Action News 3, Omaha Nebraska Fox News
A terrible tragedy occurred on 5 December 2007 as a man entered the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska with a rifle and started shooting, killing at least eight people and wounding at least five others before taking his own life. My prayers and my heart go out to the victims of this tragedy that seems to be becoming a hallmark of our modern society.
My question for the rest of us after this event and the far too many like it over the recent years is where were the heroes today? I’m not talking about the people who barricaded themselves inside closets or helped people run for safety. I’m talking about the heroes who decided that allowing someone to maraud through a shopping mall with a rifle killing people was not right and that they were going to do something about it.
Where were the heroes who realized that there is a Dick’s Sporting Goods in that mall--which store traditionally carries firearms--or who went to the nearest kitchen store to find some sharp knives with the mission to prevent this attacker from doing anymore harm? I’m starting to wonder if any such heroes still exist.
From my view, this terrible tragedy underlines something that becomes more apparent to me with each passing day: we have grown into a nation without a backbone or a conscience. We run and save our own lives when we know others are dying, whether that flight is in a shopping mall or a nation we helped liberate from tyranny. We, as a nation, no longer seem to be capable of doing the right thing.
For my part, I am going to take a very big risk here and make a promise to anyone who reads this post. If I am in the mall with you and someone starts shooting, I will do whatever I can to stop them, even if that attempt means dying. I do not consider myself a hero, instead I consider myself a person who believes sometimes its better to give oneself to save others than to live knowing others died because I did nothing. I firmly believe that, if we fight back, people will think twice about trying to do us and others harm.
Dennis L Hitzeman
This post was also posted on Dennis L Hitzeman’s Worldview Weblog
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2 comments:
Very true, I often find myself wondering the same thing. Anywhere you go in public, the potential for this sort of incident exists. And while you may know how you'll react, what can you count on from the others in the crowd? Will you, in your effort to prevent further bloodshed and suffering, be trampled beneath the feet of the fleeing masses?
One also has to wonder about the cause of this mindset in the public. Has it been the result of a government too keen on "protecting" its citizens from themselves, or is the government simply giving the populace what they have asked for? Either way, incidents like this and the recent Virginia Tech shootings paint a sad picture of our country.
When I lived in Omaha, I managed a bookstore adjacent to that mall. My mind freezes for just a moment each time I think about the people, former customers of mine, who were killed or injured.
I'll take that vow with you.
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