Investigators said they were able to stop the potential massacre at Park Valley Church in Haymarket thanks to someone who saw troubling posts on Instagram and called police
Authorities arrested a man who they say was minutes away from carrying out a mass shooting at a church in Northern Virginia on Sunday morning.
Rui Jiang, 35, was taken into custody with a loaded gun and extra ammo at Park Valley Church in Haymarket. Authorities said he was on a mission to kill.
“This was a thwarted diabolical plot to kill churchgoers in Haymarket, Virginia … and local law enforcement stopped it,” Chief Kevin Davis of the Fairfax County Police Department said.
“Minutes. Minutes. The congregation was making their way into the church. He was in the vestibule of the church about to enter,” Davis said. “So, minutes or seconds away.”
“Quite frankly, we’ve just been thanking God. You know, God’s been so good to us, and he protected us,
Never fails to amaze me how someone can completely disregard the hard work and sacrifice of other human beings and instead praise an imaginary skyguy.
Same imaginary skygod who put them in harms way to begin with. Never did understand.
No, no: that’s the other skyguy. We’re like the kids in a bitter divorce, constantly bounced between a good parent and a bad parent, with no actual agency. Except to thank good skyguy, otherwise they might not protect us from bad skyguy next time.
Skyguy whims sometimes feel arbitrary and capricious, but there’s divine or diabolical intent, which means it’s way better than being lost to the randomness of chaotic but determinate natural forces. How terrifying would the world be if stuff just happened for no reason?
I think you mean undergroundguy
Um…
Seriously. Not alert citizens. Not technology. Not good policework. Dog.
Unreal these morons.
Dog.
Not the person you’re responding to, but I’d thank any given dog before I thanked any given god, so why not
Dogs like being praised and talking to imaginary friends is a sign of mental illness so I agree.
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I grew up in a religious household and the more it was explained to me the less sense it made.
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The fact police received a report and acted in a timely manner to that report is actually pretty remarkable. Whether it’s divine intervention or statistical inevitability doesn’t really matter.
It’s miraculous bit I wouldn’t call it a miracle. Call the newspaper, not the Vatican.
Of course it matters! You don’t think it matters whether someone believes that this stemmed from real world actions or from magic???
Man, I know a woman who got COVID bad and got a double lung transplant. Not a word about any of her doctors or other care staff that kept her alive while on a ventilator for 6 month. Not even a mention once. But it was constant “look at the power of prayer” and “thank the good lord for my recovery” and shit like that.
Which is hilarious considering how many “good Christians” died for refusing the vaccine. Confirmation bias in action!
Even when I was a theist I still made a point of thanking doctors and nurses. Everyone can get credit.
Yep I can’t stand this. What about the little girl who dies of cancer? God didn’t feel like protecting her?
Fuck off
Well, if he’s consistent with his behavior in the Bible, it’s not that he failed to protect her. He killed her himself
And if all those people were shot up, you can be damn sure they wouldn’t be saying it’s thanks to God. Mass of idiots.
It’s a mistake to dismiss religious people as stupid, but they really make it hard not to sometimes.
That’s an odd way to spell “natural reflex”, but it’s close.
Because they’re not stupid; or at least, that’s not why they’re religious. Sadly, religious indoctrination can affect even brilliant minds.
God, when he fails to prevent all the other mass shootings that happened in places of worship:
“Lol that was part of my plan, too.”
“That’s not a plan! You’re just a jerk!” -Jerry
I inka dinka binka bonka understood this reference.
I mean, it is a church. I think it’s stupid, but it’s not like it’s a car dealership. What do you think they’re going to say?
Fair point!
In his actual statement he thanked the police and everyone involved. NBC Washington felt that only the snippet thanking God was worth reporting.
Thanks for clarifying
Snips knew better than to praise Skyguy… eventually
They did thank everyone involved, the news didn’t report on it. Hope you feel stupid for saying that.
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Arresting someone before they’ve had the chance to kill people is AGAINST the Second Amendment! The ONLY time you’re allowed to intervene is AFTER they’ve killed an adult in public or child in school!
Honest what is that? Attempted murder. Do they give the Nobel Prize for Attempted Chemistry?
How does one find random posts on Instagram near them? I only see the people i follow and some ad type posts. Was she following this guy?
A true miracle
Nice, they can thwart a shooting at a church but not at a school.
