I’m getting lots of e-mail about the trench-coated young man who went on a killing spree at a Salt Lake City Mall. He’s been identified as Sulejman Talovic, an 18-year-old Bosnian refugee. Charles Johnson wonders if it’s another case of Sudden Jihad Syndrome. Could be that. Or he could be a Columbine-type copycat. Local station KSL reports:

Police Chief Chris Burbank Salt Lake City: “The suspect in this particular circumstance had one thing in his mind, and that was to kill a large number of people.”

The identity of that gunman has now been revealed. He shot nine people at Trolley Square and shattered countless lives. But the big question remains: Why did he do it? That’s a question right now, and no one seems to know the answer, except that he is dead after a gunfight with police.

Eyewitnesses say he had a calm demeanor as he was shooting at people with reckless abandon.

This corner house here looks like almost any other house in this West Salt Lake City neighborhood, but it’s also where 18-year-old Sulejmen Talovic grew up. We’re told he lived here every now and then with his mother, and that he also had an apartment near Trolley Square.

I spoke with a family friend on the phone, who didn’t want to be identified. He told me Talovic was from the war-torn country of Bosnia and that the trauma he experienced while growing may have led to him snapping for some reason.

I chatted with the FBI, who confirmed Talovic was not from the United States but
wouldn’t say exactly where he was from. Originally they were looking at the case to see if there was possibly something more to it, but now believe this was just an isolated incident. The investigation is in the hands of Salt Lake City police only.

Fox News has the story of the off-duty policeman who killed Talovic and ended the horror.

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