More tragic gun stories to help bring you down from that holiday high.

My inbox is so full of these that I'm almost surprised it doesn't just roll up into the fetal position.

This first one is from Missouri:

A Missouri teen who was accidentally shot by her father has died after being taken off of life support Christmas Eve. 

 Kaitlyn Pullam, 17, was shot the night of December 21 at her Poplar Bluff, Missouri home, KFVS reported. 

Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs told the television station that Pullam's father thought the gun was not loaded and it inadvertently went off. 

She was found unresponsive in her bedroom with what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to her face, authorities said. 

And another from Oregon:

A 2-year-old girl in Oregon was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the face on Christmas morning by her uncle. 

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said officers received a 911 call just after 11:00 a.m. on Friday informing them that a child had been shot in the face with a handgun. The shooting occurred at a home near Molalla. 

The uncle who shot her, 24-year-old Luke Andrew Bowman, reportedly was cleaning a .45 caliber handgun when it went off, striking the girl in the cheek. 

A sheriff’s deputy told KGW the uncle had been given a gun cleaning kit for Christmas.

The next one comes to us from Las Vegas:

An off-duty Metro officer and her husband accidentally shot their relative just before Christmas Day came to an end. 

North Las Vegas police responded to a call about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the 3600 block of Kelcie Marie Avenue, according to Officer Aaron Patty. 

The off-duty officer and her husband were asleep in the home, when their relative, who lives in the house, came home unexpectedly, according to police. 

The officer and her husband both shot at their relative with seperate weapons, Patty said. 

The shot woman was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

As it turns out these three were far from the only shootings on Christmas in America. Not  even close.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

In a grim reminder that violence in America never takes a holiday, 27 people were killed and 63 injured in shooting incidents on Christmas Day this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. This tally does not include people who shot themselves in suicide. 

The number of Americans killed in gun homicides on Christmas Day is comparable to the number of people killed in gun homicides in an entire year in places like Australia or Britain. The 27 people killed by guns in America on Christmas this year is equal to the total number of people killed in gun homicides in an entire year in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Bermuda, Hong Kong and Iceland, combined.

And if you think that's bad, and you would have to be an idiot not to think that's bad, don't forget that even a fake gun can prove fatal.

Especially if the police are involved, and you are a person of color: 

An Ohio grand jury has decided not to return an indictment in the 2014 police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, prosecutor Tim McGinty said Monday. 

A recent FBI video analysis shows Tamir "was drawing his gun from his waist as the police slid toward him and Officer Loehmann exited the car," McGinty said. After the shooting, officers discovered it was in fact a toy gun.

Now I think many of us legitimately blamed the police officer for this unnecessary death, and he certainly deserves his share of the blame and I think should have been indicted. But playing devil's advocate for a moment remember that he is trying to uphold the law in a country where he is not only surrounded by people with guns, but often with enough guns to murder him and every single officer in his precinct.

That has to keep every police officer on edge, and expecting that at ANY moment there might be a bullet with their name on it would tend to make them trigger happy.

After all this post is chock full of people who lost their lives to just such a bullet.

So did the police officer use poor judgment? In my opinion yes. 

However does the fact that America is bulging at the seams with firearms make such an outcome more likely than in probably every other civilized part of the world? Again I say yes.

A word about the wonderful Robin Williams.

Here at IM I do not typically remark on the passing of famous comedians or actors, but Robin Williams was so much more than that.

There are some people in this world so unique that you know you will never see their like ever again.

Robin Williams was one such individual.

I grew up in the seventies so of course Robin Williams is an important part of my adolescent memories.

In fact I first heard some of his humor coming out of the mouth of a friend of mine who had gone to San Francisco for a school break and watched his act before he became famous.

I thought my friend was incredibly brilliant, and as he regurgitated the comedian's jokes he had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

A bit later I saw Mork completely blow the Fonz's mind on Happy Days, and I went "Hey wait a minute...."

Later Robin was on Mork and Mindy, which was "must see TV" in my house.

I remember seeing his first appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and how unlike every guest in the history of the show he refused to remain in the seat to be interviewed, but kept jumping up to act out bits and to do crazy voices. 

Robin did not have restless leg syndrome, he had restless everything syndrome.

After a few minutes Carson was laughing so hard that I wondered if he could finish the show.

After that I NEVER missed an interview with Robin Williams on late night television.

I have worked with kids much of my life so I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have seen Aladdin, Jumanji, or Hook, but it has been a lot.

For myself my favorite performances were in Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, and Good Will Hunting. (For that last one Robin improvised this scene which cracked both Matt Damon and the cameraman up so much they barely got through it.)

I could literally go on forever about the talents of this man, and his enormous impact on my life, and the life of others.  But that would be self serving, and there are other, infinitely less important things we must discuss today.

I am going to try and crack a smile or two in memory of this comedy god, and I suggest that you do the same.

After all he would want us to laugh, not cry.

Personally I think I might do a little of both.

Shooting at elementary school in Connecticut. Gunman dead, at least 20 others shot. Update!

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:

Multiple people have been killed in a shooting at an elementary school. The number of dead is unclear, but there are at least 20 shooting victims. Many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom, sources told the Hartford Courant. The gunman is reported dead. 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way, says the man apparently had two guns. 

The shooting was reported at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, in western Connecticut. State police say Newtown police called them at about 9:40 a.m. about the reports.

Like I am sure many of you, I have been watching this story unfold all morning.

I am literally so upset by the information coming out that my hands are shaking as I write this.

The school only has classes from kindergarten through the fourth grads so the oldest child in this school is probably no older than ten years old. As tragic as school shootings are anywhere, THESE are just babies!

There is still information coming in, and I imagine that this story will change and evolve over time.

I am posting this in the hope that as you all learn more we can add it to the comments and hopefully share that information here.

The man brought in two handguns. To me that indicates that this man came to kill as many people as possible.

Whatever the motivation for this shooting, it is clear he intended to kill multiple individuals, possibly even children, and came prepared to do just that!

No more fucking around, we have GOT to have a serious conversation about access to handguns and automatic weapons in this country!

Update: MSNBC is reporting that there are 26 dead, 18 children and 8 adults.

Update 2: Shooter described as twenty years old, dressed all in black, with two handguns. So it was not a parent, and very likely not related directly to the school.

Update 3: New information has revealed that the shooter is 20 year old Adam Lanza, who murdered his mother at home, and then went to this school where his mother worked, to kill others that he found in the building.

The death toll now stands at 26, 27 if you count the shooter. Twenty of them were children and the rest were adults.

There is also another crime scene as well connected to this shooting. Ryan's girlfriend and a friend, remain missing.

Update 4: Believe it or not there is now some confusion about WHICH brother is the now deceased shooter and which one is now in custody. 

Update 5: Here is the best update on all of the new information that has some out since I first posted this, including the real name of the shooter, Adam Lanza, and the fact that he killed his mother BEFORE coming to her school and killing her students.  The father is also alive despite reports of his death early in the investigation.