A love-crazed gunman who executed two before killing himself early today at a New Bedford strip club was reportedly seeking revenge for a relationship gone bad.This, about a year after the Puzzles incident, where a gay basher targeted gay men with a hatchet and handgun. Luckily, no one was killed in the incident, but two died a few days later when he was fleeing.
It reminds me of a discussion I had with some friends, just after the New Bedford demonstration I went to. People there didn't routinely venture into the downtown area, in part, because they didn't think it was all that safe. However, I love Downtown New Bedford and go there routinely - feeling completely safe and sound. I told them it's perfectly safe, just don't go wandering down any strange alleys and preferably stick to daytime activities or travel in packs at night.
Despite these crazy incidents, New Bedford can be safe. People just need to be intelligent about themselves. I don't know what to say about New Bedford's clubs and bars, other than there's been a shooting of some kind about once a year and so chances are remote anything would happen. There are probably some clubs safer than others (and strip clubs probably aren't the safest kind anywhere). However, clearly the city needs to look into ways of keeping clubs and bars safe - they're incredibly important to a city's culture and atmosphere, but people need to at least feel as if they aren't going to get shot at drinking a Long Island Ice Tea and dancing to Justin Timberlake's newest "music."
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4 comments:
Ryan - NOBODY needs to be at the Foxy Lady at 2 am. It's a miricle more people wren't killed.
Totally agree. Why people would be there, then, I have no idea... but there's certainly a systemic problem with incidents like this popping up periodically. Puzzles wasn't at an odd time and it was just a regular, old bar. Well, a gay one.
That really is true. I sure wouldn't be there then. Probably ever, but that's another matter.
What gets me is the paramilitary outfit. If the CIA/FBI/NSA is profiling the muslims, I sure hope they're out there amongst the paramilitary paintball crowd too.
Seems like if this guy had a ryder truck or a cabin in the montana woods we might have had a worse situation
Ryan -- I took a 2-year leave from living in Provincetown and moved to NB, where I worked as a bartender at a little place on Acushnet Avenue. Most of my customers had easy access to guns, and some actually brought them into the bar. Once, a patron said he'd just shot someone outside, and asked me to hold his handgun for him so he wouldn't have it on him when the police came.
Question: why do so many people have guns? Can't we get a handle on this? Not just in NB (it's only that I noticed it more there. I don't mean to slam NB in any way), but across the state? Don't we all have enough problems just getting by, without adding lethal weapons to the mix?
I moved back to Provincetown to tend bar, and never saw a firearm brandished again. Maybe they're more lovers than fighters in Provincetown. Or something.
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