Kan. Shoppers Step Over Stabbing Victim (callous indifference)

Associated Press Writer ^ | July 4, 2007 | By ROXANA HEGEMAN

[restornu]

WICHITA, Kan. - As stabbing victim LaShanda Calloway lay dying on the floor of a convenience store, five shoppers, including one who stopped to take a picture of her with a cell phone, stepped over the woman, police said.

The June 23 situation, captured on the store's surveillance video, got scant news coverage until a columnist for The Wichita Eagle disclosed the existence of the video and its contents Tuesday.

Police have refused to release the video, saying it is part of their investigation.

"It was tragic to watch," police spokesman Gordon Bassham said Tuesday. "The fact that people were more interested in taking a picture with a cell phone and shopping for snacks rather than helping this innocent young woman is, frankly, revolting."

The woman was stabbed during an altercation that was not part of a robbery, Bassham said. It took about two minutes for someone to call 911, he said.

Calloway, 27, died later at a hospital.

"This is just appalling," Williams told the newspaper. "I could continue shopping and not render aid and then take time out to take a picture? That's crazy. What happened to our respect for life?"

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[AmericanInTokyo]

Kitty Genovese all over again.

[SoldierMedic]

Was there any sort of blood pool or obvious sign this woman was in distress? If I was walking by, and I saw this, I would have probably thought it was a protester or a crazy person.



This was from a protest in a Seattle department store a couple of weeks ago.

[donna]

Unless there are a lot of people laying around drunk all the time.

[goldstategop]

Abortion. People in liberal cesspools are taught not all human beings have inherent worth and dignity. If the unborn aren't human, why should adult humans be according any greater respect? That's liberal logic followed to its ultimate conclusion.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[GiovannaNicoletta]

What happened to our respect for life?

The fact that he has to ask this question at all says alot about our country and the horrible state of our culture in the year 2007.

What happened to our respect for life? Good grief.

[Caipirabob]

The woman was stabbed during an altercation that was not part of a robbery, Bassham said. It took about two minutes for someone to call 911, he said.

I don't think this is an overall indication of a societal indifference to the lives and suffering of others.

This incident may be limited to particular type of neighborhood...and culture that is such that life is pretty much devalued and meaningless on a daily basis.

That they had to distinguish that the stabbing was not part of a robbery might lead one to conclude that robbery occurs quite frequently in that area. Perhaps one who lives locally is thinking "Oh, really?".

I'm not justifying it, it's horrible that people have sunken to that level. Yet it is a very real and sad reality that some people choose to live in on a daily basis.

[goldstategop]

We live in a Culture Of Death and people are shocked by moral depravity? They shouldn't be. Elections do have consequences.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[johnny7]

This incident may be limited to particular type of neighborhood...and culture that is such that life is pretty much devalued and meaningless on a daily basis.

As Paul Harvey says... “the ressst... of the story.”

[BudgieRamone]

I would give odds that this happened at the Quik Trip on 13th and Oliver.

The article didn’t say, but there have been multiple stabbings and shootings at that location, also supposededly the most robbed convenience store at one time...and I lived 5 blocks from it..:)

JM2B

[Mark was here]

Is there an African elephant in the living room that no one wants to mention?

[islander-11]

Exactly. This nation has nurtured a new type of savage. I’m out in an exclusive little yuppie tourist town and yet every day I deal with little gang-banger wannabees.

Thug life, indeed.

[saganite]

Is it just me or does the fact that someone called 911 within 2 minutes not fit with the assertion of the story that there was callous disregard for the victim. At least one person responded in a fairly timely manner.

[LibLieSlayer]

I suggest you read of the hundreds of people that risked their very lives to rescue fellow HUMANS and PETS during Katrina (I am speaking of Mississippi). Some spent 48 hours without rest, running boats up and down streets, bringing the scared, elderly and injured to safety. There were thousands of people that allowed dozens of people to live with them until family and shelters took care of the problem. Everyday since Katrina, WLOX TV has run a morning segment on individuals that risked their lives for their fellow man... 180 plus Mph winds and 50 foot walls of water and these people were out in it, rescuing their fellow citizens... for no pay... just average people... color blind and full of GOD’s grace.

While evil exists in America... and in higher concentrations in certain areas of our Nation (I remember how magnificent it was when New Yorkers pulled together during their "blackout" recently)... compassion, love and understanding still rules the day here in the South (and in other areas of the Nation)... and during our darkest hours.

LLS

[strange1]

...At least one person responded in a fairly timely manner.

It's not like 911 has a sterling rep either.

[durasell]

Hey, here in NYC folks jump on the subway tracks to save someone.

[elli1]

http://www.kansas.com/213/story/106641.html

Stabbed once in the stomach & at around 6 pm on a Saturday. Apparently quite few customers in the store. And an argument before the perp left to get the knife & return to the store.

So an argument broke out, things got quiet when one of them left to get the knife. Other customers coming & going. Obstructed views (aisles of merchandise) & people naturally ‘avoid’ other people arguing. Two minutes to assess the situ & then call 911 seems like a decent response time.

Video might tell a different story but cops won’t release it.

[robertpaulsen]

"What happened to our respect for life?"

Further evidenced by the fact that this murder was done in public, at a store, with surveillance video running. Not only did they not care for the life of their victim, they didn't even care for their own.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

That's all well and good, and I know all about the people who risk their lives for others during natural disasters, but that does not negate the fact that there is a general culture of death in this country that did not exist before 1973.

And, the fact that it appears as though there are some in this country who can't connect the dots between callous indifference to a dying woman lying on the ground and the 34-year-long chisling away of a general respect and reverence for life in this country tells me that the moral depravity in America is further along than anyone would like to admit.

I sincerely hope that there always exists some concern for others in the midst of the general coldness and brutishness that surrounds us. I really do.

[mewzilla]

Is it criminal to see victim and not help?

According to this article, she tried to get up three times. She obviously needed help. And I wonder if someone had had gone to her aid, advised her to be still and told her help was on the way, if she might've made it.