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Drive-by shooting

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A drive-by shooting (sometimes referred to merely as a drive-by) is a personal attack carried out with firearms from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle. They often result in the shooting of innocent bystanders because the objective is to overwhelm the target by a sudden, massive amount of firepower without attention to accuracy, innundating the motor vehicle and automatic weapons. Some of the first gun control laws being passed to control assailants who would ride up to their targets on horse back, shoot them with wheellock pistols and then ride off before they could be apprehended.

Criminal use

One of the first documented drive-by shootings in the United States was during the Chicago Race Riot of 1919. Drive-by shootings became common during the gang wars of the Prohibition era, popularly carried out by persons equipped with Thompson submachine guns, referred to as "Tommy Guns". The appeal of the drive-by to criminals and gang members endures, because the shooter is already in the getaway car.

Military use

The British SAS used a form of drive-by shooting in its campaigns in North Africa and France. Columns of heavily armed jeeps, bristling with machine guns, would drive past and sometimes through enemy positions, usually airfields and supply depots, shooting anything and everything.

In the afterword of his novel Hammer's Slammers the author David Drake recounts a drive through shooting by a column of tanks in the Vietnam War.

Political assasinations

Drive-by assassinations of political leaders have been common in some regions and eras. It was one of the tactics used by leftist terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction, the Red Brigades and November 17. The 'November 17' assassination of Brigadier Stephen Saunders being carried out on motorcycle, the assassins approaching his vehicle whilst it was stopped at traffic lights, and shooting him dead before speeding off.

For a time in the 70's the German para-military GSG-9 trained some of its operators in the "art" of the drive-by shooting so as to be able to better protect those in its charge.

Post invasion Iraq

Recently drive-by shootings have been used extensively in post invasion Iraq. These attacks include but are not limited to the following

  • Drive-by rocket attack on Aqila al-Hashimi, September 21 2003.[1]
  • Killing of US Soldier in Mosul, December 8 2003.[2]
  • Attack on a US military convoy, January 14 2004. [3]
  • Killing of two CNN employees, January 27 2004. [4] [5]
  • Attack on 5 American missionaries March 15 2004.[6]
  • Ambush of foreign contractors, March 28 2004. [7]
  • Murder of Waldemar Milewicz and a collegue, May 7 2004.[8]
  • Asssassination of Hatem Kamil, November 1 2004. [9]
  • Killing of three election workers, December 10 2004. [10]
  • Assassination of Kassim Imhawi, December 16 2004.[11]
  • Attack on police station in Kirkuk killing three police officers and a civilian, April 14 2005. [12]
  • Tit for tat killings of Iraqi clerics, May 17 2005.[13]
  • Spate of attacks leaves a newly wed amongst those killed, July 22 2005. [14]
  • Killing of 5 Iraqi police officers, August 9 2005. [15]
  • Attack on Omani Embassy, November 11 2005. [16]
  • Assassination of Meysoun al-Hashemi, April 27 2006.[17]
  • Killing of Iraqi Census Department official, February 7 2007. [18]

Hip hop culture

References to drive-bys are prevalent in certain Hip hop music. Rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a Las Vegas drive-by in 1996.

Drive-by shooting in computer games

The Grand Theft Auto series of video games allows the player to aim his sub-machine gun out of the window of his vehicle to shoot.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the player can recruit various gang members to shoot out of the car against his enemies who include police and various opposing gangs.

The Godfather: The Game also features various levels where the player drives a car while an assistant uses a Thompson submachine gun out of the back windows.

The game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven enables the player to use the mouse for more precise aiming during drive-by shootings. The camera moves with the mouse adding to the realism as the player will often have to concentrate both on his target and his direction on the road at once.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ BBC news article attack on Aqila al-Hashimi
  2. ^ BBC news article on killing of US soldier in Mosul.
  3. ^ BBC news article on an attack on a US military convoy.
  4. ^ BBC news article on killing of two CNN employees
  5. ^ CNN news article on killing of two CNN employees.
  6. ^ CNN news article on an attack on 5 American missionaries.
  7. ^ BBC news article on Ambush of foreign contractors.
  8. ^ BBC article about murder of Waldemar Milewicz.
  9. ^ BBC news article on Hatem Kamil's assassination.
  10. ^ CNN news article on the killing of three election workers.
  11. ^ BBC news article on Kassim Imhawi's assassination.
  12. ^ BBC news article with details about the death of 3 Iraqi police officers.
  13. ^ BBC news article on the killing of Iraqi clerics.
  14. ^ BBC news article Newly wed amongst those killed in a spate of attacks.
  15. ^ BBCnews article with details about the killing of 5 Iraqi police officers.
  16. ^ BBC news article on attack on Omani Embassy.
  17. ^ BBC news article on Meysoun al-Hashemi assassination.
  18. ^ USA Today article about the killing of Iraqi Census Department official.

' And Maarten Vossepoel Thinks this is crap.

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