My town is going INSANE

[dfd3657]

OK, so I live in Old Saybrook. It's a small town in Connecticut (about an hour south of Hartford). It's nice, quaint, quiet (for the most part), and lots of rich people have houses here. To put it in perspective, Katherine Hepburn had a house here (not five minutes from where I live). The crime rate is fairly low; most police activity is from speeders, and kids with weed. But lately, shit has just been going bat shit crazy, and there's two events (two days in a row nonetheless) that are making me scared to lived in this town.

I work at Wal-Mart, and last Wednesday was my day off. I was hanging out with some friends, when I get a text around 5:30 PM from one of my co-workers that says "It's a good thing your day off is today. We just had a bomb threat." My reaction was pretty much . Turns out some crazy bitch went to the pharmacy and demanded that certain prescriptions be filled otherwise she would blow up the store with a bomb she had on her. So the entire store had to be evacuated for 3 hours. And outside they had a white van with such things as "The government is terrorists" and "Russians take over now" scrawled on the side, and in the van was a gas tank with wires wrapped around it leading to the dash; turns out it wasn't a viable bomb.

So the next day, Thursday, I worked a short 4 hour shift, and went home at 2:30 PM. I came back later to grab a few things, and one of my co-workers mentions that earlier that day there was a guy out front that was standing around threatening to start shooting and killing people. The cops got called on him and he fled; they found him later in a walk-in cooler not too far from Wal-Mart.

They say that things come in threes, so I'm wondering what crazy shit is going to happen next at that god damn store. Wal-Mart attracts crazies, but normally homicidal ones. Also, today apparently some guy walked into Starbucks right down the road from Wal-Mart, and he had a gun and two clips on him so they had to escort him out of the store. I don't know if he threatened anyone with it, but I'm going to start wearing a bulletproof vest to work.

http://www.courant.com/community/old...,3590292.story

http://www.courant.com/community/old...,6460285.story

[dennisv]

I am so glad I don't live near there anymore. From Guilford to New London is just nonsense.

[Shinigami]

Also, today apparently some guy walked into Starbucks right down the road from Wal-Mart, and he had a gun and two clips on him so they had to escort him out of the store

A man walked into a store carrying a gun? Was he intending to do anything with his gun, or was he just a gun owner walking around the town?

I came back later to grab a few things, and one of my co-workers mentions that earlier that day there was a guy out front that was standing around threatening to start shooting and killing people. The cops got called on him and he fled; they found him later in a walk-in cooler not too far from Wal-Mart.

Did he have a gun on him? The article didn't say.
Also, was this a real story? I've worked odd jobs with young people or blue collar people or we work hard but don't get paid enough and are a little bored and frustrated sorts, and in my greenhorn experience we're usually a lot of gossips. I'm not surprised to hear about someone telling me their car tire got knifed in the parking lot, when actually they just got a flat. It's like walking into a salon. I'm always wondering if these similar somesuch situations are as dangerous as they're immediately taken to be when you're reading about it later.

Turns out some crazy bitch went to the pharmacy and demanded that certain prescriptions be filled otherwise she would blow up the store with a bomb she had on her. So the entire store had to be evacuated for 3 hours. And outside they had a white van with such things as "The government is terrorists" and "Russians take over now" scrawled on the side, and in the van was a gas tank with wires wrapped around it leading to the dash; turns out it wasn't a viable bomb.

That's quite a story. I'm glad it wasn't a real bomb and I'm glad it was just one of those odd things, but that's a story. But imo ime you shouldn't get preoccupied with these sorts of things. I was at whole foods a few months ago and there was a police car parked there and a smelly bearded man who engaged me in conversation when I walked passed him. He was complaining about the cops following him everywhere. He was a little off, talking about wanting to live in minnesota in the mines. He talked about declaring a jihad and killing the president while riding through washington on a camel shouting. Then he asked if I was in a band. I was too surprised to find myself shopping at whole foods to care, but these things happen and everything usually turns out okay.

[bigred760]

I say "craziness" begets "craziness." Some nutjob sees or reads about another nutjob shooting up a place or threatening to do something violent, then they think that's the way to go to get what they want. I've always wondered how much violence spawned from the Columbine shootings or the University of Texas shooting in '66. Things like Virginia Tech and other university and office shootings come to mind.

People are sometimes just crazy, desperate, and believe they have nothing to lose.