A man is dead...

[CoffeeCat]

I just found out that a former co-worker of mine--David--was shot twice in the
chest by local police, after he refused to put down a shard of glass.

My co-worker died on the scene.

I hadn't spoke with my former co-worker since we worked together closely.
He was an artist and a graphic designer--so talented that it would knock
your socks off. He was often depressed and I spent many hours "pow wowing"
with him in conference rooms--talking and listening.

Five years ago, David was ok. He was struggling, but he was making his way.

I'm reading articles about him now. The press is all over this story.
I'm distraught to learn that he attempted suicide last December. Police
found him with a cut on his wrist and a big pool of blood nearby. He
was on Social Security disability--apparently due to his depression and
his inability to work.

I feel as if a beautiful bird had it's wings slowly broke, until it couldn't
go on anymore--and just flew into a self-created ending.

How does someone like this end up with no help? He deteriorated after the police
found him with blood dripping from his wrist four months ago. What's wrong with our society?

There's a "comment" section at the end of the articles about David. David
is being objectified as people debate whether or not the police were justified
in shooting him in the chest twice. People are arguing about guns, referring
to David as "the criminal" and ignoring that there is a human being in this
story. I'm really sick and tired of the whole "Court TV" mentality--where people
are reduced to talking points in a debate. We have no feeling anymore for anyone.
We hear about murder, death, suicide, violence--then we debate with no emotion
and then we move onto the next story.

David was a former co-worker---a gifted artist, graphic designer and animator. He
loved techno-pop music and it would blast from his cubicle. He added color and
humor to my department. He had an infectious laugh and he loved Chinese food.

David was a human being. He had a life.

http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070430/NEWS/704300341/1001

[jody]

1. Some DUers object to using Tasers in such situations and in this case David might still be alive if

police had used a Taser.

[jayfish]

9. I Think Your Confused.

Some DUers object to the use of tasers when subjects are able to be subdued physically. In this case, David had a weapon so the use of a taser, IMO, would have been perfectly justified. I don't mind tasers as long as they are not used on 90-year olds who refuse to get out of their cars or fifth-graders who had a bad run-in with the teacher.

Jay

[jody]

20. I'm not confused, some DUers want to prohibit police from using Tasers. n/t

[jayfish]

22. Period?

It's not that I don't believe you (I can't read everything all the time), but could you provide a thread link that points to an example of this desire for total prohibition?

Jay

[malaise]

2. This is so sad

Humanity has been killed by Televangelism, the Mall and Madison Avenue. Madison Avenue created twin monsters called greed and selfishness. People will only wake up when tragedies like these happens to them or theirs.

[JuniperLea]

3. Too bad there's not a mental health facility...

That citizens of the United States of America can go to in troubling times.

Depression need not end a life like this.

So sorry about your co-worker.

[madinmaryland]

4. Thanks to the Repubs, there is very little in the way of help

for people with mental problems. I am sorry your friend ended his life, and was not able to get the help he needed. This society has to change.

[Richard Steele]

5. There is little help to be had these days.

We live in dark times.

[jayfish]

11. Something That I Was Taken Aback By...

during the endless discussion of the VT shooter, was the whole "he should have been kicked out of school" line of reasoning. Why? So he could kill a bunch of folks at a location other than VT? How would the situation have been helped by making it worse? We have become so short-sighted in this country.

Jay

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I am so sorry. Mental illness is so misunderstood in this country. It even is

in my own family. I have yet to get my husband to realize that my being bipolar II is no different than if I was diabetic.

[orwell]

7. Sad State

"I'm really sick and tired of the whole "Court TV" mentality--where people
are reduced to talking points in a debate. We have no feeling anymore for anyone.
We hear about murder, death, suicide, violence--then we debate with no emotion
and then we move onto the next story."

This is to be expected when everything in this society has been reduced to capitalist production units. People have become "labor," nothing more. Everything is reduced to profit and loss - morality, ethics, spirituality, human relationships, the environment - these are now viewed through the lens of cost/benefit. When a corporation has mores rights than a citizen, you have entered a Bizzaro world that the founders of this country could have never envisioned when they drew up the Bill of Rights.

-------

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Maybe you can take some solace from the fact that his earthly pain has ended while the joy he had given you with his art and spirit lives on in your memory and in your sharing his story with us.

May he rest in peace...

[zanne]

8. There are some cases of depression...

That are very severe and very, very tough to treat. Some people don't respond to anything.

[Zywiec]

10. He was on Social Security disability

apparently due to his depression and his inability to work. How did they validate this? Didn't someone at SSA realize he needed help and refer him to a medical professional?

Someone else falling through the cracks.

[Richard Steele]

23. Realize that those "referrals to professionals" are often WORSE than useless.

The "public mental health care" system in this country has
been GUTTED until most of the "care" is long gone; only
the beaurocracy remains.

And it's a beaurocracy that makes the DMV look like a
paragon of efficiency. Just an endless series of pointless,
frustrating hoops to be jumped through to get that
disabilty check.

Being forced to deal with that system is really the LAST
thing someone in such a position needs dumped on top of them, IMHO.

[midnight]

12. Al Gore's wife Tipper was a opponet for funding mental health

issues. The crimes against the citizens of this country are just magnified when you think what President Gore's wife could of done to bring resources to this important area of healthcare. Rest in peace David.

[endarkenment]

14. proponent? isn't that what you meant? nt

[liberalnurse]

13. I'm so very sorry for your loss.

I did not see where a Taser was an option. Do your Officers have Tasers?

Oh wait...Here is a mention of a Taser. The Officer did not carry one but they do have them on the Force. Apparently one was called for to take to the scene....someone was thinking!


snip>

Ihde, 43, was not injured. Police said this morning that Ihde sprayed Stehl with a chemical deterrent, which did not affect him. Yesterday, they said police also had called for a Taser to be brought to the scene, but Stehl was shot before that happened.

[hunter]

15. For too many there is no safety net...

... just a pool of full of circling sharks listening for a splash.

[H2O Man]

16. That is sad.

I'm sorry for your loss, and that this man came to die such a tragic death. There really aren't any words ....

Take care of yourself.

Pat

[Rex]

17. Life is incredibly cheap on this planet.

I'm sorry for your loss and his death is totally meaningless, the police (once again) used lethal force when it wasn't needed. :(

Sad, he sounded like a person crying out for help.

[annabanana]

18. I am sorry. .

You are right. Everyone is quick to jump on a death to expound on their own particular "points" to be made and arguments to justify. At the bottom of it all there was a person. With parents. With inherent worth. Irreplaceable.

I am sorry.

[Cleita]

19. Our broken system of social safety nets at work again.

In another country, he would have gotten the medical mental health treatment he needed and then reintegrated into society and work when he was ready to do so. It sounds like his talent will be a loss to the world because Americans cannot fathom the responsibility and need that they have to help the least among them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. I had a friend, also a graphic designer, who

could have ended up the same way. In fact, I had to check to make sure it wasn't him.

This society as a whole has no understanding or compassion for the mentally ill or the addicted, and this callousness has only gotten worse during the past 25 years.

[benEzra]

24. Very sad, and a reflection on the tattered social safety net.

Regarding Social Security disability and such, I know that the public-sector disability care in this country is a very impersonal system. I don't have direct experience with the mental health care side of things, but my 8 y.o. son is developmentally delayed (cognitively normal but significant motor delays, can't eat, difficulty speaking, etc.) due to medical issues, and I have occasional brushes with the mental health care world as there is a lot of institutional overlap between mental health care and the care of the developmentally disabled.

Getting care for our son has been a running fight with the system for nearly his entire life. He was FINALLY approved for medicaid a couple of months ago, after several years of applying and being rejected, and it took a hearing at the state capitol with my wife and I acting as his "lawyers" to get the latest denial reversed. Problem is, if you are someone living alone, with depression, there is very little in the way of a safety net and no one to advocate for you as we advocate for our son. Most of the help that's out there, you have to be aggressively proactive and assertive in order to get, and someone struggling with severe depression is not going to be able to do that. And if you do get assistance, it's a crap shoot whether you get someone competent to help.

[wicket]

25. Rest in peace David

I'm sorry :hug: