Halle Attacker Used Homemade Gun, Attack Could Have Been Much Worse

By Tom Knighton

AP Photo/Jens Meyer

The anti-Semitic terrorist attack yesterday in Halle, Germany didn’t result in as many deaths as we usually require to be considered a “mass shooting.” The FBI’s definition of mass murder is four or more people killed in a single location. For a mass shooting, most of us take that same definition but require those killed to be shot.

Halle only resulted in two deaths. However, it also sounds like it could have been much, much worse.

Streaming live from a camera mounted on his helmet, a gunman pushed on the doors of a synagogue, fired several shots at a lock on the door, stuck an explosive in a door jam and lit it.

But he couldn’t get in.

The fact that the door held likely spared the lives of the dozens of people inside the synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

It just goes to show that physical barriers can do a lot to help prevent a mass shooting. It wouldn’t have helped if the gunman had gotten past it, obviously, but it’s evidence that hardening a target can save lives.

However, we do know more about the weapon the killer used. More …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms