One Scary Morning
I was originally going to go directly to the school after I got off work, but there was something that went down while I was at work this morning that I just had to share with you guys. It's something really scary.
This morning around 08:15 or so, I was getting ready to leave AB Green Field after I got done inspecting it and was giving some school kids a ball to play with when I heard something come on the radio. Ron came on calling the Garage that there was this guy coming at him and Randy with a club! Like he's ready to attack them! It startled me when I heard it. Ron was calling for police to come in for assistance. I was tempted to go down to where the attack was taking place, but I decided against it and went about my job. I headed for Clayton Rd. and Big Bend Blvd. next to begin my grounds maintenance list. A little after I got there, Public Works got involved in the incident and blocked off the streets where it was taking place. They were still requesting police aid to the location. I could tell it was something serious, but I had no idea how serious.
When I got back to the shop for lunch at noon, I was hearing from the other park crew about what happened. Apparently, Ron and Randy were doing their job laying down wood chips on the trees on the tree lawn. The attacker somehow got angry at them doing that and tried to stop them. Ron, being the calm and civilized guy he is, tells the man that it was their job to lay down the wood chips, and that they were going to do their job. This angered the guy even more, so he goes back inside and grabs a club from his house and comes back out to attack them. No one was hurt, but the guy was still going crazy just swinging madly at air. I also heard that when the police arrived on the scene, they had to tase the guy in order to subdue him, so eventually he was arrested. But, here's the kicker. Later on that day when I was doing my grounds maintenance at City Hall, I heard from an officer that was there that they went in to his house and found all sorts of weaponry there: handguns, shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, Japanese swords...this guy was packing some serious heat? I didn't get it! Why did he have that many weapons inside his house? Was he psycho? Well, apparently, he was. I also heard from that officer that the police know him, and the rest of his family for that matter, and have dealt with him several times in the past. They know of his violent history. They know of his wife's violent history. They know of his brother's violent history because he got into an altercation with police a few years back and the end result of that was he committed suicide! I mean...that's just scary!
And let me remind everyone that the city of Richmond Heights, Missouri, the city I work for, is one of the safest municipalities in St. Louis County. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to work for them. But when you hear something like this, it just makes you think a little. With all the people I've interacted with the one month and counting that I have been on my job, every single person I've encountered has been nothing but friendly to me, the new guy. This is just a grim reminder to me that no matter where you go in the St. Louis metro area, no where is fully safe. Something to keep in mind while on my job.
So yeah, I just thought I'd share that with you guys.
This morning around 08:15 or so, I was getting ready to leave AB Green Field after I got done inspecting it and was giving some school kids a ball to play with when I heard something come on the radio. Ron came on calling the Garage that there was this guy coming at him and Randy with a club! Like he's ready to attack them! It startled me when I heard it. Ron was calling for police to come in for assistance. I was tempted to go down to where the attack was taking place, but I decided against it and went about my job. I headed for Clayton Rd. and Big Bend Blvd. next to begin my grounds maintenance list. A little after I got there, Public Works got involved in the incident and blocked off the streets where it was taking place. They were still requesting police aid to the location. I could tell it was something serious, but I had no idea how serious.
When I got back to the shop for lunch at noon, I was hearing from the other park crew about what happened. Apparently, Ron and Randy were doing their job laying down wood chips on the trees on the tree lawn. The attacker somehow got angry at them doing that and tried to stop them. Ron, being the calm and civilized guy he is, tells the man that it was their job to lay down the wood chips, and that they were going to do their job. This angered the guy even more, so he goes back inside and grabs a club from his house and comes back out to attack them. No one was hurt, but the guy was still going crazy just swinging madly at air. I also heard that when the police arrived on the scene, they had to tase the guy in order to subdue him, so eventually he was arrested. But, here's the kicker. Later on that day when I was doing my grounds maintenance at City Hall, I heard from an officer that was there that they went in to his house and found all sorts of weaponry there: handguns, shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, Japanese swords...this guy was packing some serious heat? I didn't get it! Why did he have that many weapons inside his house? Was he psycho? Well, apparently, he was. I also heard from that officer that the police know him, and the rest of his family for that matter, and have dealt with him several times in the past. They know of his violent history. They know of his wife's violent history. They know of his brother's violent history because he got into an altercation with police a few years back and the end result of that was he committed suicide! I mean...that's just scary!
And let me remind everyone that the city of Richmond Heights, Missouri, the city I work for, is one of the safest municipalities in St. Louis County. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to work for them. But when you hear something like this, it just makes you think a little. With all the people I've interacted with the one month and counting that I have been on my job, every single person I've encountered has been nothing but friendly to me, the new guy. This is just a grim reminder to me that no matter where you go in the St. Louis metro area, no where is fully safe. Something to keep in mind while on my job.
So yeah, I just thought I'd share that with you guys.