Not So Friendly Fire

I don’t want to put it like this but…another NY police officer fatally shot by one of his own. “The slain officer, Omar J. Edwards, 25, who was assigned to patrol housing projects and was wearing plain clothes, was shot in the arm and chest after a team of three other plainclothes officers in a car saw him chasing a man on East 125th Street between First and Second Avenues with his gun drawn” , states Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Alright, Im about to map out some important details and we are going to break this occurrence on down.
-Officer Edwards was chasing a man, which usually indicates one has been done wrong by the person they are chasing, except extreme cases of senseless violence. The man he was chasing had broken his driver side car window and was rummaging through his car.
-Three officers got out of their vehicle and confronted Edwards (off duty officer), according to the NYTimes article.
-Two of the six shots fired solely by Andrew Dunton hit Edwards: one in the arm and one in the chest, as stated above.

Lets extrapolate from what we know. If there are three officers and two men running, it should be relatively easy for them to apprehend both. If they did obtain both men, which appears to be the case as the potential thief has been questioned as well, I find it hard to believe Edwards didn’t tell them that he was an off-duty officer. Also why did all three officers confront Edwards, as if he was the only person involved, its not logical and really doesn’t even sound symmetrical. They did give the details in chronological order but if all three approached Edwards how did capture the other man…did he wait around? I find this last detail to be the most intriguing, why did Officer Dunton fire SIX shots and the other two officers did not fire a single shot. These officers are trained and all it takes is one shot to impale someone. It is also hard to imagine him in a great deal of danger, if none of his fellow officers fired a shot but he had time to fire six.

I don’t know the up to the second latest but this investigation should yield some results, fast. The motives and/or details don’t line up to me and I’m sure that I am not the only one. I am not a cynic nor am I a conspiracy theorist, but Edwards was black, and if you recall, 25 yrs old. Officer Andrew Dunton is…you know it…white. We shall see how the details iron out but these NYPD officers have got to get better at diagnosing situations. I understand the vastly meticulous and highly pressurized nature of the job, but this one seems like a stretch. Particularly if they are labeling this an accident, as Mayor Bloomberg reassures "The only thing that can come out of this is to improve procedures so perhaps it doesn’t happen again," the mayor said. "We all know policing is a dangerous job and accidents happen when people have guns in their hands, even legal guns in this case which they are authorized and trained to use." I wholeheartedly agree with that first sentence if it turns out to be accidental. But im wincing and scrunching my face right now and for good reason.

Shots Fired!

Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen flew down to Costa Rica to say vows and "i do's" a few days ago but the bigger story is that shots were fired. The shots allegedly came from someone in Brady's security team aimed at members of the paparazzi.

However I have to secretly admit that i had a slightly positive feeling towards this fiasco. I abhor the paps, at least the untamed and intruding ones, the civil ones don't bother me (is that an oxymoron). I will also say that i am most grateful that nobody was killed and or injured, so from my perspective this was the best case scenario: Shooting on foreign soil, and everyone escapes with no charges, no injuries, and point made. The disoriented USA refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem to be resolved (im aware this took place outside the States). I try not to slay dead horses, but what do you think Princess Diana thinks of the paps. People often relay to me that the paparazzi is a lot worse in other countries, and i take their word for it, but i must say we are working on getting there.

As intelligent as U.S. lawmakers are they appear to be naive or uninterested in reconstructing some laws or creating new ones altogether to protect those who constantly receive the ambush of light flashes and zooming lenses. The government apparently finds time to investigate steroids and the like which really hasn't hurt anyone. The argument of a "public figure" doesn't really resonate with me, it indicates that because your work or your image pleases many people then you have to share your life. People need to show restraint, and adults need to take responsibility. Additionally i suppose the most egregious portion of this story is that there is a huge demand and or market for these pictures that the paps generate.

I think the sly Tom Brady told his "life protectors" to go ahead and take a shot, but don't shoot em for real. I ain't necessarily mad at you.

Culture Shot

Yesterday Jacksonville Jaguars DE, Richard Collier was shot near downtown Jacksonville and was reported to have life threatening injuries. He was sitting in a car with another former football player waiting for a lady to come out of her apartment. The shooting reportedly happened around 2:45 a.m. in an upper-middle class neighborhood.

It seems that lately more and more sports players have been getting attacked. Just earlier this summer Raiders WR Javon Walker was abducted and beaten unconscious in Vegas as he was simultaneously robbed. Apparently they tracked him to his hotel room. I won't detail everybody but look at Eddie Curry, Antoine Walker, Sean Taylor, Sebastian Telfair and Darrent Williams as well. I was just talking about this type of thing with Record and it just so happens that i saw this report. The portentous obstacle that we need to hurdle is the mindset that alot of victims as well as attackers have. I read a comment on one of the boards that said "that's what these guys get... where im from you can't wear it if you can't keep it, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN". A lot of people have this mentality. Despite whoever you may think you may be and your status, there are folks out there that are going to "try you" for it. They don't care who you are. Im not saying that any of these athletes are in the wrong places or anything like that because that's not the case. But i think it would behoove you to know how the goons think. There is also two sides to every coin, that admiration you get for having the luxuries of life is great but those things can get you the same amount of envy or ill-will. There is a level of responsibility and awareness you need to have when you are drawing a little more attention to yourself.

I think it is unfortunate just as many people do, but you have to understand the game if you want to play it. I also understand that every situation is different but overall I just hope that these violent acts calm down but i guess we will have to wait to see.

Valentines Day Massacre pt.2

On Thursday February 14 at around 4:00 p.m. there was another campus shooting, this time at Northern Illinois University. This is becoming way to familiar in our society. The shooter was a former grad student. 5 killed and 16 wonded, so far.

I am assuming the shooter had this planned out to mock the history of the valentines day massacre that took place in 1929 in Chicago. Northern Illinois Univ. is not in Chicago nonetheless it is in Illinois.

First i will start by saying, I have been beating this drum for a long time. Guns are extremely easy to obtain in America. There are so many sketchy dealers that give guns to unfit individuals. I don't know where he obtained his gun from but, the report says he had TWO HANDGUNS and a SHOTGUN! Good grief. I know you can legally own guns but at some point it becomes excessive. Who really needs three guns for a good purpose, especially the type of guns he had. I don't hunt but i can't imagine that people would hunt with handguns. I am also familiar that people have them for protection. One day people will learn that violence begets violence.

The scary part about this saga is that these type of occurences are a clone of terrorism. America is an extremely free society. Lately the targets have been universities but what is to stop someone from walking into a mall or a theme park. People are rendered helpless in situations like this, especially when the person is willing to take their own life. I am not trying to scare anyone but i don't know exactly how to thwart efforts like this. I also ask, is it now ok to stereotype people in your head, although stereotyping is commonly shunned? What do you do here? The government is looking to curb terrorism from fanatic religious groups but i think situations like these merit intense consideration before they get even more out of hand. The best and often easiest way to prevent something is to stop it before it happens.

One of the proposed solutions that stemmed from the Virginia Tech massacre was the idea of teachers being able to carry guns. That argument seems to hold weight initially but i don't know if that would work either. If we were to enact that strategy it would put all of the students in a vulnerable position and what if that teacher loses his mind then everybody is surely going to die because now we have created a hostage situation. Therefore this thing needs some serious consideration.

-Pause-

Now here is where my problem lies. Whenever there is a younger black individual that has a violent streak then they are labeled as a menace to society or a thug. However it seems when white america has these violent issues then they need counseling.The picture is painted very differently, even in death. The undertone of the black story is that these things are part of the culture (whatever that means because it is part of america), but the white story is painted differently and it is a rogue individual. True, blacks are more likely to die from homicide than whites, but they need to acknowledge that they have a problem too. They just do their dirt differently, however people die and that is the bottom line.

I cannot recall of a school shooting that was done by a black person (if you can think of one let me know), from Columbine to Northern Illinois. When does this become part of their culture? Well the good thing about this is they can't blame it on 50 cent or hip hop. But perhaps they could blame it on L.A. Confidential, Training Day, SWAT, Bad Boys, Clear and Present Danger, or whatever other shoot 'em up movie you can think of. I am not trying to get rid of these type of movies at all but they would be quick to blame violence in hip hop for something a black guy did, therefore i think this should be a two way street.

Certainly I feel bad for those involved and i wish the best for everyone that has had to suffer, but America needs to admit they have a problem on there hands. As my man Nas said on Stillmatic, "never to worry, all the wrong doers got it coming back to em a thousand times over, every dog has his and everything flips around, even the most greatest nation in the world has it coming back to em, everyone reaps what they sew and thats how it goes, innocent lives will be taken, it may get worse but we'll get through it ya'll, BE STRONG".

Everybody be safe, be smart, and be alert!