How well do we really know people?
That’s one of the questions a lot of people have been talking about the last few days after the investigations into two officer involved shootings in San Diego this last week.
In both cases, it appears the two people who forced police to shoot them were troubled in ways their friends and family may not have even known.
Does anyone know what had been going on inside the head of the 15 year old boy who according to police apparently called 9-1-1 himself that early morning….and then stood outside his high school and pointed what looked like a real gun at police officers?
They shot him to protect their lives and despite efforts to try to save his life, he died.
And just days after a 49 year old auto service employee opened fire on people having a pool party, killing one and wounding six others, many of those who knew him are saying they never thought he could do something like that.
Having talked to a person he worked with who called him a little strange at times and who sometimes could get angry, it sounds like people who knew him never imagined he would do what he did.
The cops who shot him dead that day tried to get him to surrender as well before they had to shoot him.
With both cases ending in the deaths of those who police had to shoot, many of the questions about what was going on in their minds will never be fully known.
These were two very different people with different motives for what led to their deaths.
But both these cases can serve as a warning to us all to maybe be more alert to signs of trouble in people’s lives, so that they can be helped before they take their own lives or the lives of others.
(Photo credit 10News)