It’s a jungle out there. Motorists compete for space on crowded highways. Drivers in a hurry cut off other drivers, tailgate, and weave in and out of lanes. We don’t yield for each other. There’s a general lack of courtesy, and sometimes outright aggression, on our roads.
It’s easy to get mad at other drivers. Sometimes other drivers get mad at us for inadvertent driving mistakes. Or for no reason at all. Then comes the angry looks, cursing, finger flipping, and swerving and lane crowding. It doesn’t take much for these situations to escalate into something much worse.
If you have a gun in your car, it’s too damned easy to reach for it when you feel angry or threatened. It takes more self-discipline than some people have not to, and that’s why most (if not all) people should never carry guns in their cars. In a situation like that, you become your own worst enemy, and the consequences may be terrible.
The guy in this photo is accused of shooting at another driver and hitting a 4-year-old girl in the head, killing her. We have to be circumspect here, because he hasn’t been convicted yet, is entitled to a fair trial, and is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law. According to news reports, he reportedly has confessed, but news reports can be wrong.
The incident occurred in Albuquerque last night, police asked for public help in identifying the shooter and got an anonymous tip, and this is the “person of interest” they’ve arrested and charged with murder in the case. His name is Tony Torrez, age 32, and he now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. Judges and juries usually aren’t merciful to child killers, and prison inmates even less so.
If he’s the road-raging driver who killed that little girl, and is convicted of this crime, all I can say is he would have been infinitely better off if he hadn’t had a gun in his car. Then, all he could have done is yell and curse. That isn’t nice, but you don’t go to prison for it, and it doesn’t destroy other people’s lives or your life.
Read the story here.