If President Joe Biden is taken off the top of the presidential ballot and replaced with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, there are two names that should play a prominent part in the 2024 campaign: Patricia McKay and Will O’Neill.
McKay, 68, was a New Zealand woman and tourist who was killed in broad daylight outside of a mall in Orange County, California on Tuesday, allegedly by a group of armed robbers who shot at her and then killed her by running her over with their car.
O’Neill is the Republican mayor of the city where she was killed. However, he reminded everyone that this was what was happening in “every community.”
That much is true — at least in the state of California, where violent and property crime are both up.
According to KCAL-TV, the Newport Police Department said the killing took place at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach.
McKay and her husband, both from New Zealand, were robbed outside the mall’s Barnes & Noble by two men. The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported there was a “struggle” between the couple and attackers, with one of them firing several rounds from his handgun.
“The woman was then dragged into the parking lot as the two men got into a Toyota Camry being driven by a third man,” the outlet reported.
“The suspects then ran over McKay as they drove away from the scene, firing shots as they led the police on a high-speed chase, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Oberon told DailyMail.com.”
The suspects hit speeds of upwards of 110mph while on the 105 Freeway, it was reported. The Camry later left the freeway, with the suspects fleeing into a neighborhood in nearby South Gate, California.
All three suspects were apprehended, including one that was found behind a trash can at a house.
KABC-TV reported the suspects were identified as Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster, Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles, and Leroyernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Compton, who were in custody as of Wednesday.
The three men have been booked on suspicion of homicide, robbery with firearm, and conspiracy, the outlet noted.
“One of the suspects ran while the vehicle fled and actually struck the female victim,” said Officer Steve Oberon, a spokesman for the Newport Beach Police Department.
“The male suspect that ran got back into the vehicle, at which point some rounds were fired from a handgun and the vehicle fled the scene.”
No one was hit by the rounds, meaning the cause of death was almost certainly the fact McKay had been run over.
The woman’s husband was not believed to have sustained injuries, Oberon added. He called the death “a shock,” the Daily Mail reported.
“It just doesn’t happen normally here,” he said.
Witnesses and those on the scene were equally stunned that it happened in their town.
“I expected to go and fix my sunglasses,” Fashion Island shopper Rachel West said, KCAL reported. “I didn’t know that there was going to be a crime scene and dead body when I got here.”
However, a “furious” Mayor Will O’Neill decried the attack as something that was becoming more and more common.
“I’m horrified. I’m mourning the loss of someone who died inside of our city because of crime,” he said. “This is a tragedy, and I’m furious.
“Newport Beach is a safe community and we’re mourning the loss of someone,” he continued, per the Daily Mail. “Frankly, to hell with these guys. … These are thugs. Every community is now dealing with this. We have to do better as a society. We cannot tolerate this.”
The fact is, California does tolerate this, though. This is Gavin Newsom’s state, the Democratic Party’s playground for new ideas. It’s worth noting that, as violent and property crime escalate, the state’s Democrats were looking to further defund the prison system to fix the state’s budget gap.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are practically reels from horror movies, and other urban areas in the state are little better. The state has some of the strictest gun laws in America, yet the news didn’t get through to these armed robbers — or, at the very least, it didn’t stop them from having a handgun.
This is Gavin Newsom’s California. And, if he ever becomes president, it’s his model for a country. If Patricia McKay and Will O’Neill don’t sound enough of an alarm, I don’t know what will.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.