I did want to point out that when young, seemingly innocent, college kids are doing drugs, at least one of them is crossing over into true bad guy territory to get the drugs - because ultimately all illegal drugs come from men on the streets with guns.
You don't always just buy drugs from people who look like you - often you take risks and go to areas you shouldn't go to because the people who look like you say that's where they got the drugs.
In college (a reputable private one, I might add), I looked a lot like the girl in this case - and, more than once, I or friends of mine went to areas populated by people who look like the guys in this case to score dope.
Nearly 20 years ago, my then pastor's son who also happened to be in my confirmation classes went to a known drug area of Philly to buy drugs. He ended up a missing person for quite some days before being identified by his parents at the morgue. Nobody could believe it when we heard the news - not the handsome, athletic pastor's son. But it happens so much more than we would think.
I'm not at all saying that this is what happened to these kids. I find this case horrifying and senseless no matter what precipitated it and I am leaning towards the extremely frightening idea that this was a random crime. I SO want to believe that something like this can't possibly happen in a random fashion but sadly, I think that it does and there's something to the concept of "mob mentality". I find that so incredibly frightening because I just don't understand how it happens that in a group of people with sick, terrifying acts like these, not one person steps forward to stop the horror. I just finished reading this thread today after hearing about another story yesterday and I must say that I've been left with a nagging sense of fear. Most of you probably know this feeling; I probably need to step away for a day or two. In any case, it's probably listed here somewhere on WS but for those of you that haven't seen it, here's the latest of these types of crimes:
Mother Gang Raped by Ten Teenagers; Son Forced to Join In - The Crime library
"...a woman was roused to a knock on her front door. When she asked who it was, a young man told her his vehicle had a flat tire. Not wanting to turn away someone in need, the woman opened her door and offered her assistance. The moment the door opened, a group of gun-wielding suspects forced their way inside. According to the police report, the group consisted of
at least ten teenage boys...
All ten of the suspects gang raped, sodomized and beat the woman in the presence of her son. The victim's screams only served to fuel the suspects' depraved acts. After having their fill of the mother, the suspects turned their attention to her young son, (12 years old), forcing him at gunpoint to have sex with her for their perverse amusement...
The victims were active in church, and neither had any connection to the two teens that have been arrested in connection with the crimes. At this time, police believe they were random targets..."
Please forgive me for using the thread devoted to these poor kids to bring up another person's horrible story but I find the similarities in these cases startling. It goes to show that random crimes DO happen and we all need to be aware of that. Sometimes, "regular" people find themselves in horrible situations based on nothing that they've done. That's so scary to comprehend.
ETA: I think I must be getting old because I never thought I'd hear myself say these words - I think that a large part of what's happening to these kids today is partly based on the desensitization that's occuring from video games, movies, gangster rap, horror punk, websites like VampireFreaks.com, etc. Stuff that used to get an "R" rating in movies is now acceptable on t.v. I don't forsee a decline in these types of crimes because it seems like every day there is a song, a movie, or a video game that's even more disturbing than the last. People are seeking things that are more and more graphic to satisfy their sick desires. I think that this is a serious problem that's helping to warp the minds of our children and I have no idea of what we can all do to stop it. It seems to be getting worse & worse. In the case I posted above, the two arrested were 14 & 16. "The eight remaining suspects are believed to be between the ages of 14 and 18." These are our babies, the future of our country - and big corporations out there are selling things like Grand Theft Auto to these children that only fatten the corporations' CEO's bank accounts and put them in mansions behind iron gates while we all get to live with the repercussions.
Okay, getting off the soapbox. I've just heard too many stories like this lately. I'm completely freaked out.
