The World Today
This is a true story. It is an incident that happened in Aug. 2004 here in Toronto. It really shook up a lot of people. I thought I would write about it.
What is wrong with the world today? Just this morning, in Toronto, a woman was taken hostage. It was on the news. A man took her hostage in front of a busy downtown subway station around 8a.m.
He earlier had shot his wife. He had a long history of abuse. He abused his two children as well as his wife. His wife had filed for divorce. She was living in a different home with her children. After the police arrived on the scene, they tried to negotiate with the gunman. He, however, continued to hold the gun to the woman's head. She was only 20 years old. After much negotiation, which was going nowhere, the suspect became irate and the police shot him in the head. He died.
The women involved are recovering. The Police Chief told reporters that this was not the first such incident to have occurred in the city. My question is, what could have possibly happened in this man's life to allow him to do this? Was he unstable to begin with? Had he been under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Surely he must have known this could not end well. What could possibly have driven him to gamble with his life?
What is even more disturbing is that it happened in broad daylight. It happened in one of the most populated areas in downtown Toronto. At the height of the morning rush. It had to be a extremely difficult and scary thing to witness. It certainly poses the question of how safe we really are in today's society. What kind of world are we truly living in, when we are not even safe going to work? Will there come a time when we must arm ourselves to leave our homes?
The government needs to step in with more programs. Society needs to step in as well. Many people who may need help, do not receive it. This man had already spent time in jail. He was known by police. He was even ordered to take anger management. After all of his prior history, more should have been done. Obviously this man had serious issues. He felt if he was going to die, he would take someone with him. Thanks to the fast thinking of one young officer, the outcome was good. Two women survived. The cop did his job. Could there have been an alternative for this man? Now we will never know.
He earlier had shot his wife. He had a long history of abuse. He abused his two children as well as his wife. His wife had filed for divorce. She was living in a different home with her children. After the police arrived on the scene, they tried to negotiate with the gunman. He, however, continued to hold the gun to the woman's head. She was only 20 years old. After much negotiation, which was going nowhere, the suspect became irate and the police shot him in the head. He died.
The women involved are recovering. The Police Chief told reporters that this was not the first such incident to have occurred in the city. My question is, what could have possibly happened in this man's life to allow him to do this? Was he unstable to begin with? Had he been under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Surely he must have known this could not end well. What could possibly have driven him to gamble with his life?
What is even more disturbing is that it happened in broad daylight. It happened in one of the most populated areas in downtown Toronto. At the height of the morning rush. It had to be a extremely difficult and scary thing to witness. It certainly poses the question of how safe we really are in today's society. What kind of world are we truly living in, when we are not even safe going to work? Will there come a time when we must arm ourselves to leave our homes?
The government needs to step in with more programs. Society needs to step in as well. Many people who may need help, do not receive it. This man had already spent time in jail. He was known by police. He was even ordered to take anger management. After all of his prior history, more should have been done. Obviously this man had serious issues. He felt if he was going to die, he would take someone with him. Thanks to the fast thinking of one young officer, the outcome was good. Two women survived. The cop did his job. Could there have been an alternative for this man? Now we will never know.
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