NOX
Yes, we should wait until all the facts are available, post mortem findings and the result of any hearing…..but……where are not functioning as judge or jury and that should not preclude an opinion on the basis of the facts as presented and interpret them, however incomplete………surely.
You always take the part of the “underdog” and that is to be admired but the “underdog” is quite often the culprit.
Being an underdog or a misfit in society should not give licence to break the law…..mitigating factors maybe but not carte blance.
\\\Secondly, he was, you suggest, a recovering drug and alcohol abuser? Does that necessarily make his life any less important than had he not been,///
To whom?
Perhaps to his relatives or close friends, but many would say that the loss of life of an alcoholic or drug addict is “no big deal to society.”
Whether one likes to admit it or not……..the value of lives to the community varies markedly.
The facts as I see them:
If he hadn’t been wearing a gas mask, he would still be alive today.
He was wearing a gas mask to hide his identity.
He was hiding his identity because he was committing a crime.
Unfortunate, but life often plays that particular card.
I have not commented on the emotions and fear of ordinay folk going about their work being confronted by a masked gunman……