Thursday, February 22, 2007

Offed.

A week ago, I came home to find a cameraman and some other TV dude hangin' outside the front entrance. The camera was pointed down the street. I looked down the street, too. There were cop cars and police tape and a bunch of people milling about.

I went inside and called our sister station, CJAD and asked if they know what the deal was (it's nice having connections). But they didn't. But they said they'd call the coppers and see. I turned the radio on after, to see if anything had developed.

"Montreal's 8th homicide of the year in NDG".

GAH! Someone called the cops at 8:30 that morning, to report an idling car with a person "sleeping" inside, slumped over the wheel. Sleeping? Not so much. Bullet in the head. And he'd been there all night. Apparently, he had a criminal record and was "known to police". There is no link to gang activity as of yet. I guess they're still investigating. There is actually still some remnant of police tape hanging, that someone forgot to take down.

I guess I'm supposed to be fearful. But I'm not. I think I've just spent too much time in big cities among the crackheads and the hookers. And frankly, this really could have happened anywhere. Five blocks away - five feet away, whatever.

What DOES bother me - is this. There are kids in this 'hood. And families. And it makes me angry for them, for these reasons:

a) for them to have to grow up where this exists and
b) if they don't have a solid support system around them, they are potential targets to be recruited by gangs. Check this out.

Anyway, that's that. And I have a funny feeling I'm gonna be paying closer attention to idling cars for the next little while.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is crazy!

Keep smilin!

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Mafia central (aka Saint-Leonard). LOL Although stuff like this happened occasionally, I thank my lucky stars that it never happened in my neighbourhood or god forbid, my street.

Bad things happen to bad people.


Marisa

Maria said...

Where I am living now in NDG there was a nice family living next door to us several years ago. They eventually moved out because someone bought the duplex they were renting. I find out last summer from a kid who grew up just down the street from us and was friends with him that "my neighbours" son was jailed for 18 months for gang related activities. This kid was a good kid. He had a good family - and a little sister who would come over and hang out with my kids.

His parents were cool. Mine NEVER were. Yet I never did anything wrong growing up, I was a "prude" always on the the straight and narrow, probably because growing up in a strict greek household we were too terrified to do anything wrong for fear our parents would find out or our "family" who consisted of 23 FIRST COUSINS and 50 aunts and uncles. lol

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING story of my life.