man beats toddler to death, witnesses fail to stop him

[MA-Caver]

My sympathy and condolences to the family of the child.

The perpetrator was a virus, who ability to infect others has been eliminated.

As far as the bystanders, it depends on who they were and what their abilities were; as with many other issues, we who were not there can second-guess the situation all we want - but when it comes down to it, we weren't there. Would I hope that in a similar situation, I would jump in? Certainly - and sitting here safely, at my dining room table in front of my laptop, I say to myself that I would - but unless and until each of us is in such a situation, we cannot say with certainty just how we would act. The people who did not intervene will have to live with that the rest of their lives; that may not be enough - but it's what will be.

That goes with what I've learned over the years... no one knows exactly what they're capable of doing or NOT doing until it happens. No one knows what they will do (or not do) in any given moment.
As you said we can arm-chair this to death but when it really happens right in front of us... :idunno: who knows?

But our hearts, in this moment are definitely in the right place.

 

[Ahriman]

My late grandfather got quite weak due to his sicknesses before he died, but there was an occasion when he hit a would-be robber in the groin with his walking cane. Even as by then he had one of his legs amputated, the toes removed from the other leg, was quite obese and weak and suffered from asthma. As long as you're not in a wheelchair... you can do whatever you want, but only if you want to do it.
...
As for knowing what would we do... I dunno, so far I did whatever was logical and right according my views. Hell, even as a child (11) I could protect my female classmates even as this sometimes required removing a few teeth or breaking a few ribs and sometimes with a shoe instead of my fists. (I had some classmates who failed repeatedly so they were 2-3 years older than me and some of this some had a habit of trying to strangle girls. They were members of a certain ethnic group and it was made clear to us by the teachers that they can't throw them out because the parents threatened the school to sue them for racism if they do.)

 

[CoryKS]

Update - Man id'ed, child thought to be his son. Said the boy was filled with "demons" and flipped off the police officer before having his third eye opened.

 

[shesulsa]

Damn. Again.

 

[MA-Caver]

The baby wasn't filled with demons... the father was.

 

[Kacey]

Update - Man id'ed, child thought to be his son. Said the boy was filled with "demons" and flipped off the police officer before having his third eye opened.

I don't know if that makes it worse or not... nothing could make it better, that's for sure.

The baby wasn't filled with demons... the father was.

Sounds like it. Sounds like a psychotic break, too, based on this line from the article:

He said Aguilar had a "total hollowness in his eyes" and talked calmly of the boy being filled with "demons."

Being mentally ill could explain this horrific tragedy... one can only hope that it will not be allowed to excuse it.

 

[Archangel M]

Who says cops cant shoot? Guy deserves a medal. To bad he wasnt there sooner, but at that age the poor child was probably gone after the first couple of seconds.

 

[girlbug2]

I'd be shocked if that happened in Texas.

Deaf

If you're right about that, then all you gung-ho Texans are completely justified in your famous Texas pride.

 

[bowser666]

This has to be some sort of Mental disease that guy was suffering from. Anyone with half a mind knows what he did was evil. The man is better off not being on this Earth anymore. So sad what happened to the child , and my heart goes out to the remainder of the family. This is similar to a situation that occurred in Massachusetts in Holyoke I believe where a man was a victim of a hit and run accident ( he was walking car hit him , kept going) and numerous people , walked up to within 5 feet of him , then walked off, drove around his body in the road, and just LEFT HIM THERE !! People really disgust me sometimes, and this lack of Togetherness that we have is sickening. We keep this up we will become more and more desensitized to this and humans as a whole are going to take a full step back in Moral Evolution, instead of the half step we are in mid stride of. grrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[ares]

wow, you have got to be kidding me. NOBODY could tackle this goon and hold him down until more people could help. A good choke from behind would slow him down a bit. Kick to the side of the knee could disable him. Hell, a purse or keys to the face would work too. You can't get on the elderly couple, but anyone else you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

[Sukerkin]

Whilst your emotions do you credit and there is nothing inherently wrong in what you said, Ares, I wonder if toning down the font size a tad might be an idea?

Just as typing in all capitals is bad form in Internet-Land, so is using text of overly enhanced point.

 

[MA-Caver]

Whilst your emotions do you credit and there is nothing inherently wrong in what you said, Ares, I wonder if toning down the font size a tad might be an idea?

Just as typing in all capitals is bad form in Internet-Land, so is using text of overly enhanced point.

Yes, agreed. Say what's on your mind but use a decent size font. :asian:

 

[jks9199]

wow, you have got to be kidding me. NOBODY could tackle this goon and hold him down until more people could help. A good choke from behind would slow him down a bit. Kick to the side of the knee could disable him. Hell, a purse or keys to the face would work too. You can't get on the elderly couple, but anyone else you should be ashamed of yourself.

Have you ever been in a situation even loosely comparable?

It's easy to criticise with 20/20 hindsight. It's easy from the safety of the keyboard to say what you "would have done!" It ain't so easy in the real world.

It seems people made some effort to intervene, though it was unsuccessful. Having been one of 4 strong cops trying to drag a cuffed individual out of house, and it taking all 4 of us to do so -- I know that it's not always so simple to take someone down. I don't know what's been found in the suspect's bloods. The accounts I read strongly suggest that there probably was a nice cocktail of drugs -- or he was just plain off his rocker. Either is sufficient to make a person much harder to control.

I applaud the folks for trying -- even if all they did was yell at him or call 911.

 

[cfr]

I'm glad the cops killed him. The only thing better would be to beat him to death, as opposed to shoot.

 

[FearlessFreep]

I'm glad the cops killed him. The only thing better would be to beat him to death, as opposed to shoot.

The only thing better would've been to save the child before it was beaten to death

 

[Kacey]

The only thing better would've been to save the child before it was beaten to death

Indeed. I will shed no tears over the man... but no one - especially a child - deserves to die in such a horrific fashion simply for existing.

 

[cfr]

The only thing better would've been to save the child before it was beaten to death

OMG, you're really going to nit pick this statement? Don't you think I meant the only thing better in regards to him being killed?

 

[chinto]

in that case deadly force was appropriate and should have been used.. fire arm. blade or what have you. as I understand it when the police arrived they did shoot the man dead! If I saw such a thing I would use what ever force I could to stop him! this does indeed mean maximum force possible, using any weapons or techniques to stop him by any means possible.

 

[sgtmac_46]

I bet one of those worthless ****s got it on his cellphone cam though...

Yes, they were probably 'good' witnesses.

 

[sgtmac_46]

It outrages me, too. But I don't know how strongly I can condemn the first witnesses:



If the elderly couple wasn't particularly skilled or strong for their age they may well have been unable to have an effect. And they may have been afraid themselves. Physical courage is easy when you believe that you are able to defeat a bad person. It is more difficult, and your limits may be different if you really believe that the dangerous lunatic will cripple or kill you as well as his intended victim. The other witnesses? Unless they were also frail and elderly - in which case even a mob of six or seven angry elders should be able to do something - they don't get any sort of slack.

From the article it sounds like the officer on the scene did exactly what was indicated.

According to several reports the elderly couple were stopped with several other vehicles at that location.

Moreover, if your only physical capability is to simply **** this guy off enough to start beating YOU and give the kid some respite THAT IS WHAT YOU DO!!!