December 26, 2000

2:34 PM

Gunman Madness
Unfortunately the the end of year madness is upon us again. This is really sad. Just the fact that I had to work on the day after christmas was bad enough. The suspects motive is "it was work related". Unfortunately the real sad thing is I can almost guarantee a copycat incident or two within the next week.
posted by neo452 (15 comments total)

I think something went wrong with your copy/paste function. The URL is for a bit of Handspring news.

I believe you meant this. (MSNBC)
And at CNN.com

And yes, quite sad.
posted by pnevares at 2:50 PM on December 26, 2000

Yes I actually meant this SAD Sorry bout the screwup that what happens when you are surfing all over the place I guess...
posted by neo452 at 2:56 PM on December 26, 2000

And the headline on FOXNews.com's front page is:

7 Slain in Dot-Com Bloodbath
Gunman goes 'postal' at Mass. Internet firm
posted by pnevares at 2:57 PM on December 26, 2000

Fox News.... World class news reporting eh?
posted by neo452 at 3:01 PM on December 26, 2000

So, how long do you think it'll be before "going dotcom" replaces "going postal" in the vernacular?
posted by MrBaliHai at 3:03 PM on December 26, 2000

The alleged shooter, who went by the nickname "mucko," posted a couple dozen times to the Usenet newsgroup alt.engr.explosives:

List of postings

A posting about Jesus and land mines


posted by rcade at 3:12 PM on December 26, 2000

At my former place of employment, we used the term "going techie".
posted by likorish at 3:12 PM on December 26, 2000

Here's the most detailed story I've found about McDermott so far.
posted by rcade at 3:18 PM on December 26, 2000

And, naturally, the guy has his own Web site. Here is his biography. The ominous foreshadowing, not to mention the rootsy folk-rock, is almost Dylan-esque:

Things were moving so fast
I couldn't comprehend it
I was first, maybe I was last
Confusion had descended


posted by luke at 4:28 PM on December 26, 2000

Um, I don't think it's the same guy, Luke. Here it says "McDermott broke onto the music scene at the tender age of 20 in the early '90s." but the Boston Herald article says their McDermott is 42.

But maybe you know that already & are trying to be clever?
posted by croutonsupafreak at 4:38 PM on December 26, 2000

...Unfortunately the real sad thing is I can almost guarantee a copycat incident or two within the next week....

Eh? Why would you say that? I mean stock trader in Atlanta went on a shooting rampage before killing himself. Did we see copycat repeats of that? This isn't a school shooting. Instead of saying such stupid shit why don't you say something like I feel for the families of the victims and let's hope there isn't a copycat incident?
posted by brian at 9:37 PM on December 26, 2000

According to CNET, there's another Michael McDermott getting a lot of hits. His website says "Nobody shoots like Mike".

Unfortunately, he's a photographer.

So, neither michaelmcdermott.com nor michael-mcdermott.com are the individual involved in this shooting.

I don't think we're QUITE to the point of the first personal-domain/mass-murderer. Surely we can't be far, though.
posted by dhartung at 11:25 PM on December 26, 2000

As you move through the lobby, you can enjoy the full view of the building from left to right, by looking down two large corridors. The northern corridor is adorned with banners illustrating the many awards we have collected for our innovative IT solutions, while the southern corridor showcases the awards themselves along with other industry recognitions.
posted by brian at 3:12 AM on December 27, 2000

Gun Violence is sad. Sorry but I dont need to express grief for any of the victims, that should go without saying. I definetly feel bad for the victims. The tone of my whole post was utmost sincerity.
The real truth is that this kind of violence happens everyday in major cities. Just because this mcdermott guy does this on a large scale it is covered by the media. Gun violence oh so common. Kids shooting each other. Men shooting their wives ...oh sorry that will get covered in the news..Innocent people are killed everyday. Just not as glamorized as a big dot com shoot up because of body count.
Its sad that there is a term going postal but this kind of violence has permiated our society.
Every action has an effect on someone else. Sorry I do feel like it will effect someone else and they may do something on a similar scale. I am not glamorizing or making fun of it.
posted by neo452 at 6:12 AM on December 27, 2000

Eh? Why would you say that? I mean stock trader in Atlanta went on a shooting rampage before killing himself. Did we see copycat repeats of that?

Possibly. A guy in Alabama shot up his office around seven days after Mark Barton.
posted by rcade at 7:34 AM on December 27, 2000