Cosmoline
Member
I've been staying at my usual haunt in the nogoodnick Anchorage neighborhood of Spenard this past week, a run-down hotel. My room is on the second floor, with windows looking out to a covered walkway. On Tuesday night I recall seeing a young black man peer in through my curtains briefly. The way he moved struck me as odd, so I made a point of bringing my AK-47 clone into my lap. Not pointing it at him or even looking at him, but just making sure he saw the glint of metal. Well he RAN off, which I thought was odd. The whole thing seemed odd, but then again there are plenty of people in that neighborhood several cans short of a six pack. So I put it out of my mind.
Turns out the kid and two other males were in the process of gang-raping a woman just across the hall in another room! I found out about it just yesterday. Someone at the front desk noticed something fishy about the way they were "leading" a woman upstairs, and later called the cops when he confirmed that something odd was going on. So the three perps were arrested later that night and the woman freed.
At no time did either myself, my roommate or the trained Belgian guard dog with us notice anything odd other than the above-described incident. Had the victim screamed for help, I suspect the three perps would have either given up or become very dead very quickly and I would either be dead along with them or in the newspapers or both. To say we had an arsenal with us is an understatement. I had every weapon in town in the room for cleaning up the rust deposits they picked up at the compound. I had both my sidearms and the AK fully loaded.
But there were no screams, no nothing. It's creepy to think about what was happening just feet away while we were there with enough firepower to stop a North Korean paratroop squad, watching TV.
I guess the lesson I take from this is pay attention to that little voice in your head. Your mind will pick up on body language and other signals that can save your life. It makes me wonder the other time I've experienced similar feelings about someone behaving oddly, what they might have been up to. It's worth being extra on guard when you get that sixth sense, I think.
I also wonder what the best response would have been had I noticed more. Obviously, the response to a real scream for help is clear. Under Alaska law using deadly force to free a woman being gang raped is entirely acceptable if the perps resist. Even if I had to go to a jury over it I would gladly do so, no question. But what if you just see someone tied up? At what point do you call the cops? Unfortunately, I think the determining factor is the victim herself. Without some call for help, there's simply no way to be sure what's going on. A call to the cops might be in order, but nothing more.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Turns out the kid and two other males were in the process of gang-raping a woman just across the hall in another room! I found out about it just yesterday. Someone at the front desk noticed something fishy about the way they were "leading" a woman upstairs, and later called the cops when he confirmed that something odd was going on. So the three perps were arrested later that night and the woman freed.
At no time did either myself, my roommate or the trained Belgian guard dog with us notice anything odd other than the above-described incident. Had the victim screamed for help, I suspect the three perps would have either given up or become very dead very quickly and I would either be dead along with them or in the newspapers or both. To say we had an arsenal with us is an understatement. I had every weapon in town in the room for cleaning up the rust deposits they picked up at the compound. I had both my sidearms and the AK fully loaded.
But there were no screams, no nothing. It's creepy to think about what was happening just feet away while we were there with enough firepower to stop a North Korean paratroop squad, watching TV.
I guess the lesson I take from this is pay attention to that little voice in your head. Your mind will pick up on body language and other signals that can save your life. It makes me wonder the other time I've experienced similar feelings about someone behaving oddly, what they might have been up to. It's worth being extra on guard when you get that sixth sense, I think.
I also wonder what the best response would have been had I noticed more. Obviously, the response to a real scream for help is clear. Under Alaska law using deadly force to free a woman being gang raped is entirely acceptable if the perps resist. Even if I had to go to a jury over it I would gladly do so, no question. But what if you just see someone tied up? At what point do you call the cops? Unfortunately, I think the determining factor is the victim herself. Without some call for help, there's simply no way to be sure what's going on. A call to the cops might be in order, but nothing more.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
