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Post by John Parry on Jun 2, 2010 18:29:44 GMT -5
I got back to my accomodation at 11.30pm tonight, having passed 5 crime scenes - 4 of them murder scenes. As you sit there waiting for the only road to where you're going to re-open, you're thinking "They know who did this - why are they bothering?" It's so they don't miss a thing, and they'll hopefully learn what makes a lunatic like this tick.
But when you're bursting for a pee...
A bad day in Cumbria...
Regards - John
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jun 2, 2010 20:27:12 GMT -5
John,
I saw it on the lunch time news. The numbers have risen since I last looked: reports are now saying 13 people dead, one of which is the killer himself. Several more are reported to be wounded. What makes an apparently ordinary person go off the rails like that? No doubt things will come out in due course, but what an awful day for those who have lost family and friends.
I'm glad you made it 'home' safe.
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Post by pompiere on Jun 2, 2010 23:25:20 GMT -5
As a fireman, sometimes I have to block traffic for a fire or accident scene. Sometimes this makes people quite angry for their inconvenience. To them I say: "You only had to wait a few minutes. That person just had his whole day (or life) ruined." Thanks, John for not taking it out on the people doing their job.
I just googled to read about the shootings. How horrible it is for someone to be so down that they feel that killing inocent people is the only way for the pain to end.
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photax
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Post by photax on Jun 3, 2010 1:48:37 GMT -5
John, I saw this on the TV-news yesterday. What a tragedy and as Dave said, what a sad day for those who have lost their love ones...
MIK
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jun 3, 2010 2:44:58 GMT -5
....and of course what I should have said: what an awful day for those who were shot. There are apparently three in a critical condition and a similar number on the serious list.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2010 9:46:51 GMT -5
Read about it in the morning papers. Glad you are safe John. What a sad situation.
Wayne
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Post by herron on Jun 3, 2010 11:03:57 GMT -5
I had not heard about it, but I imagine there will be CNN coverage, and my wife is a CNN junkie so I'm sure to see it sometime today. What a sad thing for all those innocent families.  Glad you made it home safely (and to the loo, for your other emergency). |
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Post by John Parry on Jun 3, 2010 17:10:01 GMT -5
Ah...
Didn't make it to the loo Ron. Eventually I got out of the car and pee'd at the side of the road. Turned round and there were about ten other guys doing exactly the same thing. They'd just been waiting for someone to break first.
I could just imagine their wives saying "That's disgusting", and the guys unbuttoning their flies and saying "To hell with that"!
Regards - John
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jun 3, 2010 17:48:25 GMT -5
I bet you were always a leader!
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 3, 2010 23:36:36 GMT -5
Ah... I could just imagine their wives saying "That's disgusting", and the guys unbuttoning their flies and saying "To hell with that"! Regards - John You are still using buttoned flies in the UK? That must account for your somewhat damp climate. Zipadee do dah. Mickey |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 3, 2010 23:43:15 GMT -5
The news coverage here of that terrible event was quite extensive.
The questions are why did it happen and can something be learned from this calamity to prevent future occurrences?
Mickey
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jun 4, 2010 10:43:59 GMT -5
Unfortunately nothing can ever be done to stop this sort of thing. People are people are there were always be someone who goes off his, or her, trolley.
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Post by Rachel on Jun 5, 2010 7:39:08 GMT -5
The saving grace in the UK is that relatively few people have access to firearms. After the last occurrence of this kind of thing (Dunblane I think) private ownership of handguns was banned but I expect that it has made very little difference to public safety.
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Post by John Parry on Jun 8, 2010 15:32:07 GMT -5
There are probably a higher proportion of people in Cumbria with firearms than anywhere else in the country Rachel, and the vast majority are used responsibly (although if you own a dog you'd be well advised to keep it firmly on a lead at lambing time).
The problems arise when mental health issues are involved. A lot of people commit suicide using their shotguns when they become depressed (probably the most selfish kind of suicide of all - as its almost invariably their loved ones who have to find them).
And oddly enough, very few people when filling in their firearms application put as their reason for applying "Because I have a borderline personality disorder with acute paranoia and antisocial tendencies".... Now that would be a cry for help!
Regards - John
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jun 8, 2010 16:25:41 GMT -5
Strangely when interviewing people who knew Birdy, they seemed to say what a nice bloke he was - even someone who had been shot in the face by him.
Some people are weird and are always likely to do something daft. Others, I believe, are quite 'normal' but suddenly flip, sometimes for what would seem to be no real reason.
My grandfather found his boss, Mr Harvie, who had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. This was in about 1936. My grandfather had several months in the trenches in the first world war, so I suppose it would have been nothing he hadn't seen before: many times.
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