After writing the post below, complaining about people in general, I packed up my laptop and my photocopies of William Perkins and Tertullian, and began the walk back to my home.  As I walked along Church Street, I saw that the whole block along West Side Park had been cordoned off.  As I approached the police tape, I could see what happened.  All around the grey hatchback in which a man has been living for a couple of years, were mercury vapor lamps and plastic yellow shell-casing markers.  Cops were standing eveywhere.  There was an armored vehicle parked in front of the Methodist Church.

News accounts I’ve seen cited on local blogs say that the man in the car shot three policemen before being shot himself.  36 times, according to rumors I heard from bystanders.  The rumor also is that he’s dead, and that one or more of the officers is in serious condition.

Strange.  And right after I was indulging in a little misanthropy.  Strange too that yesterday evening I walked past his car, as he was getting out of it.  “Hi,” I said.  He said, “hey.”  And now, I guess, that’s it.

UPDATE: Reports seem to indicate that both the officers involved and the man in the car are alive and in stable condition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 10:46 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.