As anti-gun activists call for multiple new gun restrictions following the brutal murder of two students in a classroom at Brown University, new reports indicate that security personnel were twice warned about the shooter “casing” the building.
In fact, according to a report at redstate.com referencing a Boston Globe story, the murderer, whom we won’t name here, was seen by a janitor casing the building as many as 10 times since before the December 13 attack. And that janitor, Derek Lisi, told security about it on two different occasions.
“He’d been casing that place for weeks,” Lisi said in an interview with the Boston Globe. “I knew there was something off with him. I thought it was someone trying to steal something. Every time he saw me, I think he thought I was security, because he would always walk away.”
According to Lisi, he alerted a security guard to the situation. However, nothing changed, as the man continued to visit the building, looking around and exploring it. Lisi also said that when the man saw him, the soon-to-be-killer started walking away and ducked into a bathroom.
“I said, ‘Something’s off with this guy, so I gotta say something,’” he told the Globe. Lisi said he then flagged down the same private security guard again to report his concerns. But, he added, the guard didn’t investigate.
After the attack, Lisi recognized the shooter from police photos and videos by his distinctive walk, clothing and the eerie presence he had noticed, the Globe reported. He again contacted authorities to share his observations.
“I told my friend, ‘I hope it’s not the guy I’ve been seeing. I hope it’s not,’” he told the news outlet. After seeing images, his suspicions were confirmed.
“I knew it was him because I could tell by the walk,” he said. “He had a pretty distinctive walk.”
After the killings at Brown, in which nine were wounded, the murderer went on to kill MIT professor Nuno Loureiro two days later in Brookline, Massachusetts, before killing himself. Since then, anti-gun politicians and gun-ban groups have brought forth many more restrictive gun laws that they say could have stopped the killer.
In this current time, when “See something, say something” is the main mantra of those looking for answers, the Brown situation shows why that action, while a good thing, isn’t always the solution to the problem of crazed killers taking their anger out on innocent people in gun-free zones. For “saying something” to be effective, someone has to listen and follow up on the tip.
Ultimately, the more accurate mantra, “Only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun,” still holds the most hope for stopping these horrible, unnecessary acts of criminal violence. Unfortunately, so-called “gun-free” zones only keep lawful citizens from having a gun, not stone-cold killers.
