this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman opened fire Monday in a Target store parking lot in the Texas capital, killing at least three people, then stole two cars during a getaway that ended with police using a Taser to detain him on the other side of the city, authorities said.

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[–] Chozo@fedia.io 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)

How many random (non-targeted) people were killed shopping in Austin in the last year, even if you include these 3 people?

Last year, there was a shooting at a HEB (Texas grocery chain) parking lot about a mile from my apartment. On Halloween a few years ago, somebody was shot in a drive-by right in front of my apartment, less than 100 feet away from my living room where I was eating dinner. Now this.

When these events keep happening right in your backyard, the statistics don't really do much to calm the nerves.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When it comes down to it, your perception of danger is going to color how you behave, and that's totally alright for you. The reality in Austin, though, is that it's very safe as far as large cities go. These handful of incidents you describe that happened over the course of four years are awful, but are also incredibly rare given how many people live here.

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well if you narrow down the statistics to his neighborhood it seems it's pretty fucking common.

Your example is like claiming Chicago is incredibly safe so you shouldn't worry too much about crime since you live in the South Side.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

Only one of the incidents they listed happened in their neighborhood, the other incidents happened miles away from them on opposite sides of town over a year apart.

No, this is not at all like "claiming Chicago is incredibly safe so you shouldn't worry about crime." Chicago's homicide rate is over 7 times higher than Austin's. And based in the incident they shared, they live in fucking West Campus adjacent to the University of Texas, not the South Side of Chicago.

[–] Linktank@lemmy.today 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have you ever considered that it's not the outside that is the problem, but rather the fact that "outside" for you is Texas?

[–] protist@mander.xyz 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Oh please, Austin is #90 on the list for murder and non-negligent homicide, with a lower rate than New York, San Francisco, Boston, Denver, and Seattle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

[–] LemmyThinkAboutThat@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Holy shhhh… Anchorage, AK is #2?!? I gotta stop binge watching NatGeo. Thanks for the list, sorry I got off topic.

Carry on.

[–] errer@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you misread the table, it’s sorted alphabetically by state by default.

🤦🏻‍♀️oh geeze! Thanks so much. Pardon my stupidity.

Leaving now.

[–] _wizard@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IIRC, a month after we moved out of the city, there was a shooting at a shopping area I frequented often.

[–] Sculptor9157@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

So it was fair game after the wizard protecting it departed the realm?

[–] BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Humans suck at estimating risk when large or small numbers are involved. Your brain can't even comprehend 2.5 million people. You see a shooting on the news three times over multiple years and become afraid. That's completely irrational.

All you've done is proven that your feelings matter more than the reality.

When you let your feelings control you, and they're that far off from reality, you're going to make bad choices.

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

When you let your feelings control you, and they're that far off from reality, you're going to make bad choices.

Did the people killed at Target today make bad choices? Because if we're talking about reality, then the reality of the situation is that "bad choices" or "good choices" don't matter.

This is reality.

[–] BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

What do their choices have to do with your choices?

Those two things are entirely independent.

Someone else won the lottery today, does that mean you should rush out and buy a ticket?

No, because what happened to them isn't likely to happen to you.

Just to add to the statistics, many thousands of Americans win more than a million dollars every year on the lottery.

You're still feeling rather than thinking. It's no skin off my nose if you choose to live a shitty life because you cant properly assess risk,. Good luck, but you're probably going to die of a heart attack. Maybe you should worry about that instead.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 0 points 1 year ago

Question though, you mentioned you lived near that incident at 22nd and Pearl, but this incident happened over 5 miles north of there. There are 4 other Targets that are closer to that spot than the one where this incident happened. What makes you feel like this is happening in your immediate area?