People, well reporters mostly, ask after a self-defense shooting, "Was he armed?" That is not a requirement for being a threat. From ABC 6 in Raleigh we get the following story. 'Beloved' North Carolina teacher killed by intruder while on phone with 911; suspect charged
Police learned that Welsh had called 911 to say a man was inside her home. While she was still on the phone with dispatch, the intruder attacked and beat her.
Police arrived, and gave aid, but she died of her injuries at a local hospital.
The only good news is that police have arrested a suspect, so there is some chance that there will be some level of Justice. I have no idea how "soft on crime" the powers-that-be in Raleigh are.
And of course, the neighbors were shocked to discover that they live in the Real World™ and not in some fantasy land where crime is impossible.
Neighbors in the area said they don't recognize Camacho and can't believe this type of crime happened in their neighborhood.
"It's devastating for people who live in this area, it's crazy, kind of shocking. To hear about this stuff going on so close to me, I literally live right down the street here, I really don't know what I can process what I can do," says Joshua Carpenter, a neighbor to Welsh.
That is not the only neighbor to be interviewed by the press. The local CBS station had a story on this incident.
“I’m shocked because usually this is a great neighborhood,” said neighbor James Foster. “Everybody knows each other, and it’s nothing but families here, and everybody likes to come to this park and just get together and have fun. So it’s really shocking.”
Foster and his fiancée are installing security cameras for "an added layer of protection." Do they realize that while, cameras help solve crimes, they do not prevent crimes? If cameras prevented crimes, there would be no video of porch pirates, etc.
You are not protected by your zip code. Crime can, and all too often does, happen anywhere.
Believing you are protected by the dirt under your feet, "crime happens in other kinds of places," is not a healthy respect for reality.
In the second story, Foster and the fiancée state that they are considering moving because they (or at least she) no longer "feels safe" in that neighborhood. OK. But she was never safe in that neighborhood. And if they do move to another neighborhood, that also will not be built on top of the magic dirt that will make her safe. She may "feel safe," but see the comment about reality above.
A gun may not have saved Zoe Welsh's life. There are no guarantees in this life except for death and next winter's snow. And given that she was a school teacher, in an urban center, I am going to guess that she believed owning a gun would make her less safe. Her being unarmed against an unarmed man did not work out in her favor.
This is a tragedy for all concerned. Zoe Welsh was a mother, and her family will certainly be traumatized by this. She was teacher, and they are bringing in grief counselors for the students. I am not making light of the tragedy. I am merely pointing out that you are not safe, no matter where you live. Crime can impact you.
