Priscilla Daniels: Woman who lost son, husband to US gunmen

What are the odds, you would think, that a random shooting by a gunman will claim a member of your family? Not once but twice?

A report in the Washington Post quotes a woman, Priscilla Daniels, who lost her husband in the Washington Navy Yard killings on Monday. “I can’t believe this is happening again.”

The 46-year-old woman lost her husband Arthur Daniels, 51, a contractor’s employee moving furniture inside Building 197 exactly as she lost her son in 2009 – both were shot “in the back while running from a gunman”.

Another son is in prison for carjacking.

“My husband was the man I loved through all the tragedy,” Daniels told the paper.

Amid a nationwide debate on gun violence reignited by the latest mass shooting, there were some similarities in the gunmen who shot her husband and son – while Aaron Alexis, the slain shooter in Monday’s violence, had repeated run-ins with the law for gun offences, the assailant who shot her son in 2009 had been arrested nine times previously, including a gun offence in January, the report said.

The report described Arthur Daniels as the man who cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year for the family. Two other tributes to the 12 victims describe the lives cut short.

There was Michael Arnold who “loved being a father” and was an institution who knew the Navy’s America-class amphibious assault ships like the back of his hand; Martin Bodrog who would, despite his bulk, crawl on the floor and sing songs with kids; Kathleen Garde, a financial analyst whose even keeled temper made her an excellent mother; Frank Kohler who loved to boat and fish.

Read the tributes here and here .