Once again, we have born witness to one of the more heinous aspects of the human condition. A young man has taken away the lives of several college students with an action of utmost selfishness. There is nothing that can justify this kind of killing. Murder is barbaric even with motive, and it is all the more deplorable when the victims have committed no wrongs.
This tragedy brought several things to mind. Firstly, helplessness. There are wackos out there like this man, and guns readily available, and there is simply no way to police all of them. Things like this can happen, even as you are about to fall asleep from boredom in lecture.
Second, wonder. Wonder at the brink on which we find ourselves. As incidents like this increase in number, I think, how long until we become like the Middle East? How long until we must fear for our lives not only on campuses, but at markets, at shopping malls? The waves of extremism has long been lapping up against the shores of North America — how long until the tsunami comes? There was a bombing in Mexico City on Friday near their police headquarters; no group has yet claimed responsibility, but it is indicative of the kind of fanaticism that plagues places like Iraq today.
Third, distress. I cringed when I read this quote: “Run, he’s reloading the gun.” Run. Certainly, a fight-or-flight survival mechanism is innate within us, urging us to flee danger when we feel that our lives are in jeopardy. But where are the heroes? This gunman was a “skinny man” — why did nobody attempt to take him down, if not at the beginning, then while he was reloading? It is estimated that he fired 20 or more shots. There had to have been a pause.
I don’t know how I would react under such conditions. I might have hidden behind chairs and fled for the exit like everyone else. But I would like to think that I would try to stop a man like this. It is hard to be the hero, and sometimes foolish, but we have seen what heroism can accomplish. This is what those aboard flight United 93 taught us: a brave few can sacrifice themselves to save the many.
Look at the numbers: five have died so far from this shooting, and 16 others are wounded, many critically. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to somebody with a gun, but if somebody had, or if two or three people had, perhaps a few other families would have been spared the grief they are now experiencing.
We cannot prevent every manic depressive from invading our lives with their violence. But we can stand up to them, saving lives and depriving them of the ultimate cowardly exit of suicide. Death is too good for them. Let us have them face justice.
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