DEATH begets DEATH

So yesterday the DC Sniper was put to death by injection. Naturally when something of that nature happens, the media reflected on that scary time in the DC area. It forced me to reflect. I was 14 getting ready to turn 15 and remember being scared like everyone else in the area. I caught the metro bus to school, sometimes walked to school and again like everyone else, learned to be weary of all white trucks and vans, the color and type of vehicle said to be that of the perpetrator's. We were all bamboozled!!! What is stereotyically the type of crime committed by a middle-aged white man was carried out by 2 Black men......WHAT??!?!? That was what I and the people I knew thought. Once more, my mom was pregnant, there were woods all around my brother's school and I lived and attended school right off major highways. Not knowing when the sniper would strike next, everybody in the DMV was on edge; it seems funny now but if you truly were a washingtonian either inside or just on the outskirts of DC, then you remember stooping down to pump gas, walking in a zigzag pattern, standing behind trees, stooping down in your vehicle @ stop lights, or not wanting to park in public parking garages, school field trips, outside/sports events were cancelled. I actually was more scared during and after the sniper attacks then I was after the 9-11 attacks!!! This was a local evil, happening right in our own backyards, invading our privacy, stripping away our security, confidence, threatening the children, and imposing death on even the most innocent. What's worst?? The NONexplanation or sense of remorse offered by the mastermind of the shootings.

Ten people lost their lives, an innocent child was shot & injured, and an entire region's lively-ness was killed for nothing, as a result of evil. I've seen the movie (3 weeks in October) and still I don't remember it being only 3 weeks, it felt like months!!!!! It's certainly time I couldn't wait to pass, and I remember the night that I woke up in the middle of the night to CNN being on my tv with headlines saying "Breaking News: DC Sniper Caught @ Truck Rest Stop." I ran upstairs from my basement bedroom to tell my parents and we all finally, for the first time in 3 weeks, breathed a sigh of relief yet strength like true Washingtonians. He was caught, the evil that taunted us all for 3 whole weeks was in police custody and the beginning to his end began.

However, seven years later he was executed and the day after, I don't feel good about his death either. I'm not quite sure why I feel the way I feel. Maybe it's because just like those people he killed didn't have to be killed, he didn't have to be either. I don't know what i'd offer as an alternate outcome but his death made me feel even sadder about the situation, BUT i'm glad the loved ones of his victim saw some sort of closure or restitution.

One thing is for sure, I remember the way I felt during those 3 weeks in October. Do any of my DMV bloggers remember that time? How did you feel? How do you feel about the execution? Chime in............