The Associated Press reports this story as a “river ambush”.
Was this an act of terror?
A dragnet ended Friday with the arrest of a man accused of emerging from woods in camouflage and opening fire with an assault rifle on a group of young swimmers who had gathered at a river. Three were killed and another wounded.
Scott J. Johnson, 38, was in camouflage as he walked out of some woods near the scene of the shooting and dropped his weapon as officers approached, said Jerry Sauve, chief’s sheriff’s deputy in Marinette County.
Seems to have been a terror motive but perhaps it is too early to tell.
Brings to mind the recent shooting in Tennessee, where the attacker killed two people in a church for being too liberal
[Police Chief] Owen said at a Monday news conference that police had recovered a four-page letter in which accused gunman Jim Adkisson, 58, expresses his hatred of liberals and indicated he would keep shooting until police killed him.
Another US veteran who turns to terrorism at home? Joe Lauria seems to say yes. Given that the killer’s house was filled with material associated with well-known anti-liberal groups, the question should become 1) how culpable a group becomes when and if they advocate action against another group and 2) how all the new domestic surveillance will come into play. Humor and commentary of speech obviously plays a confusing role here, as does the privacy of one’s reading choices. If we can ever get beyond those quagmire issues, the shotgun was purchased only a month before the attack. Tragedy, yes. Terrorism?