Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Victims of attack share their story

This is an article about violence and hatred. It is the story of three young women who were viciously attacked at a Halloween block party in Long Beach California. It is reported here in the Press Telegram.

LONG BEACH - Several suspects including at least three men who savagely beat three young women in a horrific hate crime attack Halloween night remained at large Friday.

The three victims - two of whom are 19 and the third 21 - agreed to sit down with a Press-Telegram reporter and discuss the painful attack in the hope that someone who knows the culprits will turn them in to police.

The young women asked to be identified by only their first names of Laura, Michelle and Lauren because they and their families fear for their safety. The assault, they said, was so savage they thank God they are alive.
I'll leave the gruesome details of the attack for you to read at your own discretion. The injuries these women suffered will give you an idea of the violence they encountered:

Lauren suffered 12 fractures in her face, including four to her eye socket, three to her nose and three to her cheek.

Doctors don't yet know if she will regain all of her eyesight. Until the swelling goes down, they won't know if she'll require surgery to repair the many broken bones.
Michelle...

Her face, like Lauren's and Laura's, is bruised and swollen. The lining that surrounds her lungs is also bruised.
And Laura...

She, like Lauren, suffered a concussion as well as multiple contusions. The lumps and marks on the back of her head and her back show where she was stomped, kicked and punched as she lay on the ground.
What saved these girls? One good Samaritan who came upon the scene and took action. He was unarmed, and was very lucky that the pack of animals did not turn on him. But he saw the need, and did what was necessary with what he had on hand.

In all, the attack lasted about 10 minutes, and it ended only when a Good Samaritan driving by the melee stopped and physically blocked the battered girls bodies while yanking the assailants off the victims.
Violence can come upon you at any time, at any place. In California the legislature has decided that you do not have the right to adequately protect yourself while out in public, you are supposed to rely upon the police.

Where were the police in this incident?

She was trying to call 911 on her cell phone when the taunts began, but kept getting busy signals. She tried three times to call, she said, but never got through to an operator.
And later..

At one point, when they got her cell phone away from her, Lauren said she knelt down to try and retrieve the phone.

"Once I knelt down, there was too much of a force on top of me to get back up,"
How about the folks in the neighborhood who witnessed the attack?

She said she called 911, along with several of her neighbors, and screamed frantically for help as a dispatcher tried to calm her down.
The people in the neighborhood were too scared to help, the police were nowhere to be seen. The only thing that saved these young ladies lives was the courageous act of a good Samaritan. Unarmed, he was successful at breaking up the pack because he was very large. What chance would an unarmed woman have had?

I found this article on Keep and Bear Arms.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you ever thought about a career in criminology? I bet you'd be great at that!

Anonymous said...

I have one more mudkitty gun story (4 all together.) After this, I'm plum out out of stories.

I was kidnapped and raped at 13 by a man who said he had a gun, but it turned out he didn't. I was taken to an isolated place, and managed to survive by my wits.

So 4 stories:

1) My grandmother shot and killed a man who was robbing my grandfather at his cash register.

2) My nephew accidentally and foolishly killed himself playing with a gun.

3)Mugged at gunpoint (will never know if the gun was loaded)

4) Was raped by a man who said he had a gun, but didn't.

I think that's enough for one life, don't you?

Anonymous said...

Jr. How 'bout some personal gun stories of your very own, as I am relatively new here?

lilfeathers2000 said...

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Blessings
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Fletch said...

What a terrible and eye-opening story.

John R said...

Ma'am, with your history I would think that you would be very interested in receiving the proper training in the art of the pistol (or revolver as the case may be).

My favorite "gun" stories are about shooting with Jay Boone, hunting with my Dad, and teaching my daughters that were interested to shoot. The goblin stories are covered in spiderwebs and best left for a more somber day.

Existing Thing; Yes, that was a terrible story, but it does highlight the necessity of being able to protect yourself. It is the duty of a "citizen" to do whatever is necessary to stop violent crime. It is the task of a "subject" to call 911 and leave that responsibility to the police.

Anonymous said...

But I did protect myself...without a gun. I'm here to tell the tales, and am much the wiser for it. What's that expression? "Sadder but wiser."

Also, remember, only two incidents happened to me personally.

If everyone was armed, everyone would be shooting each other.

My other grandmother (not the one I've written about) always used to say "people who own guns secretly want to use them." I have found that to be very, very true, in my experience over a lifetime.

Anonymous said...

Mudkitty, you defended yourself against an unarmed attacked, not really a self defense story about you saving yourself from a gun there.

I also have to ask, where in the world do you come up with the completely idiotic idea that if everyone had a gun we would all shoot each other? The facts certainly do NOT bear this out, so you are just writing down your emotions here, typical of the naive.

Your grandmother was an idiot and, apparently, so are you.

John R said...

Henry the Eighth, I agree that the facts do not support mudkitty's views, but calling her an idiot was out of line for this blog.

Personal attacks like that do nothing to support our efforts to educate the gun fearing public.

Mudkitty, you are very much wrong in your view that "people who own guns secretly want to use them." All the firearm owners I know use their firearms in public, as often as they can. Okay, some belong to private ranges instead of public ones, but they do use firearms as often as weather and the cost of ammo allow.

The statement "If everyone was armed, everyone would be shooting each other." is also incorrect. I would have to say that 90% of the folks at the local Friends of the NRA banquets are armed. Don't recall anyone ever just opening up and shooting everyone. As a matter of fact, in areas or events where a large majority of folks are armed, it is very rare to have someone get shot.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jr. You are a true gentleman. (I just hope Henry's not so mad that he wants to cut off my head!)

Jr., et. all; you're not going to believe this. I just remembered another personal gun story. About 8 years ago, I was held up at gunpoint, on New Years Eve, at a book store I used to work for. I gave him the money, not much, and he split. We had him on camera and he was caught on some other robbery. I can't believe I forgot that.

*****

Remembering that made me think of this, although I think of it everyday:

It's been a bad year, actually, since last New Year's day. I don't know if you know about the Harvey Family Murders that took place in Richmond Virginia - but Brian Harvey was a friend of mine. I never met Katheryn or Stella (9) and Ruby (5) may they rest in peace. No guns, two intruders, totally random. They bound and gagged them in their family room/basement, slit their throats with broken wine bottles (Brian loved wine) stabed them with their own kitchen knives, and beat them with a clawhammer. The two were caught, and have been tried, and sentanced to death. But not before they killed five other people from two other families. The police said "an unlocked door was a factor in the crime." It was totally random, and the only thing they took was Bryan's wedding ring, a laptop, and a batch of cookies (the police even eventually ended up finding the cookies, ring, etc.)

I've considered getting therepy because I'm haunted by their faces, and untill I found out, I was haunted by the thought of "who went last." Friends who attended the trial told me about the coronors testimony, and later on I read it. I read about every stab and blow. For some reason, knowing is better than not knowing. I really don't know why that is.

The crime occured between the hours of 10am and noon last New Year's Day, a day that, unfortunetly, will forever be a scar on my soul. The Harvey's were getting ready for a chilli party planned for 2pm (the Harvey's were great entertainers, and Bryan was a musician of some international reknown...) Imagine, some friends showed up a little early to help with the party, and came upon the grusome scene. (The house was filled with smoke, as the murderers tried to cover up the crime.)

I can't bear thinking about it, but I can't help thinking about it. I just want to get through all the firsts...first Thanksgiveing, first Xmas, and most especially, the first aniversery/New's Years Day. I'm looking forward to this year being over with.

Anonymous said...

If you should be so inclined, there's a Harvey Family Memorial Richmond Art and Culture Fund...you can find more info at the Richmond Times Dispatch online, or just google.

The Harvey's were very much involved, infact they were cogs and leaders of, the arts community in Richmond, as well as the greater community in Richmond.

E. David Quammen said...

mudkitty - Sorry to hear about the troubles that you have gone through. Unfortunately, in each life a little rain must fall. Some people get a light rain, others a tornado, or series thereof. Good that you gained some isight. However......

I've been shot, stabbed, beaten up by a 'gang', twice. Of which, the last one put me in a coma for 6 weeks. In the which, I died three times. And I'm a decent size guy - 6'2", 185 lbs. with a rather 'rough' look to me. So it is not like I'd be considered an easy 'mark'. Which also explains why it was 'gangs' that jumped me.

I carry a gun, or have one within reach at ALL times, (except in stores or banks which prohibit). Have been openly carrying now for 12 solid years, and haven't had a problem since.

Evil exists, and nothing stops it like the fear of equal or greater force. As pointed out by Thomas Paine;

"...arms...discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. ...Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them."

I've come to accept those words as the gospel truth. Have stopped quite a few crimes, including two murders, just by the sight of one of my guns. There is not a week that goes by, that at some point, I know being armed has changed someones evil intentions.

You may want to consider a revision of your stance. Because all I see, is people getting worse - not better.

Anonymous said...

Another story, not a personal one per se:

About ten years ago, my ex-roomate was weekending in San Fransico. He and his friend were walking to a party somewhere. My friend was wearing a Ramones style, leather motercycle jacket - very thick leather. They're walking along, and suddenly, my friend get's slugged really hard in the back by two guys rushing toward him, who then run away.

My friend and his freind looked at each other like "what the f--k was that about?" and continued on for a few more blocks to the party. By the time they got there, my friend was feeling strange and having trouble breathing. As they were taking 2 flights of stairs, my freind started feeling even funnyer.

So they get to the party, right, and my friend is wearing a white shirt under his leather jacket. He takes off his jacket, and tells his hosts what happened, and that he doesn't feel well, and can't breathe normally. It's then that everyone notices that there's blood all over the back of my friends shirt. Of course everyone starts freaking out.

It turns out that my friend had been stabbed in the back thru his leather jacket. His lung had collapsed, and he had to spend almost two weeks in the hospital.

Not a gun story, I know, but a crime story. (Sorry about the mixed tenses.)

Anonymous said...

As you all can see, I've led a very sheltered life.