Saturday, January 14, 2006

Brendan McKown walks out of hospital

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
The most seriously injured of seven people hit by gunshots in last fall's Tacoma Mall shooting walked out of a hospital Friday - under his own power.

'OK, guys, I've been out of commission for a while - what's going on?' Brendan 'Dan' McKown, 38, quipped as he made his laborious way to the sidewalk with the aid of a walker.

Doctors had said his spinal injury could leave him paralyzed, but McKown was determined to walk again.

'God doesn't do miracles halfway,' he told KOMO-TV as he left Good Samaritan Hospital in this community near his Tacoma hometown. Referring to the spinal injury, he added, 'At least you know I have a backbone.'
This would have been a really great article, except they had to finish up like this:
Authorities say Maldonado marched through the mall, firing an assault rifle and a machine pistol, before ducking into a record store and taking several hostages. He released them unharmed after a four-hour standoff.

Maldonado's defense lawyer, Sverre Staurset, said his client never meant to hurt anyone. According to court documents, Maldonado told detectives he had been humiliated during a difficult childhood and that recent problems made him want to be "heard."
He charged into a crowded shopping mall with guns blazing, yet he "never meant to hurt anyone." Mr. Staurset, you disgust me.

UPDATE: For Bob in the comments. Almost certainly NOT a machine pistol, but a semi-auto. Another case of a reporter who doesn't know what he's talking about. See this post on the Tacoma Mall Shooting at Heartless Libertarian.