We are in the height of the holiday shopping season, and Christmas is in the air. Shoppers flock to stores, prices go through the floor, kids are excited, and… a suicidal murderer breaks into a Nebraska Mall and shoot nine people?
Unless you’ve been watching reruns of the Democratic Political Debate all day, you’ve probably heard about the tragedy that unfolded earlier on Wednesday. A gunman with a semi-automatic rifle broke into the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, killing eight people and injuring at least five others.
Beyond the initial incident, this event raises a serious and terrifying question. Where is it safe to go in society? School shootings are rising, college campuses have had murderous rampages, skyscrapers are becoming targets of terrorism, and now even malls are having security problems. Who is to say that these types of shootings won’t keep happening all over the country?
Will there be day when people will be afraid to stray from their homes? Will terror and violence rule the streets? Maybe not in the forseeable future, but there is certainly a problem with murders and violence in this country. Granted, some countries have it worse, but this is something that needs to be rectified, and fast.
Let me shift the solemn focus of this article over the something a bit more humorous. Earlier today, I concocted a list of silly ways you could die during the day, doing normal things. I am sure that after you read the end of today’s post, and all of tomorrow’s post, you will start becoming more aware of how lucky you are to be alive.
Some of these possibilities include slipping on a banana peel and going butt-over-teakettle into a fire hydrant, snapping your neck. You could also be mistaken for Jason Bourne and spend your life being chased by CIA teams for no apparent reason…
A very tragic incident. Malls are soft targets indeed. The Mall culture has taken off in India as well, but i have always felt that they are vulnerable to attacks..both terror and stray attacks. This incident vindicates my thoughts. Our government has made it mandatory to have numerous security guards at every mall..but all of them are unarmed and hence illequipped to ward off attacks.
There aren’t even many (if any at all) security guards at American malls; at least not outside the mall, where many crimes take place.