A Sad Sunday Morning

I was doing some work this morning with the news on in the background and was stunned to hear that four police officers in a city south of here were killed in an ambush while they were working on their laptops in a coffee shop.
Earlier this month there was what appeared to be a random shooting of a police officer that I blogged about here. At the time it was such a sudden, totally unexpected event that it shocked the entire city. People just don't go around shooting police officers here for no apparent reason. They don't go around shooting police officers randomly even if they have a reason. This type of behavior is simply not tolerated in our area.
So this is yet another terrible tragedy that will reverberate throughout our area. While this type of activity happens commonly in other areas, specifically other countries (see here and here), generally due to political/gang/drug activity, targeted shootings of police officers in our area is practically unheard of.

Here's some random thoughts:

• First of all, my condolences go out to the families of the officers. These are hard working people who have families who got up to go to work this morning and won't be coming home. There are no words that can bring comfort to the families at this time but my condolences go out to them nonetheless.
• The PIO for the Sheriff's office in the area is doing an excellent job as are the other officers working the scene. I can't imaging having four of my family members killed and having to go on working, especially in the public eye, during such a horrific time.
• I hope this doesn't impact the whole gun rights issue. Of course it probably will. People tend to make knee-jerk reactions to crimes which involve guns and it negatively impact responsible gun owners.
• I hope this doesn't impact the racial/religious relations in our area. Unfortunately when the media reports that it is a black man who is a suspect, it seems like ALL black men are looked at differently. If it is found that the suspect is a Muslim (as in the Ft Hood shooting), then ALL Muslims are painted with the same brush. This is unfair. The vast majority of blacks (or any other race for that matter) are wonderful people just like you and me. Likewise, the vast majority of Muslims (and all other religions) are wonderful people just like me and you. There is a small criminal element in all racial/religious/geographic groups which shouldn't cause people to generalize ALL people of those groups.
• I hope when they catch the person/people who did this they save the judicial system and tax payers a whole lot of money...if you know what I mean. I would rather have my tax money go to support law enforcement instead of support someone who will have a lengthy stay in prison.