THE IMAGES FROM THE CELL PHONE VIDEO CLIPS KEPT PLAYING OVER AND OVER. THE SOUND OF GUNFIRE, VIDEO OF COPS SPRINTING, FRIGHTENED FACES--ALL BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES OF ANOTHER TERRIBLE DAY.

COVERED BODIES ON THE GROUND, WEEPING FAMILY MEMBERS, INTENSE MEDIA COVERAGE –SAN DIEGO EXPERIENCED THE SAME SHOCK, THE SAME PAINFUL SELF EXAMINATION THAT COMES WITH THESE TRAGEDIES.

James Oliver Huberty, an unemployed security guard, slaughtered 21 innocents in the McDonalds in San Ysidro. It was in the summer of 1984.

In my mind, the McDonalds Massacre was the first of the gun toting executioners bent on making their ugly marks in American history books.

When those imagines from Virginia played through the day, I was drawn back in time to San Ysidro and the murders of the innocents, very young and old. And a memory.

It was early in the morning, several days after the massacre. The story still made headlines across America. One of the residents who lived near the restaurant called to tell me there was something going on. I should check it out

I arrived just a few minutes before dawn, curious.

There was a crane and two flatbeds. The workers grimly going about their business, removing the playground equipment. Slowly a piece would be lifted and then gently placed on one of the flatbeds. No one spoke. Not a word. The only sound was the whining of the crane. It’s a vivid memory-the one thing I remember most about the massacre and it always fills me with unease.

It's James Humberty’s lethal legacy, a foreshadower of an ugly truth-there is always another psycho gunman waiting for his moment on the stage.

A recurring national nightmare that leaves you wondering…..

WHY?


Your thoughts?

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