Sunday: Memorial

This week more than ever I hate the human race. And let me just go out of the way to assure you that there is nothing sarcastic, satirical, or even vaguely funny about this post. I know it's out of character to be serious, but considering what's just happened I think it's necessary.

From the morning to the night of Sunday, November 30, eight people were killed in Washington state (eight that we know of) for reasons that can absolutely not be excused or tolerated.

The first took place in the Tacoma suburb of Parkland, in the morning, when four Lakewood police officers were viciously gunned down for no reason other than the fact that they were police. These men-&-woman were ruthlessly ambushed, in a place where they should have been absolutely safe. This has made national news for a few reasons, one of which is obvious, another of which is the fact that the suspect, the now-deceased Maurice Clemmons, had a 90+ year prison sentence commuted by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. But I won't talk about this, because he was also released on bail from a prison sentence incurred by child rape, right here in Washington.

Clemmons is now dead because a patrol officer in Seattle saw him in a stolen car. Clemmons appeared to be reaching for a weapon, after the officer told him to put his hands up and hold still, and so in self-defense the officer shot. He wouldn't have survived anyway with the belly wound he received from the Lakewood officer who fought back. I know that Clemmons' death doesn't balance out the four lives he took. Even so-- while I'm not exactly dancing a jig about it-- it gives me a little relief, as I'm sure it does to a lot of people around here, to know that this sick _____ won't ever ambush cops again. Or any of the other stuff his warped _____ mind is capable of.

But the man had accomplices-- people who tended to his stomach wound, gave him money, gave him a place to hide after he killed valued, cherished members of the law enforcement community! These people are perhaps even a little sicker than he, and I hope they receive a punishment as befits a cop killer in the flesh. This isn't just mob-mentality bloodlust here; they need to know that they're all guilty of more than just a "crime."

The other four deaths occurred with no premeditation, and many miles north, in Marysville. Two couples were killed in a horrific car accident because someone was driving with eight beers in their system (that made their blood alcohol level 1.5 times over the legal limit).

Seven of the deceased I didn't know at all.

One, a victim of the car wreck, was Brad Agerup, a physical education/health/sports medicine teacher at my old high school. I even had him for a semester, Individual Sports (a PE credit). I've had problems with PE teachers in the past because if you're out of shape (like myself), most of them seem to think that you're not expending any effort. Mr. Agerup was different. He could tell when students were falling short but actually trying. This acknowledgment, which he vocalized to myself and others on numerous occasions, always made me and, I suspect, everybody else feel better about our limited capabilities, which is what teachers are supposed to do: encourage improvement and respect when someone is trying to improve.

But I understand there was more to his life than that. He helped countless athletes with sports medicine and coaching. He taught resuscitation techniques, which he used to save at least one life. And who knows how many other people's lives were saved by those he instructed? That's not the life of a guy who didn't do anything useful with the gift of animation. And while I didn't know him well (I never had him as a teacher after that semester), it still feels shocking to me that he's gone, and gone for such a pitiful reason as that some drunken idiot whose blood was saturated with hooch thought he was alright to drive.

As was to be expected, the drunken driver escaped with minor injuries. But to the Agerups' two teenage daughters, both parents are gone because of him.

I know few people read this, but I'm writing like everyone in the world can see it because I'm sick of seeing good people being killed. Period. People should only die when they reach the natural end of their lives. Not when a child-raping slime ball wants to leave an impression. Not when someone has failed to hide a drunk's car keys.

If you've ever driven with alcohol in your blood, I'm a little ashamed of you right now. But I also know there's a lesson you can take from this. And I sincerely hope you do.

In memory of Tina Griswold (Lakewood PD), Ronald Owens (LPD), Mark Renninger (LPD), Greg Richards (LPD), Hilda Woods, Tom Woods, Melissa Agerup, Brad Agerup