Local Massive Manhunt

[Hoyt]

The details that have now come out are interesting. The homeowner didn't even need his gun. Wish more folks could understand that.

Not religious, but I'm fine with his beliefs and maybe that had something to do with the way this went down. Now, let's hope the two fugitives get what's coming to them for senseless murders.

[CoolerKing]

Ladies and gents, let's be very careful about religion and guns etc. Thx in advance.

[Don Lampson]

Originally Posted by cotten

I am most thankful that they were captured without anyone else being harmed, though I don't discount the trauma to the elderly couple they held for some three hours. It was they who alerted authorities who were fast closing in. I talked with someone who knew one of the murdered officers and some of the other prisoners who remained on the bus after these two killed and made their escape. He said that their best chance of survival would be to show up unannounced at a busy police station, or perhaps to be arrested by an armed private citizen, which is what happened. He explained that the officers involved in the manhunt would not have acted in vengeance, but knowing full well the level of danger these two represented, would not have hesitated an instant to pull the trigger if they felt even a little threatened. That makes sense to me.

I hope to attend the funeral of one of the slain officers, to be held a couple of miles from my home. My heart and prayers go out to their families, friends, and others in the Georgia Department of Corrections. I'm weird, I know, but my heart and prayers also go out to these two murderers and their families, for reasons we do not discuss here.


Photo taken shortly after officers arrived on the scene, where armed homeowners held the two escapee/murders at gunpoint.

cotten

I can understand praying for the families of the murderers. No doubt they've suffered as well, but what exactly are you praying for, for those germs who unleashed a nightmare of pure anguish on everyone else involved? Why is your heart going out to them?

Don

[RP]

Originally Posted by cotten

I'm weird, I know, but my heart and prayers also go out to these two murderers and their families, for reasons we do not discuss here.

Originally Posted by Don Lampson

I can understand praying for the families of the murderers. No doubt they've suffered as well, but what exactly are you praying for, for those germs who unleashed a nightmare of pure anguish on everyone else involved? Why is your heart going out to them? Don

I'm guessing it's for reasons that we do not discuss here....

[cotten]

Originally Posted by Don Lampson

...Why is your heart going out to them?

Don

That's an important, fair question, Don, but RP's right. I can't explain much here, out of respect for our community's rules. I will say that though I sincerely hope their actions are judged fairly according to the laws of our land, I do believe that people can and do change. They did, for instance. Yes, they killed those two corrections officers in the coldest of blood, both of whom leave behind wives and two children. As I continue this post, nothing I'll add changes that. I agree that they need to be held accountable for their crimes.

But immediately after they shot both officers multiple times, they bypassed their next opportunity to kill - a lady driving a green Honda Civic who pulled up behind the bus thinking that it had broken down. Instead of killing her, they simply took her car. They passed up other opportunities to kill again, and in the end, they gave themselves up without further shots being fired. (I'm leaving out parts of the story that I've heard from "reliable sources" that have not yet come to light in media reports.) Again, I know that doesn't change what they had done, but it makes a lifetime of difference to those they didn't kill when they had the chance.

I've visited many inmates in various prisons over the year, mostly in doing musical worship services, but sometimes in talking one on one. I've also been part of trying to help people get reestablished after they've completed their prison sentence. I have two friends who are former prison wardens, and two who are parole officers. All that to say that I'm firmly convinced that some criminals change, sometimes as a result of the guilt they feel over what they've done, and sometimes for other reasons. Please don't anyone bother telling me it's often an act or temporary at best. I know it is! I've seen it. But sometimes it's not, and I've seen that, too. This is what I'm hoping and praying for these two murderers.

There's more, of course, but this is not the right place for that discussion.

cotten

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Hoyt

Fortunately, they've been caught, and without the help of any armed cowboys.

It's sometimes hard to read exactly what someone means from text, without subtle nuances of inflection and body language. My first reaction was to think that was a deragatory statement.

Maybe you can elaborate or clarify what you meant?

[Hoyt]

I mean the homeowner didn't have to pull his pistol or break out the AR15 in a show of force. The convicts willing gave up, no gun was needed. I'll let you fill in the rest.