Christmas Eve, Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. Two groups of young men argue in Nordstrom’s, shots are fired, 19–year-old lies dead, suspects being sought. The site of 500 retail stores and 19 full-service restaurants is closed for the evening.

Chief Hodges continues:

“This is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I can’t even think of another word. This is just flat-out stupid… I mean, this is before Christmas, and now [the victim’s family is] having to bury one of their loved ones… If someone’s going to have blatant disrespect for humanity, I don’t know what we can do to stop some of these people… Make no mistake, you are going to get arrested, and we are going to lock you up. It’s just a matter of when that’s going to happen.”

(Eduardo Medina, “Gunfire at Mall of America Leaves One Dead and Shoppers Fleeing,” New York Times, 12-24-22)

Chief Hodges and his 16 cops aren’t alone in feeling stymied. Hundreds of Texas law officers were unable to stop a lone teenager from killing 21 people in Uvalde. Let Christmas 2022 bring joy, justice, solace and less “stupid” death for all.

(c) 2022 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved