since when did a car become a bullet
this past week, something absurd and beyond disturbing happened in one of the "safest" neighborhoods in the city (mine).
a man named omeet drove his car into another man walking in the bicycle lane and catapulting his body many yards away into a grassy spot where he died. (he was walking home because he'd just dropped off his car at the auto shop). he was 54.
omeet then decided to drive to san francisco and within 12 minutes hit 14 more victims of varying hue and age. a 70 year old man was walking in the crosswalk with his cane when the honda pilot driven by omeet careened into him. the victim was on his way to church. when omeet saw he had just injured the man, he turned the car around and proceeded to head back that way to hit the victim again. (but thankfully an off-duty nurse saw the vic. and pulled him to safety just in time).
he drove onto the sidewalk in front of the jewish community center and hit two people standing there.
eventually the cops were able to stop him and his one car battalion. it has been said that omeet's face and demeanor appeared calm, as if "he had just eaten a sandwich." he told the cops in the cruiser that he wanted to kill everyone. that he had driven to san francisco to kill a cop and the evil people here.
on the news, brief interviews with his family began to reveal a sensibility of mental illness behind it all. i could see the defense building its case. and yet driving home tonight, it occurred to me that if he is "clinically insane" and all that that entails, and if his goal was to kill as many people as he could, why did he only hit pedestrians and not any cars with drivers in them? to me, this shows logic and rationality being employed beyond a crazed madman. there should be accountability here.
last question: how is a sociopath perceived differently in the court's eyes than someone who pleads insanity? where does mental disease begin and end, and how does one discern when it is truly existent and when it is just a ruse?
your thoughts? check out the newsclips at www.sfgate.com by searching under "omeet"
a man named omeet drove his car into another man walking in the bicycle lane and catapulting his body many yards away into a grassy spot where he died. (he was walking home because he'd just dropped off his car at the auto shop). he was 54.
omeet then decided to drive to san francisco and within 12 minutes hit 14 more victims of varying hue and age. a 70 year old man was walking in the crosswalk with his cane when the honda pilot driven by omeet careened into him. the victim was on his way to church. when omeet saw he had just injured the man, he turned the car around and proceeded to head back that way to hit the victim again. (but thankfully an off-duty nurse saw the vic. and pulled him to safety just in time).
he drove onto the sidewalk in front of the jewish community center and hit two people standing there.
eventually the cops were able to stop him and his one car battalion. it has been said that omeet's face and demeanor appeared calm, as if "he had just eaten a sandwich." he told the cops in the cruiser that he wanted to kill everyone. that he had driven to san francisco to kill a cop and the evil people here.
on the news, brief interviews with his family began to reveal a sensibility of mental illness behind it all. i could see the defense building its case. and yet driving home tonight, it occurred to me that if he is "clinically insane" and all that that entails, and if his goal was to kill as many people as he could, why did he only hit pedestrians and not any cars with drivers in them? to me, this shows logic and rationality being employed beyond a crazed madman. there should be accountability here.
last question: how is a sociopath perceived differently in the court's eyes than someone who pleads insanity? where does mental disease begin and end, and how does one discern when it is truly existent and when it is just a ruse?
your thoughts? check out the newsclips at www.sfgate.com by searching under "omeet"
posted by annelies at 10:53 PM
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