Could the Kenya Attack Happen Here? It Did.
13th October 2013
On the evening of Feb. 12, 2007, a young Muslim man walked into the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City with a pistol-grip, 12-gauge shotgun and a 38-caliber revolver and opened fire on shoppers, killing five and wounding four others, including a pregnant woman.
Police say he “sought to kill as many people as possible.” He had a backpack full of ammunition, enough firepower to massacre dozens of innocent people. But fortunately, an off-duty cop returned fire and eventually, with the help of other police, put an end to the terrorist’s life and grand plans.
Sounds like Kenya needs some strict gun control laws. That would prevent such tragedies, as they do in D.C., Boston, L.A., and Chicago.
Wouldn’t want the place to wind up like Texas.
Twice as many people were killed at the Utah mall than the Boston Marathon. Yet the attack garnered few national headlines.
Well, you know, Boston is a Real (coastal) City, whereas Utah is just Flyover Country, and nobody who is Anybody cares about that.
Local media wrote it off as the act of a madman, parroting the quick conclusion of law enforcement.
Officially, the FBI declared the mass shooting was not an act of terrorism.
“We were unable to pin down any particular motive,” said Tim Fuhrman, then-special agent in charge of the bureau’s field office in Salt Lake City. “Unfortunately, his motivations went to the grave with him.”
Did they?
As early as 2004, police were called to Talovic’s school after it was discovered that he was looking at Tek-9 semiautomatic firearms on the Internet and boasting that his “grandfather was in the jihad.”
It was a reference to the 1990s holy war between Bosnian Muslims and Christian Serbs in which his grandfather was reportedly killed.
Apparently, Talovic had prepared for his own martydom. He told a friend before the attack that “tomorrow is going to be the happiest day of my life, but it will happen only once.”
“One interpretation of this statement is that Talovic was happy that he was going to be a shahid — that he would be committing jihad and go to paradise,” according to a July 2, 2007, electronic communication from the Salt Lake City field office to the counterterrorism division of the FBI.
Well, obviously no connection. Guess his motives will just remain a puzzle.