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Gun Fetish Leads to Needless Death in Aberdeen

Brown County’s second murder of the year was justified, says the Brown County State’s Attorney.

Zach Newell was shot multiple times in the wee hours of January 25 at a party on South Washington, near the NSU campus. A relative of the deceased said Newell “was not a weapons guy” because, according to AAN reporter Elisa Sand, “he had a prior domestic violence conviction that prevented him from having guns.” That relative heard that Newell had been kicked out of a party and was trying to get back in to get personal property.

The State’s Attorney says that went badly:

Eyewitness statements indicate there was a verbal altercation between several individuals including the deceased and a 24-year-old man from Aberdeen who was identified as the shooter, according to the release. Those people included individuals on both sides of the argument and several neutral witnesses, which all consistently relayed the same information, per the release.

The altercation was on a dark street, and during the conflict the deceased threatened that he had a gun and made threats to use that gun, according to the release. While making that threat, the release noted, the deceased had his hand behind his back as if he was holding onto a gun in his waistband. While holding his hand behind his back, the deceased started to count down, and near the end of the countdown the 24-year-old man pulled a handgun from his pocket and shot five times, striking Newell three times, per the release.

No weapon was found on the deceased and the 24-year-old was initially arrested on an unrelated misdemeanor bench warrant, according to the release.

…“There is no evidence that would indicate that the shooter’s actions were motivated by anything other than the lawful protection of (himself) and others,” according to the release. “There is no evidence that the 24-year-old shooter was intoxicated” [Elisa Sand, “Jan. 25 Shooting Determined to Be Justifiable Homicide {paywall},” Aberdeen American News, 2020.02.04].

If our culture didn’t ingrain in boys a rampant gun fetish, if we didn’t mislead our children into thinking that guns are solutions to everyday problems, the deceased in this case might have a black eye and a fat lip from his ejection from the party, and he might have spent a night in jail for disorderly conduct, but he wouldn’t be dead, and another young man would not have a death on his conscience.

Related Gun Nuttery: The Aberdeen Police Department reports more gun violence on the south side of town:

At approximately 6:14 am on 02/04/2020 Aberdeen Police responded to the 200 block of 5th Curve in reference to damage to a trailer. The damage was determined to have resulted from a single gunshot from the exterior of the residence.

Investigation led to the arrest of Shannon James Kilber, age 51 of Aberdeen. He was charged with aggravated assault and discharging firearm into an occupied structure.

No injuries resulted from this incident and it remains under active investigation [Aberdeen Police Department, Facebook post, 2020.02.04].

All these guns in town aren’t making me feel safer.

16 Comments

  1. Sarah 2020-02-05 08:41

    “If our culture didn’t ingrain in boys a rampant gun fetish, if we didn’t mislead our children into thinking that guns are solutions to everyday problems, the deceased in this case might have a black eye and a fat lip from his ejection from the party, and he might have spent a night in jail for disorderly conduct, but he wouldn’t be dead, and another young man would not have a death on his conscience.”

    Profound right there. And well said.

  2. jerry 2020-02-05 09:22

    The guy found out a hard life lesson, don’t act like you have a gun in this society. This ain’t the movies. Either have a gun or STFU and stay home…alive.

  3. o 2020-02-05 09:33

    How many altercations have been embolden by the presence of guns? How many times has a fight escalated because one or both involved had a gun to “back them up.”

    The very presence of guns changes interactions; it escalates them toward violence. The presence of LOTS of guns makes this happen LOTS of times.

    We were reminded in last night’s State of the Union, in the most clear terms (right after the section on God) that this degenerate proliferation will be perpetuated as a political/moral imperative by this President and his GOP.

  4. mike from iowa 2020-02-05 09:53

    Guy walks into his house with a big box present for his wife. He says, guess what I have in here? She whips out a gun and blasts that sucker a dozen times. Divorce papers, I hope, dead duck. No, it was vacation in Hawaii.

  5. Steven Higgins 2020-02-05 10:25

    Mikes……..that was just plain stupid.

  6. Porter Lansing 2020-02-05 12:03

    Are these those “muslims” your roving, hate groups were warning about?

  7. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2020-02-05 12:17

    Porter, the deceased appears to be a young white male. His funeral service was conducted by a Lutheran pastor. The state’s attorney has not released information about the race or religion of the killer.

  8. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2020-02-05 12:18

    O raises a point worth discussing: do guns ever de-escalate violence? If we don’t have guns available, are we more likely to resort to words to resolve our disputes?

  9. o 2020-02-05 13:17

    OF COURSE GUNS ESCALATE VIOLENCE!

    The very presence of a gun, and instrument to kill, means that the death penalty is on the table for any grievance. I would assert that in the VAST majority of conflicts, the death penalty is not warranted for the offense being considered. Last year, a man went to his neighbors to have them turn down their music. He took a gun with him; he ended up using that gun to kill another person. Does noise warrant the death penalty? The assumption was yes – otherwise why the need for the gun?

    Our (pro-life)society has GREATLY reduced offenses we meet with deadly force. Even non-compliance with routine traffic stops can end with the death penalty.

    It’s the omnipresence of the guns.

  10. mike from iowa 2020-02-05 13:35

    I disagree, Steven. She was deathly afraid of that box and reacted as I would expect any gun waving ammosexual to act. She stood her ground and de-escalated the situation. Now she can have that vacation and take someone she loves.

  11. jerry 2020-02-05 14:06

    Guns are one thing. Alcohol and intoxicants (other than pot) are another. Mix those together and you have a time bomb. This is what happened in Aberdeen. Kind of like gas and fire, you cannot mix them and find a good solution unless it’s to burn down the barn.

  12. mike from iowa 2020-02-05 16:35

    And the one thing ammosexuals have learned is to kill the victim, then they won’t ever testify against your version of events. Ask George Zimmerman.

  13. grudznick 2020-02-05 19:19

    Darwin

  14. Debbo 2020-02-05 20:31

    This is so sad. I’d like to see more research and reporting on how killing someone affects the killer. I’ve never seen anything about how it makes their lives better. Even in cases of self defense, they’ve saved their lives, and there are still serious negative consequences.

  15. cibvet 2020-02-05 21:33

    If you are a cop or civilian, the only 5 words one has to utter are” I feared for my life” and there’s no penalty for killing another human. All part of “white privilege”.

  16. Debbo 2020-02-05 21:58

    Exactly, the magic words. It’s happened here in the Minnesota metro more than once, except when the cop was not white. Funny thing. 😠😠😠

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