphia on Monday, including an 18-year-old man shot in the ear during a robbery; two men, 36 and 37, wounded in a drive-by shooting; two 18-year-old men standing in front of a Chinese takeout; and a 28-year-old man shot in the stomach and critically wounded in the city’s Frankford section.

—Philly.com

Mia Lopez, 5, and her mother, Joanna Barrientos, 36, were shot to death in their home in Hemet, Calif., Saturday. Johnny Lopez, 33, Barrientos’s estranged husband and Lopez’s father, was found covered in blood outside a nearby house and arrested.

—The Press-Enterprise

An 83-year-old man is believed to have shot and killed himself at a fire station in Mission Viejo, Calif., Monday evening. A fire crew returning to the station house shortly before 6:30 p.m. found the man’s body.

—Orange County Register

A man and two women were shot in an apartment just north of downtown Indianapolis, Ind., Monday evening. Two toddlers and an infant were inside the home during the shooting. Investigators do not believe the shooting was random.

—WISHTV.com

Daniel Diaz, a 33-year-old youth pastor, was killed when someone opened fire on a car in Pomona, Calif., early Monday. The victim had been traveling with several members of his church following a birthday celebration. “I’m still waiting for him to call, tell me ‘good morning’ and ‘I love you,’” said Denise Lugo, Diaz’s girlfriend. Anyone with information is asked to call police.

—KTLA.com

A woman was found shot to death in a home in Lenoir County, N.C., Monday afternoon. The woman’s husband was home at the time and her daughter is being questioned. Police said they are not searching for a suspect.

—WITN.com

A woman was shot multiple times and killed at an apartment complex in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Monday afternoon. A woman who showed up at the hospital where the victim died was taken into custody.

—TimesLeader.com

Larry Moore Jr., 27, was shot and killed at a nightclub in Greeleyville, S.C., early Sunday. A woman, who had come to the club with the victim and was shot in the foot, said the shooter was her estranged husband. The suspect, Terry Williams, was arrested.

—WBTW

Anthony Shauquez Brewton, 18, was shot in the foot, leg and head during a disagreement with a group of people in Spartanburg, S.C., Sunday morning, and died later that day. He was found lying in an alley between two vacant houses. No one has been arrested.

—GoUpstate.com

A man was shot in the leg after an intruder raped his girlfriend and tortured them both in Greenville, S.C., Sunday. After being held at gunpoint, the shooting victim was forced to do pushups while the intruder sexually assaulted his girlfriend. He was shot after he grabbed a cross from a dresser and threw it out of the room to distract the assailant. The shooting victim, who would only give his first name, believes the intruder got into the home through an unlocked door.

—FoxCarolina.com

A man was shot in the Gibbs Village community in Montgomery, Ala., Monday night. Police haven’t released the identity of the victim or any information about what led to the shooting.

—WSFA.com

A 30-year-old man was shot in both legs after a confrontation at a gas station in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Monday night. The victim told investigators that two men taunted him for being a University of Alabama fan after Alabama’s football team defeated Louisiana State University. He grabbed a gun from his car, but the two men shot him before he could use it. No charges were filed.

—ShreveportTimes.com

Shawn Love, 21, who was shot in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 1, died Monday. Love and a second victim, who was wounded, had been involved in an exchange of gunfire with several other men. Police have urged anyone with information to come forward.

—WSOCTV.com

51-year-old Gerald Kirkland was shot and killed at the Airport Inn in Charlotte, N.C., early Monday. 37-year-old Cremlan Glenn Ogarro was arrested. A motive was not given.

—WCNC.com

A man was found shot in the street and killed, and another person was wounded, in Greensboro, N.C., Monday afternoon. Police are trying to determine what led to the shooting. Police have identified the surviving victim as 32-year-old as Nathan OHara Ford.

—News & Record

A man walked into a hospital with a bullet wound in his arm near the Yale Heights area of Baltimore, Md., Monday afternoon. Detectives are continuing to investigate.

—Baltimore Sun

Two people were shot near an apartment complex in Cocoa, Fla., Monday afternoon. Witnesses said they had seen several men running from the area, and police recovered several weapons from the scene.

—WFTV.com

Antonio Wilson, 28, was shot and killed when a verbal altercation erupted between several women outside an east Fort Worth, Tex., apartment complex early Monday. At some point, a group of men intervened, and the victim was among them. Investigators are looking for a woman they suspect in the shooting.

—Star-Telegram

Alshawn Martel Thomas, 28, was shot multiple times and seriously wounded in a residential cul-de-sac in southeastern Raleigh, N.C., early Monday. A preliminary investigation indicates the crime was not a random act. Paul Emanuel Gainey, 23, was arrested.

—News & Observer

One person was shot in the shoulder and injured in Tampa, Fla., Monday night. The victim, whose name was not released, is not cooperating with the investigation.

—Tampa Bay Times

31-year-old Bill Hopkins was killed and two others, 20 and 22, were wounded in a shooting in Mobile, Ala., Sunday night. A witness said the shooter tried to rob a man shooting dice, and the victim came to the man’s aid when he was shot. “My daughter, she has started keeping her children in the house because of all the violence going around,” said Elaine Norwood, who lives nearby. “It’s sad to say but they’re kind of used to it.”

—Local 15

A man was shot and wounded in a smoke shop in north McAllen, Tex., Sunday night. The victim drove himself to the hospital. Police said the victim and the gunman are acquaintances, and related in some way to the smoke shop.

—The Monitor

According to Slate’s gun-death tracker, an estimated 10,430 people have died as a result of gun violence in America since the Newtown massacre on December 14, 2012.