Weapons & Guns

Facebook is square in the middle of a shooting for the 2nd time in a week -- this time the victims are 3 men in Virginia who were chilling in a car when the shots were fired.

The incident went down in Norfolk on Tuesday while the men were listening to music, singing along to Lil Bibby's "Word Around Town" and smoking. They were also on Facebook Live when, without warning, a spray of bullets begins -- more than 20 shots fired.

The video is chilling and the camera remained on throughout the incident. Once the shots stop, you hear what appears to be a bystander telling them to stay awake and hold on for an ambulance.

All 3 were hospitalized and police say one of them has life-threatening injuries. So far no suspects, but police are aware of the FB vid and hope it can reveal any clues.

Exactly a week ago ... when Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer, his girlfriend used FB Live to stream the aftermath.

The first black woman to be crowned Miss Alabama feels no remorse for the families of the 5 Dallas cops who were assassinated ... and she thinks their killer is a "martyr."

Kalyn Chapman James, Miss Alabama from 1993, posted a rambling and tearful video in which she's clearly torn about Micah X. Johnson. She repeatedly says she does NOT condone violence, but also says "something has to be done" about the deaths of black men at the hands of police officers.

In full tears, she claims she's not the only one who feels this way.

The co-founder of a product featured on "Shark Tank" is in serious trouble after he was busted for allegedly pulling a gun on someone outside his home.

Burbank police tell TMZ ... Mike Barzman -- who pitched "Invisiplug" in season 5 -- went off the rails earlier this month on a man smoking in front of his house. We're told Mike got into a heated argument over the ciggy, and pulled out a gun threatening to kill the man.

We're told cops arrived at his home the next day and recovered a semi-automatic handgun. Barzman was arrested for felony assault with a firearm. He posted $50k bail the next day.

Barzman's attorney, Gregory Brenner, says his client did have an unloaded gun on him ... but never pointed it at the smoker and never threatened him. In fact, he says Barzman is the one who felt threatened.

Lil Boosie has a pretty pessimistic view of police/African American community relations ... it will never get better because it's too far gone.

Boosie tells TMZ he won't even let his kid play with a toy gun, because it's just too dangerous.

Public Enemy's Professor Griff is shutting down rumors he and Dallas shooter Micah Johnson were pals ... saying a photo of the two shaking hands was only a one time thing.

Social media exploded with the image Friday after the pic was uncovered on Johnson's Facebook page. Griff tells TMZ he never knew Johnson personally and was shocked to see his own face pop up following the shooting.

Griff says he's been bombarded with vociemails and other messages from people threatening to kill him and his family since the pic surfaced.

And get this ... Griff tells us shortly after the image came up, he was contacted by his local cops for an interview. Griff says once he told the cops he only had the one chance encounter with Johnson, they let him off the hook.

There is predictable fallout from the Dallas massacre in police departments all over the country. We've spoken with a number of cops and brass at LAPD and surrounding agencies ... and here are some top of mind concerns:

-- Cops are concerned about fake 911 calls ... that a copycat might use the emergency number to set up an ambush.

-- We're told cops are talking about carrying extra weapons to ensure they're prepared for the worst. It's a bigger issue now than ever before.

-- The brass is telling officers to always carry ballistic helmets, vests and other protective gear and have it instantly available.

-- There won't be 1-person patrol units for the foreseeable future.

-- Cops are being told not to advertise that they work in law enforcement while off duty.

The police assassinations hit close to home for Congressman Pete Sessions ... he represents Dallas, and thinks it's a huge mistake to try to and come up with one solution for the entire country.

Sessions, Chairman of the House Rules Committee and one of the most powerful members of Congress, told our photog Friday on Capitol Hill ... the underlying causes of violence vary from community to community -- the murders in Dallas and Chicago, he says, are different.

It was a remarkable moment ... The Game and Snoop Dogg forged an alliance with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck, in an emotionally powerful plea for peace.

Game and Snoop, who were in downtown L.A. Friday morning for a peace march, met with the Mayor and Chief behind closed doors and then they all walked out in lockstep to make their case for everyone to stop the killings, the murders, the carnage.

Waka Flocka Flame is actually optimistic after the deadly violence in Dallas, Minnesota and Louisiana this week -- and believes this is a great opportunity for Americans to come together.

We got Waka at LAX Friday morning and rather than being depressed about the tragic events -- as millions of people are today -- he thinks it's time to rally ... no matter what your race.

It was a remarkably positive outlook, but at the very end his tone changed when we asked specifically about what happened in Dallas. Watch the clip ... he strongly hints bad cops need to punished, and if the courts won't do it ... someone will.

Carmelo Anthony says KILLING cops is not the answer ... it'll take peace, not violence to fix our "broken" justice system ... and he's willing to lead the charge.

Anthony posted the impassioned plea only hours after the Dallas shooting, saying, "We need to be smart about what we are doing. We need to steer our anger in the right direction."

Melo says the answer isn't in marches or posts on social media ... "we tried that."

But it isn't in violence either ... "Shooting 11 cops and killing 5 WILL NOT work."

Anthony admits he doesn't have the solution ... but called on "all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge" ... by demanding change of politicians and community leaders.

Micah Xavier Johnson -- the 25-year-old law enforcement confirms as the Dallas shooter -- had involvement with a handful of pro-black and police watchdog groups.

Johnson's social media accounts reveal he was a member of several Black Panther organizations, including The New Black Panther Party Houston Chapter.

Johnson also subscribed to a Facebook group called "The Black Matrix," which aims to dismantle the system it believes "white societal elites" have put in place to "control the perceptions of its Black populations."

Johnson -- who served in the U.S. Army -- had involvement with Facebook communities including "Filming Cops" and "Police The Police," which describes itself as a platform for documenting and archiving police misconduct, brutality and abuse of authority.

Dallas PD Chief David Brown said before they took down Johnson he said he was angry about police brutality and wanted to kill white officers.

TMZ obtained this video of at least 9 Dallas cops taking what appears to be a possible person of interest into custody immediately after Thursday's mass shooting ... and despite crushing pressure and emotion, they keep their cool.

The man in question clearly captured the attention of police because he's wearing a bulletproof vest. We don't know if police kept the man in custody or if he had any connection to Thursday's shootings.

The scene was almost shockingly calm considering what had unfolded only moments before, but there's still tension ... you hear bystanders crying out "Do what they say!!" as the man cautiously approaches.

Jada Pinkett Smith seems to think the violence in Dallas was virtually inevitable, saying, "Desperate communities do desperate things."

A photog got Jada at LAX Thursday, and asked about the recent police involved shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Her reaction was poignant. It's important to note this video was shot before the Dallas news broke in L.A.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown just confirmed the obvious ... one of the shooters was gunning to kill white people, and especially cops.

The Chief said the killer was angry over the 2 recent shootings and also upset with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The end of his comments is heart-wrenching, talking about the lack of support police feel everyday.

Syndicated radio talk show host Joe Walsh declared war on President Obama after the Dallas cop killings, saying, "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you."

The former congressman went wild on Twitter last night, deleting the comment after a torrent of criticism over his remarks.

Walsh also called Obama a "cop hater" who was no different from "the thugs on the street."

Walsh was critical of the remarks Obama made Thursday night -- about racism in the criminal justice system -- claiming the comments may have triggered the sniper attack in Dallas.

He said, "Obama says cops are racist so 2 uneducated black thugs shoot 10 Dallas cops."

Like most people, celebrities are grieving over the Dallas murders.

Here's a sampling.