By Kelvin Wade
In light of the killing of a man at Armijo this week, I was going to write something about fighting. From the reports it seems two groups of people gathered to fight or settle a dispute in the parking lot of Armijo High while a soccer game was going on at the school. Shots ran out and a man lay dead.
I wanted to write about how so much gun violence is just because people are afraid of getting their ass kicked. Of course, disputes should be settled through reason and discussion. But let's keep it real. If a heated argument devolved into a fight years ago, a fistfight would've ensued. And while the violence might not have solved a thing, at least the participants could walk away from it.
But now it's like the Old West. Now, if someone loses a fistfight, they come blasting. And when you squeeze that trigger, you're killing your own future. It's sad that it has to degenerate down into shooting. And when the shooting starts, there's no telling where those bullets will hit. And in the streets, it's an eye for an eye. Someone will want revenge and they'll seek it with a gun.
Published accouts say two men met to fight and then a friend of one of the men pulled out a gun and started shooting. Craziness. If there had been a fistfight in the Armijo parking light, while not ideal, the parties would be going about their business today.
Yes, this is what I was going to blog about until I saw the article on the 28 year old Fairfield mother, Monica McCarrick, who allegedly stabbed her 3 year old twin girls to death before setting their apartment on fire. I don't even know what to say about this. Of course, it's monstrous. Its an unspeakable evil. How does a parent do this to their own flesh and blood? Where's the maternal instinct? The only time I expect mothers to be murderous is when they're facing someone trying to harm their kids.
There's just nothing positive to say about this situation. A brave fire crew responded to a fire and walked into a nightmare that they'll never forget. Two young souls have had their lives tragically ended before it had really begun. If the mother is convicted we have another person to support in prison .It's just all bad.
Two nights in a row this week, regional news carried stories of Fairfield homicides. The community is struggling to shed the perception of the home of shocking and bizarre crimes. There is so many positive things going on in Fairfield in our schools, arts, sports and city government.
In a shocking crime like the murder of the children, I dont' even know how something like that can be prevented. At least when the house fire killed four children in April and their mothers were arrested for negligence, we could draw lessons from that. Don't leave children unattended with candles burning. Don't leave children unattended and unsupervised period. But in this horrible case, what could anyone do?
I guess we keep them in our thoughts and prayers and see if we can help any of the girls' extended family at this time. There's just nothing good to say.
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