My Adventure through the Citizens Academy, Volunteering and beyond... : What the hell is wrong with people?

Kansas City (Johnson County Kansas and Jackson County Missouri) is a safe place to live, relatively speaking, but you probably wouldn't guess it based on the events recently. Over the past few weeks Kansas City area citizen's have been on alert due to a series of shootings on highways around the metro area. At first police wouldn't confirm they were related but with more people coming forward with information about their vehicles being shot at, it became apparent that at least some of the shootings were related. As of Friday police indicated that 20 shootings across the area were possibly related and they are following up on at least 75 tips received through TIPS Crime Stoppers hot line regarding the recent shootings. While extra police presence has been noticed on the highways in areas where shootings have been reported, some have decided to avoid the highways if possible. I won't say that I am going out of my way to avoid the highway but certainly when heading somewhere if I have the option of side streets versus highway I have been taking the side streets especially if I am heading towards Three Trails Crossing. More than half of the shootings were in the Grandview, MO area in the vicinity of the Three Trails Crossing where 71/49, 435 and 470 Highways all meet so when I am heading that direction to go to Wayside Waifs I have been exiting early and taking side roads. I realize taking side roads are not always an option depending on destination so just be aware of your surroundings and report crime if you see it happen. Many times a crime is solved because citizen's report it to police. Police can only be in so many places at once and need assistance from the public. If you see it, report it! Law enforcement on both sides of the state line are stepping up patrol in hopes to keep citizens safe and to learn who is behind the shootings.

Is this a unique situation? To the KC area it is. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen elsewhere, we just tend to focus more on our little corner of the world and right now Kansas Citians' are on edge. It brings me to the question many are asking.... What the hell is wrong with people? (I don't know if we will ever learn the answer.)

On Saturday I volunteered at Rock the Parkway Half Marathon. I am a runner and I enjoy volunteering at races if I haven't been running and don't plan on racing that day. Volunteers are great for races for many reasons. One - they want to be there! You know something is going to be done right when you have people who want to be there and willing to give their time to help. Two - volunteers help keep costs down! It's great to have police presence on the course to keep runners safe but it's expensive to have an officer at every intersection so volunteers are asked to help police keep traffic off the route. Generally officers and volunteers are staggered so that if a volunteer needs assistance from the police an officer is close by. In all the years I have volunteered at races I have only had a couple close calls. This weekend was one of those times.

It was mere seconds before the lead runner in the half marathon was about to approach the intersection I was volunteering at (pictured above) when a woman in a white minivan decided she was in too much of a hurry to be delayed by a race. I had positioned my car to block the intersection but allowed a little room for vehicles to get through when there was adequate space between runners. I noticed the minivan coming from the north side of the street so I moved in to the space between my car and the stop sign. Knowing the lead runner was close I needed to keep the minivan from entering the intersection and possibly turning right which would lead her straight in to the runners. The police officer assigned to the same intersection was over to the east of my location watching for traffic coming from the south side (it was a weird intersection where it forked to the east and south so an officer & volunteer were assigned to it). He wasn't close enough to help me if someone decided to not listen to my command to stop and unfortunately that is the situation I was facing. The woman in the minivan refused to stop for me. She didn't even slow down. I had to jump out of the way and all I could do was watch as she not only didn't stop for me but blew through the stop sign and then through the east part of the intersection where the officer was. He yelled at her but she still didn't stop. She thankfully headed south instead of continuing east or it could have been a disaster. The runners were coming from the east and clearly she was not concerned about anyone but herself as evident by her unwillingness to listen to me or the officer. That brings me back to my question: What the hell is wrong with people? Other than the minivan everyone else was cooperative despite being delayed to their destinations. I'll keep volunteering at races. It's my way of giving back to a sport I love.

Yesterday, unspeakable tragedy struck the Johnson County Kansas community. A shooter took 3 lives in two different locations. The first location was the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City located in Overland Park where a grandfather and his grandson were shot to death in their vehicles. The second location was nearby at the Village Shalom, a retirement center, where a woman who has yet to be identified was shot to death in the parking lot. The shootings are believed to be related and possibly a hate crime. The suspect was taken in to custody in a parking lot at a nearby school. He was heard making anti-Semitic comments such as "Heil Hitler". I won't mention the suspects name as he doesn't deserve recognition for his hatred towards mankind. The subject shot at a total of 5 people but thankfully hit only 3 of the 5. A dozen or more shots may have been fired according to police. Police don't believe the suspect knew the victims or others that were shot at. Police increased patrol in areas around Jewish religious centers in case this was a hate crime related to the upcoming Jewish holiday. Extra support was brought in from area agencies as well as the FBI to assist with the investigation.

RIP Reat Underwood, Dr. William Lewis Corporon and Terri Lammano. Reat was a freshman at Blue Valley High School. His grandfather was an area physician who moved to the KC area about a decade ago to be closer to his grandkids. Terri Lammano was an Occupational Therapist for Children's Center for Visually Impaired. May God wrap his loving arms around all those affected by this senseless tragedy.

A prayer vigil was held last night at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church. The vigil was open to the public and had more than 200 people in attendance to mourn the lives lost.