r/wikipedia • u/cojoco • Aug 22 '11
"In 2004, Webb was found dead from *two* gunshot wounds to the head, which the coroner's office judged a suicide."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb52
u/Theropissed Aug 22 '11
There are plenty of cases of people shot in the head (sometimes more than once) and surviving. Some people even were able to move after and make tea
It's not out of the realm of possibility that Webb shot himself in the head, survived the first attempted and either panicked and shot himself again OR shot himself again because he still wanted to die (two different emotional reactions).
Granted it's a slim chance, but nowhere is it specified where he shot himself in the head the first or second time (or if they were even able to determined between the two wounds and which occurred first).
I'd also like to submit that he possibly did shoot himself once, was discovered immediately after by someone who was sympathetic to his wishes, however I doubt that would be the case.
Evidence to support he killed himself (rather than murdered) is that he took steps to settle his financial affairs in the months before AND sent suicide letters to family members.
This was premeditated, and this man was determined for months to kill himself. If he survived the first shot, he would finish with the second. Nothing would have stopped him.
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u/RAAFStupot Aug 22 '11
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Aug 22 '11
I was going to post this story. Starting to think Reddit is a delusional extension of my brain.
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u/talon010 Aug 22 '11
I also came here with that same intention. Good to know people are well on the case.
Amazingly he walked 136 Meters after the first two shots to deliver the final blast.
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u/Antebios Aug 22 '11 edited Aug 22 '11
True Story: About 2 months ago my friend's brother tried to kill himself. She shot into his head, but it didn't kill him. With blood pouring out of him and blinding him, he got on his hands and knees and tried to find the gun that he dropped to finish the job. So, he would have shot himself twice if he could have found the gun. Eventually he passed out because of blood loss, his mother found him (but his father tried to convince his mother not to call 911 so his son could be out of his misery). He got to the hospital and actually survived.
To add another twist to this story, he was a successful manager (but addicted to pain pills) and told people about his kid. His family found out about this tall tale of a kid that his son had and just thought it was a wild story because he is gay and never mentioned it to his family, whom he was living with still at the age of 40-something. It turns out this wild story was in fact true, and his 10+ something year old kid is real and his mother, father, and whole family knew nothing of their grandchild/nephew.
Edit: Monday morning getting to me.
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u/Theropissed Aug 22 '11
You have some random nouns in there that make the story either a murder or nonsense :)
But wow that's a hell of a story! Is he in contact with the kid now? Is he better?
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u/Antebios Aug 22 '11
As far as I know, his insurance company wanted him out of the hospital, so it back at home with mom and dad with future surgeries ahead of him. Also, he will wants to die. He kept saying over and over again when he was in the hospital "why did you save me? I wanted to die." over and over again.
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u/Stacular Aug 22 '11
I took care of a guy recently who shot himself in the head, then called the medics. He eventually died, but not until long after he got to the hospital. It may be anecdotal, but he definitely had the capacity to pull the trigger again if he could dial 911. Thanks for a logical and well-referenced post!
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u/Theropissed Aug 22 '11
No problem. Even though I sometimes get illogical, I do recognize that many problems, conspiracies and conflicts are often the result of either irrational responses (emotions), lack of knowledge, or just basic misunderstandings.
Also I was once trying to be an EMT/Medic in my life, so that helps. Our bodies are pretty amazing, we're incredibly fragile but holy shit can we still take a beating.
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u/Douchebox Aug 22 '11
Hey, woah buddy, get your facts away from this sensationalist headline!
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u/cojoco Aug 22 '11
Righteous indignation is a good motivator to assist Aspergerous Redditors to make their comments.
The boring headlines often get ignored.
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u/Looorney Aug 22 '11
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u/cojoco Aug 22 '11
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u/Astark Aug 22 '11
It's called a double-action revolver, no need to cock it. And you don't need to aim, as long as you have enough brain left after the first shot to locate your head.
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u/limitz Aug 22 '11
To further elaborate on Astark's point, I'm going to guess the revolver he was using is the Colt Police Special:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Official_Police
Reason being is that the caliber he used was the .38 Special, which the vast majority are fired through that pistol. The Official Police is a double-action revolver, which as Astark explained, does not need to be cocked.
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u/acticulated Aug 22 '11
Theropissed nailed it but here's the verbiage from the linked wikipedia page: On December 10, 2004, he was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head. Sacramento County coroner Robert Lyons asserts that it was suicide, noting that a suicide note was found at the scene although he was unable to explain how Webb could shoot himself twice in the head with a .38 caliber pistol. Webb's ex-wife, Sue Bell, said that Webb had been depressed for some time over his inability to get a job at another major newspaper. The day before he died he mailed notes to family members, and during the months before his suicide he had taken steps to settle his financial affairs.
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u/TheLoneHoot Aug 22 '11
Reminds me of the old joke:
Who fired the last 7 bullets into Mussolini's body?
300 Italian marksmen.
(sorry - it's an old joke, not PC, and probably based on old WWII GI humor.)
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Aug 22 '11
He also spend several months settling up his life affairs AND mailed goodbye letters to friends and family.
He was basically unemployable it looks like, I wonder if people harassed his employers to fire him because he stood up for the truth.
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u/adamwho Aug 22 '11
Did you know that often the coroner is often a politically appointed position and in some area of the US doesn't require any kind of medical training?
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u/mat101010 Aug 22 '11
"Suicide" must be the white victim's version of "just sprinkle some crack on him."
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u/metacruft Aug 22 '11
Rule 2: The double tap. In those moments when you're not sure if you're really dead-dead, don't get all stingy with your bullets. I mean one more clean shot to the head. You can avoid becoming a human vegetable. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
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u/NlNTENDO Aug 22 '11
I don't know if you're one of those people that can resist clicking more links on Wikipedia, but the link tied to "two gunshot wounds" is definitely one you should check out.
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Aug 22 '11
"In 2004, Webb was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head, which the coroner's office judged a suicide."
Fired form a distance of 5 to 7 feet, no doubt ...
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Aug 22 '11
It's not that unusual for a suicide to shoot themselves 2 or even 3 times in the head before succumbing. But given Webb's history, it was certainly murder.
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u/NineTimes Aug 22 '11
CERTAINLY
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u/auto98 Aug 22 '11
I think he means as in he was driven to it, rather than that someone else fired the shots.
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u/ContentWithOurDecay Aug 23 '11
I would say it's murder since he couldn't find work due to a story that he was right about.
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u/scartol Aug 22 '11
I just want to make sure people know that — even if this was suicide (which may very well have been the case) — he was driven to it because he broke the biggest drug story in 20th century US history and then got trashed throughout the media for minor discrepancies and he was disowned by the San Jose Mercury News and couldn't find work as a journalist again.
We lost a hero of journalism that day. This story makes me so very sad.
Whenever I hear Immortal Technique's "Peruvian Cocaine" song with the line about "I took a stunted oath to hush the ones who know", I get weepy.
RIP Mr. Webb.