Joey Walker, retired Reno, Nevada, lieutenant and self-defense instructor, said ‘anything and everything could possibly happen’ this holiday season
Civil unrest at home and overseas, mixed with personal emotional turmoil and financial tensions during the holidays, could create a bloody season, one expert says.
Joey Walker, a retired Reno, Nevada, police lieutenant who teaches civilians self-defense, said holiday fun-seekers “need to keep their head on a swivel” and be mindful of potentially hostile crowds and protests.
“Things can go from good to bad almost without warning,” Walker told Fox News Digital. “Based on the fact that we have a lot more active shooting cases these days, I would be really surprised if we didn’t see several of those before the end of the year occurring, especially around the shopping malls.
“People are irritated for one reason or another. Whether you like this side or that side, whether it’s a political situation with a religious ideology, you’re going to have individuals that are angry enough to show up and want to hurt people.”
Holiday crimes accounted for 8.1% of all crimes committed in 2021, according to a November 2022 Porch Research study, which highlighted surging reports of burglary, theft and scams.
Workplace and domestic violence – fueled by excessive drinking, heightened emotions, depression and financial stress – spike this time of the year.
“We started seeing a lot of, I’d say, issues where there were active shooters, or workplace violence, as we called them during those days,” Walker said, “because they’d show up at an ex’s workplace because they knew where their significant other works, and, unfortunately, people were shot and killed.
“I remember going to a couple of those calls myself. It was never a pleasant scene.”
Walker retired as a decorated cop in Reno, Nevada, in 2003. The number of active shooting incidents has skyrocketed since then.
Numbers vary based on the definition of mass shooting or mass murder, but one commonly sourced site about gun violence – called Gun Violence Archive – lists 630 mass shootings in 2023, as of Dec. 5.
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