News Stories

[Guts]

I think what's worse is everyone just stood there and didn't lift a finger to help.

[ZoomZoom]

Originally Posted by Guts

I think what's worse is everyone just stood there and didn't lift a finger to help.

It's human nature to avoid situations where they could be harmed.

[nadare]

^ That is human nature. Fear got the best of them.

When someone is attacking using a big hunting knife, people might have thought that if they helped the guy they would be next.

[ZoomZoom]

Eh, a sick thing isn't it? What's going to be funny is when someone posts here saying they'd try to help the guy, but in reality, most of us are cowards and our words are bigger than our actions.

[tripperazn]

Originally Posted by nadare

When someone is attacking using a big hunting knife, people might have thought that if they helped the guy they would be next.

Yeah, definitely not a good idea to intervene. They might have been next anyway:

Originally Posted by Guts

The attacker ran at them, Caton said, and they ran out of the bus, holding the door shut as he tried to slash at the trio.

[ZoomZoom]

Originally Posted by tripperazn

They almost were anyway.

From what I could tell from reading that, the trio wasn't trying to get the attacker away but simply checking if he was dead or not, but I could be mistaken.

I'm not sure if that's what you were implying or not though.

[Vinak]

Originally Posted by Guts

I think what's worse is everyone just stood there and didn't lift a finger to help.

the article doesn't mention the trucker that stopped and provided blunt weapons(wrenches and crowbars) to several passengers to contain the attacker.

Originally Posted by CNN

...Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to several of them so they could keep the suspect on the bus until police came, witnesses told Canadian TV....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americ...rss_topstories

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom

The first word that came to my mind was "wat", that's insane, I feel so bad for that 6 year old child.

I feel bad for the victim!

[tripperazn]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom

From what I could tell from reading that, the trio wasn't trying to get the attacker away but simply checking if he was dead or not, but I could be mistaken.

I'm not sure if that's what you were implying or not though.

I know, but the point is that going near a very aggressive person with a machete, who was eviscerating his victim at the time doesn't seem to be a very good idea. The murderer not only killed the victim, but gutted and decapitated the corpse. He doesn't seem to have any reservations about killing another one either, from that quote.

Point is, there is a difference between being a coward and being suicidal. You can't fault bystanders for not putting themselves in a position to be slaughtered in the same way.

I'm agreeing with you, it's more of a response to Guts criticizing the passengers.

[teachopvutru]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom

Eh, a sick thing isn't it? What's going to be funny is when someone posts here saying they'd try to help the guy, but in reality, most of us are cowards and our words are bigger than our actions.

After you post that, I don't think anyone is going to do the thing you said.

But it's perfectly normal for someone to do that.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I feel bad for the victim!

Yea... I hope the victim died on the first stab...

It's not fun dying a painful death.

[ZoomZoom]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I feel bad for the victim!

What's done is done, at least he won't have to live with the mental trauma that child will suffer with the rest of it's life.

Wow, I sound pretty cold.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by tripperazn

Point is, there is a difference between being a coward and being suicidal. You can't fault bystanders for not putting themselves in a position to be slaughtered in the same way.

To be honest, I might have expected something a bit bigger than that. Part of the reason is due to the culture of fear that we have, and the idea that terrorists are out to get us. As a result, everyone seems to have the idea that if someone hijacks something or tries anything funny, you mob him (or them, if there are multiple ones) and put an end to it. Perhaps that only applies to people who look like they're of Arabic descent, or perhaps people need to be set off by painting the target with the kill term "terrorist" first?

[james0246]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

To be honest, I might have expected something a bit bigger than that. Part of the reason is due to the culture of fear that we have, and the idea that terrorists are out to get us. As a result, everyone seems to have the idea that if someone hijacks something or tries anything funny, you mob him (or them, if there are multiple ones) and put an end to it. Perhaps that only applies to people who look like they're of Arabic descent, or perhaps people need to be set off by painting the target with the kill term "terrorist" first?

Well, this was an incident that occurred in Canada, so it might not be the fact that the aggressor was inappropriately mentally labeled (by the witnesses), but rather, the fact that Canada (or should I say Canadians?) does not usually have incidents similar to this horric event. So, the witnesses were unsure of how to react (unlike in America where people are slowly being conditioned to react to disturbances or actions outside of the norm).

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

To be honest, I might have expected something a bit bigger than that. Part of the reason is due to the culture of fear that we have, and the idea that terrorists are out to get us. As a result, everyone seems to have the idea that if someone hijacks something or tries anything funny, you mob him (or them, if there are multiple ones) and put an end to it. Perhaps that only applies to people who look like they're of Arabic descent, or perhaps people need to be set off by painting the target with the kill term "terrorist" first?

He wasn't hijacking anything until everyone'd already exited the bus. And even then, they prevented him from driving away. It's one thing to mob a guy who's trying to take control of the bus you're in, or who's between you and the exit. Another to attack an armed madman who isn't directly threatening you.

Originally Posted by james3wk

Well, this was an incident that occurred in Canada, so it might not be the fact that the aggressor was inappropriately mentally labeled (by the witnesses), but rather, the fact that Canada (or should I say Canadians?) does not usually have incidents similar to this horric event. So, the witnesses were unsure of how to react (unlike in America where people are slowly being conditioned to react to disturbances or actions outside of the norm).

Two things:
- They reacted properly. They got out of harm's way and kept the criminal from running away till the police got there. Sure, one of them might have tried to play the hero... but probably not in time to save anyone. The most likely outcome is that there'd be several victims.
- Going out on a limb... but I'd bet a busfull of Americans wouldn't have been any braver. Not unless you guys actually drill for those kinds of situations.

[Tiberium Wolf]

The point missing here is that other passengers didn't have any weapons. Going unarmed against an armed individual is not a good idea. Besides inside a restricted movement space going against a person with a short melee weapon without weapons is never a good idea.

[james0246]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

- Going out on a limb... but I'd bet a busfull of Americans wouldn't have been any braver. Not unless you guys actually drill for those kinds of situations.

I wouldn't quite say that. A few years back, I surprised myself by managing to wrestle a "gun" from a would-be robber who was attacking and mugging an old man. True, it turned out the gun was fake, but I did not know that at the time, and merely reacted to the perceived situation. I am not saying that everyone can simply react like this, nor am I encouraging people to react in a similar manner, but when push comes to shove you would be surprised what a person can do if they are put in a dangerous situation or if they see someone in a dangerous situation.

And, to clarify, I am not ridiculing the witnesses for their actions. They performed quite well for their extreme situation. Rather, I postulated that the incident might have been handled differently in a country that is more use to these kinds of bizarre and horrific crimes (and sadly enough, America is such a country). (Having said that, I still doubt that the victim could have been saved.)

[ZoomZoom]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

The point missing here is that other passengers didn't have any weapons. Going unarmed against an armed individual is not a good idea. Besides inside a restricted movement space going against a person with a short melee weapon without weapons is never a good idea.

I guess you didn't read all the posts ^_^?

...Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to several of them

That was reported by CNN.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom

I guess you didn't read all the posts ^_^?



That was reported by CNN.

I did read. They all got out and gotten the weapons... the other guy is dead. So why risk going back in? I was referring to the moment they were inside the bus by the time the attack started.

[justsomeguy]

The guy calmly stabbed a stranger to death for no apparent reason, then gutted and decapitated the body and waved the head around. He was obviously a remorseless psycho, and probably the kind that can take huge amounts of punishment before going down. At least one passenger described him to be 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.

In a crowded space like a bus, no more than two people can attack him at once, and he will win easily, since the passengers were unarmed until they ran off the bus and met the trucker. By then, the victim was already dead, so attacking the perp would accomplish nothing other than getting hurt or killed.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Man beheads girlfriend on Greek island

Athens (4 Aug 08): Police on the Greek island of Santorini have shot and injured a knifeman who decapitated his girlfriend and walked around the streets with her head.

The suspect, 35, was shot during a dramatic car chase in which he crashed into a motorbike and badly injured the rider and pillion passenger. The man reportedly beheaded his girlfriend, a teacher in her mid-to-late 20s, in the village of Vourvoulos close to Thira, the capital of the popular tourist island, and then paraded with the head.

The man threw the head into a patrol car and then stole a police jeep and tried to get away. But after 400m the suspect slammed into a motorbike carrying two female doctors. They were thrown into the air and badly hurt. The police then opened fire and hit the alleged knifeman five times.

"He was walking around, carrying her head and telling the astonished villagers not to stop him," a police official told Reuters. "They knew he had psychological problems... but they didn't expect he would reach this point."

- REUTERS, BBC NEWS