Ronald Westbrook, a 72 year old retired Air Force colonel with Alzheimer's was lost and confused in the middle of the night. He knocked on a door and was shot and killed by the homeowner.
Paul Walker, a 40 year old actor died in a car crash in Los Angeles.
Two tragedies; neither should have happened but one of them should be making us angry, shouldn't it?
Last week just before Thanksgiving Mr Ronald Westbrook was shot and killed in the middle of the night. The account from Jay Bookman in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Sorry, I don't know how to embed, this is cut and paste.
"It was four in the morning. The late-November wind in the north Georgia mountains that night had dropped the wind chill factor down to about 20 degrees. And Westbrook, a 72-year-old retired Air Force colonel suffering from Alzheimers, had been wandering outside since midnight, hopelessly lost and confused, several miles from home and clad only in a light jacket and a straw hat.
Seeking shelter and perhaps assistance, Westbrook apparently spotted a back-porch light on a house in a Chickamauga subdivision. He rang the door bell and then tried the door handle, startling and scaring the couple inside. The woman called 911; the man, 34-year-old Joe Hendrix, grabbed his .40-caliber pistol.
Minutes ticked by. Two sheriff cars were on their way, but had yet to arrive. Hendrix, armed with his pistol and the courage it provided, became impatient. He decided it was time to go outside to set things right and confront this unknown intruder.
Westbrook, confused and disoriented, was still wandering in the backyard. Hendrix challenged him. Westbrook didn't respond. Hendrix fired four shots toward the old man's shape in the darkness. One round struck Westbrook in the chest, killing him."
Apparently the Stand Your Ground law is going to come into play here despite the fact that the police were on their way and the victim had left the front door and was wandering in the backyard. A lively comment section followed this article with many more people supporting the shooting than asking why the insanity.
The actor's death received much more publicity of course, and many people will remember this and the stories and photos, etc. But the retired colonel who had served honorably in the horror that was Vietnam will be a footnote, a statistic, just another victim of ALEC and the insanity of the USA in 2013.
I just think that someone needs to speak up for this man and honor him. This killing was not racial profiling, it was not a child, but it was a man who deserved better.
4:16 PM PT: I do not know how to embed a link, just checked the 'help' and couldn't find it, but the article I"m referring to is at the ajc.com website, under blogs, entilted 'No duty to retreat' but Jay Bookman. Excellent piece of writing with 722 comments