The mind boggles

[pecunium]

A firefighter in North Carolina was charged with attempted murder (in the first degree) for shooting at a man to save child from danger.

What, you may ask was the danger? That the man (father to the child) might get back on his bicycle (with the child in a helmet, and childseat) and resume cycling.

Diez was driving his car off Interstate 40 at Exit 55 at about 11:24 a.m. Sunday when he saw Alan Ray Simons and his wife riding bikes up the road with Simons' 3-year-old son behind him in a bike seat, he said.

“He decided he needed to tell them he thought it was unsafe that they would do that and have their child out there in an area where they had a lot of traffic,” Splain said.

Diez stopped his car and confronted Simons near 1360 Tunnel Road. When Simons began to walk away, Diez shot at him, Splain said.

Whisky Tango Foxtrot, Over.

I mean... I don't know what I mean. The man's daft. Mad as a hatter. Queer as a three dollar bill, four pecks short of a bushel (and yes, I know there are only three pecks in a bushel, you do the math). There is nothing I can think of, no matter how I slice it which in any way, shape, form, hypothetical, you name it, which can justify trying to kill someone because he is rising a bicycle with a child in a child seat.

Ye Gods and Little Fishes.

Angels and Minsters of Grace defend us.

Comments

[quercus.livejournal.com]

I'm English.

I'm still trying to cope with the idea of armed firefighters.


OTOH, there _are_ always crazy people and this time the official machinery seems to have done what it ought to and charged the shooty guy with being a shooty guy. Hard to see what more they could have done - it's difficult to plan in advance for this sort of random.

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

IIRC, during the Los Angeles riots resulting from the Rodney King mess, firefighters were impeded by people taking pot shots at them. Even under circumstances like that, though, arming the firefighters themselves seems futile at best, more likely dangerous. An armed escort would make more sense.

On the other hand, I don't get any sense that at the time of the shooting, this nut was on duty.

[perlmonger.livejournal.com]

<privateinterjection>
In between boggling, I'm trying to think of suitably snarky words for putting this story up on bristoltraffic; must be lessons to be learned in there for cycling city ;) - any ideas?
</privateinterjection>

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I think you are struggling to cope with the idea of John Q Random being armed. This guy wasn't on duty, it just happens his job is firefighter.

He could have been a plumber, for all the difference that would have made.

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

He wasn't an "armed firefighter", he was an "armed private citizen who just happened to be a firefighter". I seriously doubt they'd let him carry if he were actually on duty. OTOH, this _is_ the South...