Instead of cheerfulness over the warmer than usual weather we enjoyed here in NYC two days ago and early yesterday, there was little cheer if any to be found in Greenwich Village or the NYPD's 6th Precinct. Just two nights ago at, at about 9:30PM, a gunman reportedly entered a local restaurant and killed a waiter there by shooting him 15 times in the back. The gunman fled the scene, but two of New York’s Finest pursued him. These two though were finer than one would expect, you see they were auxiliary police officers, volunteers who don a uniform almost identical to that of a NYC Police officer, and then patrol the streets usually afoot to be the extra eyes and ears of the police department. What made them even finer still was the fact that they tried to do their jobs and beyond, apaprently to save others. They did not just observe the aftermath of the above killing, they apparently tried to intervene when they thought the killer posed a threat to others. They approached him attempted to wrest a bag containing his firearms away from him, and when he broke away they pursued him, all the while being only armed with night sticks. Then they were hunted down and both executed by the bad guy. You see, in NYC even the auxiliary police officers are not allowed to carry firearms, nor are they issued body armor. Yes one of them was actually reported to have been wearing body armor, probably a vest he purchased himself; but the sad truth is that it did not help him. So it happened as per the reports I have read so far today. A few links to articles here:
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/302733.php?contentType=4&contentId=373708
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/03/15/2007-03-15_untitled__village15m-3.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/nyregion/15cops.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/N/NY_STREET_SHOOTOUT_BAOL-?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=NORTHEAST (Please note that this last link is to a NY Post article, and the page that comes up will contain a link to actual video footage from a security camera, of one of ther officers being gunned down, it is very graphic.)
These were two very fine young men: Nicholas Pekearo, 28, and Eugene Marshalik, a 19. They gave their lives apparently to protect their fellow citizens from a crazed wacko. Shit - I have tears running down my face as I write this and I did not even know them; maybe it is because I frequent restaurants and shops in the exact area (and I do mean exactly the same location as the streets where this happened - no I don't live in NYC but do work there). Or maybe it because of how bad I feel that these young guys were gunned down and no one else helped them; but then heck - no one else was armed to help them. It is certainly getting me choked up to write this.
The city will most certainly be in mourning for quite some time too; there had not been an auxiliary officer killed in NYC in about 14 years. They will be given full police funeral services if their families want it that way. Those funerals will honor them to some extent, but it is sad that their lives will likely be in vain at least in some regards. Not in vain that they tried to help; they may well have saved other lives by their actions. They were very corageous. Yet their loss will be in vain. You see, NYC is unlikely to arm auxiliary police officers to prevent such from happening in the future. Instead, auxiliary officers will likely be reminded not to intervene in such situations, just to be the eyes and ears and take no action. Yet, that will not change the fact that there are really bad criminals among us. Nor will NYC be likely to change the restrictive guns laws therein. As a matter of fact, I would be willing to bet that because of these shootings, Mayor Bloomberg will try to enforce even tighter gun registration and gun control laws. The irony there is that it will only further restrict law abiding citizens from owning guns, and will likely make it eve more difficult for people to try to protect their own lives when some dirtbag like that starts killing people. If on the other hand, NYC allowed concealed carry weapons, and made it much easier for regular law abiding folks to arm themselves for self defense, chances are that things like these shootings would soon become much less prevalent than they are nowadays. In fact, chances are, had an armed good guy been seated in that restaurant, the bad guy may have never made it out the door to be able to shoot those two officers in the first place. That is just not likely to happen any time soon in NYC; and as much as I love the city, pardon me while I steal a phrase from Kim du Toit (a phrase by the way which I loathe), and at least just for today, I will use it when I refer to this city as - New York Fuckin City. Things like this should just not happen, and if folks had been allowed to be armed to defend themselves and other innocents it may well have been different.
On another note, if violent dirtbag criminals who kill others were put away for life, or better still, if they were executed for killing another person then these events would be less likely. If any criminals were given an add on sentence of a mandatory 25 years for use of a gun in a crime, then these events would be much less likely. If a criminal was given a mandatory sentence of 20 years for stealing a gun, then such events would be less likely. But it will not happen in good old way too liberal New York Fuckin City, because the mindset there is almost always to see the criminal as some sort of a victim. That is just a plain wrong way to see a violent criminal felon who harms another. They are, as I see them, dirtbags pure and simple. If people began to realize such and enforce tough anticrime laws, against real criminals instead of against good guys who want to own firearms, such events would be much less likely to happen. When will New Yorkers wake up and realize it is not the law abiding gun owner who is the enemy, it is not the gun that is evil, and instead come to the realization that it is the violent felon criminal dirtbag that needs to be put down (as in 'seen to be the bad guy' not as in 'killed like a dog'). I can only hope beyond almost all hope it will happen in my lifetime.
There was one ray of light in all of this, but it came too late for the three victims. The killer was shot down and himself killed by armed police officers when they arrived on the scene. It was reported as being like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. My guess it was nothing like that for the three victims, they were all unarmed. They were executed, without much of a chance to fight back.
My condolences to the families of these two fine young men. My condolences to the family of the other victim who was also killed by this dirtbag. As to the family of the dirtbag, my condolences even to them - not because he lost his life, but for the pain he probably has caused them.
Be safe,
Glenn B
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