Mass shootings and widely publicized murders have consistently made headlines and sparked conversations throughout 2022.
Shootings everywhere — from a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, to the recent attack on a Colorado LGBT club and the murders of four university students in Moscow, Idaho — have continued to invoke outrage among activists and fear throughout communities while also encouraging change at every political level.
Below is a list compiled by the Washington Examiner regarding six high-profile crimes that have prompted bipartisan legislation and both united and divided the United States by date.
May 14: Tops supermarket shooting — Buffalo, New York
On May 14, a gunman opened fire at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in a predominately black area of the city. He killed 10 black people and injured three others.
Payton Gendron pleaded guilty on Nov. 28 to 15 criminal charges, including terrorism and murder. He faces 26 counts of federal hate crime charges as well but has pleaded not guilty to those.
Prosecutors and police determined Gendron’s actions were racially motivated and premeditated, as he visited Buffalo in early March. In a 180-page manifesto that he posted online, Gendron confessed to the attack and labeled himself as a fascist, white supremacist, and antisemite.
He targeted the supermarket and area because it had “the highest black percentage that is close enough to where I live,” Gendron reportedly wrote.
Gendron is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 15 and will likely receive life without the possibility of parole.
In response to the shooting, House Democrats rallied their colleagues to pass the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, a measure originally introduced by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) in 2017 aimed at providing more government resources to combating domestic terrorism and racially motivated attacks. It passed the House in May, 222 to 203.
It was a short-lived victory, however. Senate Republicans blocked the bill’s movement, falling to secure the 60 votes needed to open debate. They wanted to see more school safety measures and believed the bill’s provisions would encroach on First Amendment rights. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) changed his vote to be against the measure so that he could introduce it to the floor again in the future.
May 24: Robb Elementary School shooting — Uvalde, Texas
Ten days after the Buffalo shooting, horror struck the town of Uvalde, Texas, after a gunman walked into an elementary school and killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on May 24.
The gunman was an 18-year-old who legally purchased two AR-style rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Nearly 400 law enforcement officials responded to the school shooting, but each officer waited more than 70 minutes before entering the fourth-grade classroom where the gunman had barricaded himself, according to a legislative investigative report.
At least two officers have been fired due to their actions at the elementary school, while a handful of others either resigned or have been placed on leave.
The 70-minute wait has come under extreme criticism from families of victims and community members. City officials are suing a local prosecutor’s office, stating the lack of access to investigative materials is hindering an examination into the officers’ response time to determine if they violated policy.
Sandra Torres, the mother of 10-year-old Eliahna Torres, is suing the manufacturer of the firearm used in the massacre, local police, and the school district. Sandra Torres said no parent should have to go through what she went through.
“My baby never made it out of the school,” Sandra Torres said. “There’s no accountability or transparency. There’s nothing being done.”
After the May shooting, bipartisan lawmakers spurred into action after pressure from the public, constituents, and even celebrities.
Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June, with President Joe Biden signing the bill into law on June 25. The law makes it easier for law enforcement to confiscate a firearm or block a purchase if the person is deemed a danger to themselves or others, as well as tighten background checks and close the “boyfriend loophole.”
BUFFALO SHOOTER PLEADS GUILTY TO 15 CHARGES, INCLUDING TERRORISM AND MURDER
July 4: Highland Park shooting — Highland Park, Illinois
On the Fourth of July, a gunman opened fire at people attending a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven and injuring 54 others. It is the state’s deadliest shooting by a single gunman.
Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 21, pleaded not guilty to 117 criminal charges: 21 charges of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
He confessed to the shooting voluntarily and said he considered a second attack after leaving the scene in Madison, Wisconsin. He appeared in court on Nov. 1 for the first time since pleading not guilty, with a case management conference scheduled for Jan. 31, 2023.
Crimo was able to obtain a weapon despite having prior contact with law enforcement. In April 2019, a person reached out to the police upon learning of a suicide attempt by Crimo, and later in September of that year, a family member reported that Crimo “said he was going to kill everyone” and had a collection of knives.
His father, Robert Crimo Jr., was arrested and charged with seven felony counts for reckless conduct on Dec. 17. Prosecutors say Crimo Jr. was “criminally reckless” in signing off on the firearm his son bought three years prior to the shooting, despite his previous instances of violent behavior.
In July, Illinois State Police announced steps would be taken to close the loophole in the Illinois State Police’s handling of “clear and present danger” reports. Emergency rules would allow such reports to be maintained and used in the Firearm Owners Identification process, even if the person was not actively seeking or holding a FOID card at the time. Crimo was able to buy his weapon with a legal FOID card, despite local police reporting that Crimo was a clear and present danger to state police.
Nov. 13: Idaho students murders — Moscow, Idaho
Four homicides dominated the last few months of 2022 after one male and three female students were killed in their home near the University of Idaho campus.
Students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were killed in bed and stabbed in the chest and upper body with a large fixed-blade knife on Nov. 13.
The killer stabbed the students who were asleep on the second and third floors of the home. Dylan Mortensen, 19, and Bethany Funke, 19, the two roommates on the first floor, were left alive. The roommates found the victims unresponsive, and a 911 call, which has not been released, was placed from one of their phones.
Moscow police have not identified or arrested any suspects and are only providing information to the public that will not damage the investigation. As of Dec. 19, police had received 10,000 tips relating to the investigation either by phone, email, or digital media submissions.
At the end of the year, Moscow police were actively focused on finding a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra that was captured on video near the home during the time of death, which was between 3 and 4 a.m., according to Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt.
Several people have been ruled out as suspects, with most of them being third-party vendors or drivers, as well as Mortensen, Funke, their friends who were with them when the 911 call was placed, and an ex-boyfriend of Goncalves.
Speculation and rumors from the media and the public have surrounded the case, with several family members voicing their frustration at a lack of information. Several former FBI agents and criminal investigators not connected to the Moscow murder case have been offering up their opinions in media interviews and on social media, using their experience with homicides to offer any explanation for who committed the murders.
Nov. 13: University of Virginia shooting — Charlottesville, Virginia
Three University of Virginia football players were shot and killed by a former teammate on Nov. 13 while coming home on a bus from a field trip in Washington, D.C.
Football players Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry, and Devin Chandler were killed, while a fourth member of the team, Mike Hollins, and another student were wounded.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and other counts related to the shooting, which set off a manhunt and 12-hour campus lockdown. As of Dec. 8, he has not entered a plea. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 30.
The state plans to bring forward a large number of witnesses, according to Commonwealth Attorney James Hingeley. If the judge decides after hearing from witnesses that the state has enough evidence to establish probable cause that Jones committed the killings, the case will go before a grand jury.
The shooting gained national attention, especially after the New England Patriots loaned a plane to the UVA players so they could attend their teammates’ funerals. Davis Jr., Perry, and Chandler were awarded posthumous degrees from the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.
After the shooting, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said a special counsel would be appointed to review the university’s response to the shooting, the events leading up to the tragedy, and UVA’s overall response to active shooting situations.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Nov. 19: Club Q shooting — Colorado Springs, Colorado
A gunman opened fire at a nightclub, Club Q, in Colorado Springs on Nov. 19, five minutes before National Transgender Remembrance Day on Nov. 20, in a stark act of violence against the LGBT community.
The suspect, Anderson Aldrich, 22, who identifies as nonbinary, has been charged with 305 criminal counts, including five counts of first-degree murder after deliberation and five counts of bias-motivated crimes that caused bodily injury. Multiple outlets have reported the total injured to be 25, though it was originally reported at 18.
Law enforcement were praised for their quick response time after being alerted at 11:57 p.m. and the first officer arriving on the scene at 12:00 a.m.
There were two firearms in Aldrich’s possession at the time, with police revealing one of the weapons to be a long rifle. Police could not confirm who owned the guns or if Aldrich had previous legal infractions.
However, the incident at Club Q has raised questions about whether the shooting could have been prevented, given Aldrich’s prior interactions with law enforcement and clear signs of violence. In June 2021, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrested Aldrich for making a bomb threat and holding their grandparents hostage, which led to a standoff with SWAT teams, per an affidavit released in December via NPR. The case was dismissed because the grandparents refused to testify.
The affidavit showed Aldrich claimed a history of mental health issues and showed he was prone to violence and drug use. The judge who dismissed the case ultimately wrote that Aldrich was a “potentially serious threat.”
