The Sickening Shooting of A Few Good Men

Over on Fatal Attraction, Phlegm Fatale muses about a horrible event in the Metroplex early Sunday morning. A little more information has come out, which I will try to incorporate. A motorist stopped at what appeared to be a car wreck on the side of the road and went forward, saw that the stranded motorist had a shotgun in his lap and ran away. He called 911 and pulled away. Two more motorists stopped and approached. Both were shot dead. A third samaritan stopped and approached and was shot critically. The police arrived, and one patrolman was shot in the face, in the right hand and right leg. His injuries are not critical, though it appears he will lose his left eye. The motorist then killed himself. There are reports other motorists stopped, one with a conceal-and-carry, and shots were fired, but this apparently had no effect on main events.

So the community mused this morning on the radio--can a good samaritan take the risk these days? Admittedly, only a small number of dangerous ones are there, most of the need is legitimate, but you are a parent with children to raise. What do you do? A number called in with efforts to help gone wrong where they were shot, robbed, or carjacked. And yet, about half of these people still said, "Yeah, I'm still going to stop after I assess the situation, because you just can't not help." The ones who said they would not stop seemed really troubled by their decision, and did say they would call 911.

Interestingly, several women called in to say if they are the one stranded, they would just as soon not have some stranger they don't know approaching. They said that's why they have a cell phone and roadside assistance. Killing by senseless killing, we are becoming more wary and afraid of one another. And yet many people continue to act to help in a crisis.

A police officer I know said a disturbing trend on 911 is the calls they are getting, in the middle of the day,when an unexpected visitor knocks on the door. The visitor is a stranger. The home resident feels threatened and calls the police. Personally, I seldom answer the door for unexpected calls these days because it is almost always someone trying to sell me something. If it's the neighbors, they will catch me later. But puh-leez! 911 for an unexpected knock?

Remember, this is the Metroplex, where we have crammed more than 7 million bodies into six counties. Last I heard, we get about 350 newcomers moving in every day and moving somewhere in this seething mass of humanity. Even when I go to the grocery store, I'm surprised when I run into someone I know. It just doesn't happen very often any more.

I don't know about moon phases, but this weekend in the 'plex was extraordinarily gory, brutal, and often lethal. Fights, shootings, beatings. Time to focus on some more positive lifepoints.

Go for the selfish creature comforts. It's supposed to hit 105 degrees today and nothing has been said about rolling blackouts or strained power grids. Just in case, though, I think I'll do the wash in the morning rather than at the peak of the energy use right now.