It's unnerving

[Dejavudoo]

It's rare, and it's probably going to be somehow linked to either drug abuse or mental illness, but there was a scary attack in a grocery store here today (or yesterday.)

Some couple was shopping in a grocery, and their 3-year-old son with them. As the mother looked at cereal, her son was with her, but behind her, and some guy in a wheelchair rolls up and struck her son in the head with a hammer, cracking his skull.

The boy is expected to recover.

(They had to pull the step-dad off the guy, apparently.)

How horrifying. It is so hard to separate the rarity of this attack with the natural feeling of insecurity that it will engender in parents everywhere. The boy wasn't out of her care, just out of her field of vision for a sec.

Jeepers.

[dereperez]

That's a random freak event right there. Unfortunately there is no way to guard against those, save being a hermit for the rest of your life. I'm glad the boy is expected to recover. How traumatizing it must be for him, and especially for the parents. The mother may constantly be thinking "what if" and blame herself when she did nothing wrong.

[zoltanspawn]

It is so hard to separate the rarity of this attack with the natural feeling of insecurity that it will engender in parents everywhere.

The attack was a rare event, period.

Embellishing the "natural" feeling of insecurity it engenders is a form of neurosis.

Clarifying this distinction between the rarity of an event and our fear of it may be difficult, but it's an important clarification to make.

[Dejavudoo]

I'm not worried about the boy remembering. He's so young, plus it was a brain injury, so he's not likely to remember it unless he's permanently deformed from the hammer blow.

But, it gives credence to why so many more parents are becoming paranoid about their children's safety. I don't have any close friends here with small children, but I can understand how easily headlines can make folks worry.

[loveguys72]

OK, that's freaky! To bad it's near impossible to involuntarily commit someone anymore.

[BENDERBOY]

Unfortunately you can't guard against random nutters.

[para0402]

I'm not surprised if kids start wearing helmets wherever they go because of it. (I'm just exaggerating)

But this is seriously mental.

[palbert]

Apparently he was trying to attack other children as well.

http://www.wptz.com/news/police-whee...z/-/index.html

[borg69unimatrix]

I'm torn here... I feel really bad for the kid, and yet... I've seen kids running wild and screaming in stores and I have wanted to do the same thing.


But seriously, wtf is in the water??? Why would a guy in a wheel chair even have a hammer with him in the store?

... and will Obama put a ban on hammers???

[Dejavudoo]

It's just sad. Albuquerque, being a warm-climate city, attracts more than our share of street crazies.

Still not sure how the guy in the wheelchair was living in the bosque last year.

[HunterM]

How horrible! I can't even...

[Anders123]

The attack was a rare event, period.

Embellishing the "natural" feeling of insecurity it engenders is a form of neurosis.

Clarifying this distinction between the rarity of an event and our fear of it may be difficult, but it's an important clarification to make.

Whereas this is true, it's much like going to sleep after watching a scary movie. It's no more likely that a cutthroat killer will break into your house, but that doesn't stop you from double-checking the locks and listening intently for the slightest bump in the night.

[zoltanspawn]

Whereas this is true, it's much like going to sleep after watching a scary movie. It's no more likely that a cutthroat killer will break into your house, but that doesn't stop you from double-checking the locks and listening intently for the slightest bump in the night.

I think the problem I'm concerned with isn't an episode of being afraid as you describe, but a habit of fearfulness.

I sometimes get the sense that we may be cultivating irrational worries unnecessarily. This story shouldn't represent a real cause for concern, but as you suggest perhaps just a passing bit of jitters.

At least, I hope that's how most of us are responding! Some have argued that we Americans take such concerns too seriously and respond by buying handguns.

[Georgiadude]

Had he hit my child they wouldnt have to pull me off him. They'd be pulling that hammer out of his skull at the autopsy. Crazy, drugs whatever. Doesn't matter. God help anyone that hurts my kids.

[oakpope]

Horrible things happen, crazy things happen, accidents happen. What matter are the statistics and probabilities. An event which have less than 1% chance to occur should not concern or frighten us overly.