Car ploughs into crowd in Germany.

[smudgie]

Yet another tragic event.
Reporting 3 killed and many injured as a car crashes into a crowd of people in Munster, Germany.
The driver has killed themself.

[Cherie]

Was this an accident or ...

[Oliver_W]

Another #VehicleOfPeace ?

Several people are dead after a vehicle collided with group of pedestrians in Munster, Germany. (https://news.sky.com/story/several-dead-as-vehicle-hits-pedestrians-in-germany-11321054)

German police have confirmed at least three people are dead and dozens injured around the Kiepenkerl statue in Munster's old town.

Citizens have been advised to avoid the area.

According to local media, a small truck drove into a seated group of people at a restaurant and there are unconfirmed reports that the driver might among the dead.

Several news agencies are quoting Munster police as saying "the driver has killed himself".

According to the Spiegel, German authorities are "assuming" the incident was an attack.

Rescue helicopters have been sent to the surrounding area, with the injured being taken to hospitals or cared for in a designated zone.
Germany's RP has quoted police saying they are "mourning for the victims and the injured".

"Fortunately so far we were always able to prevent attacks in advance, this time that hasn't happened," they are quoted saying.

Munster Police tweeted an appeal not to spread "rumours and misinformation".

[Eddie.]

Things like this make me lose faith in humanity...

[Beso]

I can see why they didnt drive all the way to europe..

[arista]

the 49 year old driver is dead
He shot himself
https://e3.365dm.com/18/04/536x302/skynews-munster-germany-attack_4276283.jpg?bypass-service-worker&20180407162225


https://d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/q0lOTLUhSVKsLOQbFhq6_PA-35878562.jpg?bypass-service-worker
German Police arrive


Typical Germany
not giving out data, there rule because of terrorists

https://news.sky.com/story/live-several-dead-as-vehicle-hits-pedestrians-in-germany-11321201

[Crimson Dynamo]

well if he shot himself I think we can rule out accident?

[Barry.]

Ugh I hate this.

[arista]

well if he shot himself I think we can rule out accident?



Yes Nutter or Terrorist
aged 49 they have said.

[Lostie!]

It's thoroughly depressing how ordinary these sort of stories have started to feel

[bots]

you would have thought by now that terrorists would have realised that running innocent people down doesn't achieve anything

[Oliver_W]

you would have thought by now that terrorists would have realised that running innocent people down doesn't achieve anything

It achieves dead kaffir, which is their aim.

[Brillopad]

Another loser - the world is a better place without him.

[LaLaLand]

So awful :(

[Northern Monkey]

So,The question on everyones lips...



Muslim or no?

[kirklancaster]

So,The question on everyones lips...



Muslim or no?

I KNOW which horse in THAT race would carry MY 2 quid.

[MB.]

I KNOW which horse in THAT race would carry MY 2 quid.

Authorities have said there is no indication it is an Islamist attack.

The suspect's motive and exact identity still remains unclear, but German media reported he was a national with mental health problems.

(BBC News)

Shame, that two quid could have gone to good use

[Northern Monkey]

(BBC News)

Shame, that two quid could have gone to good use

Not a bad place to put your 2 quid in a country that let in a million ‘refugees’ some of which decided to go out on New Years Eve and sexually assault female party goers,Stab people on trains and killed twelve people at a Christmas Market.
The religion of peace would be a good bet even if not a winner this time.

[Brillopad]

Not a bad place to put your 2 quid in a country that let in a million ‘refugees’ some of which decided to go out on New Years Eve and sexually assault female party goers,Stab people on trains and killed twelve people at a Christmas Market.
The religion of peace would be a good bet even if not a winner this time.

It would indeed!

[Withano]

Interesting. Even when the terrorist is not Muslim, the entire religion is still a more relevant topic than the indivduals involved.

[Beso]

So,The question on everyones lips...



Muslim or no?

Sounda more like ant mcparlane to me.

[kirklancaster]

It is no secret that I like a flutter on the 'gee-gees' now and then, and despite using a degree of what can only be described as 'intuition' when making my selections, like most punters, I do invariably rely on 'Form' to guide me.

It now seems as if this killer was a German with 'Far-right' interests, a criminal record for 'petty crimes', and a history of 'Mental Illness'. Munster police reportedly found a Kalashnikov rifle at the killer's home and other dodgy equipment.

However - and again this is pure speculation on my part - I believe that indirectly Merkel's 'Open Door' Immigration policies may STILL lie behind the attack.

There was a 'Demonstration' carried out by Kurdish Immigrants near the scene of the attack and the attack itself occurred on the anniversary of a similar attack in Stockholm where five people were killed and 14 injured after a stolen beer truck drove into a crowd last year.

Coming back to my '2 quid' bet, I may have lost my money this time but I blame the 'Form Book':

TERRORIST ATTACKS IN EUROPE IN THE PAST 4 YEARS

April 7, 2018 - A man drives a van into a group of people sitting outside a restaurant in the old city centre of Münster in Germany, killing several of them before taking his own life, police say, a year to the day after the Stockholm truck attack.

March 23, 2018 - A gunman kills three people in southwestern France after holding up a car, firing on police and taking hostages in a supermarket, screaming 'Allahu Akbar'. Security forces storm the building and kill him.

Aug 17, 2017 - A van ploughs into crowds in the heart of Barcelona, killing at least 13 people, a regional official says, in what police said they were treating as a terrorist attack.

June 3, 2017 - Three attackers ram a van into pedestrians on London Bridge then stab revellers in nearby bars, killing eight people and injuring at least 48. Islamic State says its militants are responsible.

May 22, 2017 - A suicide bomber kills 22 children and adults and wounds 59 at a packed concert hall in the English city of Manchester, as crowds began leaving a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande.

April 7, 2017 - A truck drives into a crowd on a shopping street and crashes into a department store in central Stockholm, killing five people and wounding 15 in what police call a terrorist attack.

March 22, 2017 - An attacker stabs a policeman close to the British parliament in London after a car ploughs into pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge. Six people die, including the assailant and the policeman he stabbed, and at least 20 are injured in what police call a 'marauding terrorist attack'.

Dec 19, 2016 - A truck ploughs into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says authorities are assuming it was a terrorist attack.

July 26, 2016 - Two attackers kill a priest with a blade and seriously wound another hostage in a church in northern France before being shot dead by French police. French President Francois Hollande says the two hostage-takers had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

July 24, 2016 - A Syrian man wounds 15 people when he blows himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach in southern Germany. Islamic State claims responsibility.

July 22, 2016 - An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman apparently acting alone kills at least nine people in Munich. The teenager had no Islamist ties but was obsessed with mass killings. The attack was carried out on the fifth anniversary of twin attacks by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik that killed 77 people.

July 18, 2016 - A 17-year-old Afghan refugee wielding an axe and a knife attacks passengers on a train in southern Germany, severely wounding four, before being shot dead by police. Islamic State claims responsibility.

July 14, 2016 - A gunman drives a heavy truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring scores more in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The attacker is identified as a Tunisian-born Frenchman.

June 14, 2016 - A Frenchman of Moroccan origin stabs a police commander to death outside his home in a Paris suburb and kills his partner, who also worked for the police. The attacker told police negotiators during a siege that he was answering an appeal by Islamic State.

March 22, 2016 - Three Islamic State suicide bombers, all Belgian nationals, blow themselves up at Brussels airport and in a metro train in the Belgian capital, killing 32 people. Police find links with attacks in Paris the previous November.

Nov 13, 2015 - Paris is rocked by multiple, near simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on entertainment sites around the city, in which 130 people die and 368 are wounded. Islamic State claims responsibility. Two of the 10 known perpetrators were Belgian citizens and three others were French.

Jan 7-9, 2015 - Two Islamist militants break into an editorial meeting of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7 and rake it with bullets, killing 17. Another militant kills a policewoman the next day and takes hostages at a supermarket on Jan. 9, killing four before police shoot him dead.

May 24, 2014 - Four people are killed in a shooting at the Jewish Museum in central Brussels. The attacker was French national Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, who was subsequently arrested in Marseille, France. Extradited, he is awaiting trial in Belgium.

[Nicky91]

i don't think this is terrorism, maybe just some person gone crazy

[Brillopad]

It is no secret that I like a flutter on the 'gee-gees' now and then, and despite using a degree of what can only be described as 'intuition' when making my selections, like most punters, I do invariably rely on 'Form' to guide me.

It now seems as if this killer was a German with 'Far-right' interests, a criminal record for 'petty crimes', and a history of 'Mental Illness'. Munster police reportedly found a Kalashnikov rifle at the killer's home and other dodgy equipment.

However - and again this is pure speculation on my part - I believe that indirectly Merkel's 'Open Door' Immigration policies may STILL lie behind the attack.

There was a 'Demonstration' carried out by Kurdish Immigrants near the scene of the attack and the attack itself occurred on the anniversary of a similar attack in Stockholm where five people were killed and 14 injured after a stolen beer truck drove into a crowd last year.

Coming back to my '2 quid' bet, I may have lost my money this time but I blame the 'Form Book':

TERRORIST ATTACKS IN EUROPE IN THE PAST 4 YEARS

April 7, 2018 - A man drives a van into a group of people sitting outside a restaurant in the old city centre of Münster in Germany, killing several of them before taking his own life, police say, a year to the day after the Stockholm truck attack.

March 23, 2018 - A gunman kills three people in southwestern France after holding up a car, firing on police and taking hostages in a supermarket, screaming 'Allahu Akbar'. Security forces storm the building and kill him.

Aug 17, 2017 - A van ploughs into crowds in the heart of Barcelona, killing at least 13 people, a regional official says, in what police said they were treating as a terrorist attack.

June 3, 2017 - Three attackers ram a van into pedestrians on London Bridge then stab revellers in nearby bars, killing eight people and injuring at least 48. Islamic State says its militants are responsible.

May 22, 2017 - A suicide bomber kills 22 children and adults and wounds 59 at a packed concert hall in the English city of Manchester, as crowds began leaving a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande.

April 7, 2017 - A truck drives into a crowd on a shopping street and crashes into a department store in central Stockholm, killing five people and wounding 15 in what police call a terrorist attack.

March 22, 2017 - An attacker stabs a policeman close to the British parliament in London after a car ploughs into pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge. Six people die, including the assailant and the policeman he stabbed, and at least 20 are injured in what police call a 'marauding terrorist attack'.

Dec 19, 2016 - A truck ploughs into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says authorities are assuming it was a terrorist attack.

July 26, 2016 - Two attackers kill a priest with a blade and seriously wound another hostage in a church in northern France before being shot dead by French police. French President Francois Hollande says the two hostage-takers had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

July 24, 2016 - A Syrian man wounds 15 people when he blows himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach in southern Germany. Islamic State claims responsibility.

July 22, 2016 - An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman apparently acting alone kills at least nine people in Munich. The teenager had no Islamist ties but was obsessed with mass killings. The attack was carried out on the fifth anniversary of twin attacks by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik that killed 77 people.

July 18, 2016 - A 17-year-old Afghan refugee wielding an axe and a knife attacks passengers on a train in southern Germany, severely wounding four, before being shot dead by police. Islamic State claims responsibility.

July 14, 2016 - A gunman drives a heavy truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring scores more in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The attacker is identified as a Tunisian-born Frenchman.

June 14, 2016 - A Frenchman of Moroccan origin stabs a police commander to death outside his home in a Paris suburb and kills his partner, who also worked for the police. The attacker told police negotiators during a siege that he was answering an appeal by Islamic State.

March 22, 2016 - Three Islamic State suicide bombers, all Belgian nationals, blow themselves up at Brussels airport and in a metro train in the Belgian capital, killing 32 people. Police find links with attacks in Paris the previous November.

Nov 13, 2015 - Paris is rocked by multiple, near simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on entertainment sites around the city, in which 130 people die and 368 are wounded. Islamic State claims responsibility. Two of the 10 known perpetrators were Belgian citizens and three others were French.

Jan 7-9, 2015 - Two Islamist militants break into an editorial meeting of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7 and rake it with bullets, killing 17. Another militant kills a policewoman the next day and takes hostages at a supermarket on Jan. 9, killing four before police shoot him dead.

May 24, 2014 - Four people are killed in a shooting at the Jewish Museum in central Brussels. The attacker was French national Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, who was subsequently arrested in Marseille, France. Extradited, he is awaiting trial in Belgium.

All those innocent deaths, people who would be alive today if Europe had not taken in so many undocumented migrants. How many more innocent deaths will there be before people realise it is too high a price to pay.

Those that died were all everyday people who had little or no say - not those that actually made the decisions. Well it is up to those ordinary everyday citizens to say no more - enough is enough!

[Livia]

This is the latest attack of choice for your Islamist terrorist. We've heard countless stories now of terrorists driving cars into crowds. So it's not a stretch of the imagination when you hear of an identical attack to immediately assume an Islamist is behind it. It's not a crime to leap immediately for the obvious. It doesn't make you anti-Muslim, or racist, or anything. And it really pisses me off when someone comes on the call everyone out on being racists when it is not the case.

[arista]

i don't think this is terrorism, maybe just some person gone crazy

Yes Nicky.
Acting like a Terrorist would
Using a van
but then gets HIS gun
and shoots himself.

[user104658]

It might not be racist intent and it might well be backed up by past statistics but it is nonetheless (the literal definition of) prejudice. As in, pre-judgement, or jumping to conclusions before the facts are known.

Surely by now we should realise that a little patience and observation before jumping to supposition would be sensible? I mean... It would sure save a lot of eggy faces... :hehe:

[Brillopad]

It might not be racist intent and it might well be backed up by past statistics but it is nonetheless (the literal definition of) prejudice. As in, pre-judgement, or jumping to conclusions before the facts are known.

Surely by now we should realise that a little patience and observation before jumping to supposition would be sensible? I mean... It would sure save a lot of eggy faces... :hehe:

Nothing to do with racism - as Muslims and Islam are about religion, not race. Pretty bored now how some insist on lumping them together as an ism when factually that is incorrect.

[user104658]

Nothing to do with racism - as Muslims and Islam are about religion, not race. Pretty bored now how some insist on lumping them together as an ism when factually that is incorrect.Well it's a good thing I said "it might not be racist intent" then :think:. Do people even read posts before replying any more?

[Brillopad]

Well it's a good thing I said "it might not be racist intent" then :think:. Do people even read posts before replying any more?

I read - but the mere mention of the word was enough. :think:

[user104658]

However, it is prejudice and you can't bloody argue with the flat definition of words. Surely!

Prejudice

From the latin;

Praejudicium

"prae" = in advance

"judicium" = judgement.


So "prejudice" literally only means "judgement in advance", or assessing a situation and making a claim about the nature of that situation speculatively, in advance of the factual evidence.

In this case, speculating that an attack was committed by a radical islamist when it would literally only have taken a matter of hours to wait for the relevant information to see if that was the case. Which on this occasion, it was not.

Really all it comes down to is simple impatience, and maybe seeking an opportunity to say "aha! Told you so!" if it turns out to be an accurate guess. Which is fine... It's a punt, but it's fine... BUT at least be humble and accept the omelette face if it doesn't pay out :laugh2:.

[user104658]

I read - but the mere mention of the word was enough. :think:Which word. Egg? :think:

[user104658]

I personally think that it's worth pointing out that in the most RECENT attacks, in fact going back 6, 12 months +, most of these style of attacks have been committed by random troubled people with no links at all to religious / radical groups. So... The "safe bet" would actually be "random nutter" at like maybe 10/11 with "radical Islam" 2nd fav at 2/1.

I'd have given under the table odds on that if someone had asked. Not through the tills though I don't think it would go down well :joker:.

[user104658]

It's a pretty safe bet, given recent events. Once it was largely ruled out in this case, you were the main one to keep bringing muslims back into it.2/1 is far from a safe bet :nono:

[Maru]

Copy cat attacks are pretty common with these widely televised violent acts, so I think it's a safe bet either direction... there's only a handful of conditions where people would go through with these acts.

Otherwise, I don't really understand giving up your life to kill others in a random act of violence promote a cause. I think it's a waste of life all around. But the religious fanatic truly believes there will be some payback, in the spiritual sense... for mental health folk, I guess if they're feeling quite virulent and angry with society (or maybe just schizoid/delusional), this would be the "trip out" of it so to speak... any other attachment would likely seem meaningless.

I don't typically associate shooting oneself in the head with religious fanaticism. A mentally ill person though would be more prone to do it, especially to create the shock and trauma in the other people who are witnessing it... as someone who is very angry at others would do to send the message of being "the affected"

I thought the goal of a Islamic fanaticism was to take out as many people as possible... lest the enemy stop you, i.e. forcing them to shoot you or blowing themselves up, etc? I thought suicide wasn't allowed in Islam in this way, except to go out "in flames"... so when I read "shot themselves", I didn't connect this with Islamic terrorism. I connected this more readily with mental illness because of the message it sends... i.e. "Look what you made me do"... whereas I think Islamic terrorists, they are genuinely concerned with a higher death toll (i.e. their resolution towards their calling)... granted either is possible I think.

Just some thoughts.

[smudgie]

Copy cat attacks are pretty common with these widely televised violent acts, so I think it's a safe bet either direction... there's only a handful of conditions where people would go through with these acts.

Otherwise, I don't really understand giving up your life to kill others in a random act of violence promote a cause. I think it's a waste of life all around. But the religious fanatic truly believes there will be some payback, in the spiritual sense... for mental health folk, I guess if they're feeling quite virulent and angry with society (or maybe just schizoid/delusional), this would be the "trip out" of it so to speak... any other attachment would likely seem meaningless.

I don't typically associate shooting oneself in the head with religious fanaticism. A mentally ill person though would be more prone to do it, especially to create the shock and trauma in the other people who are witnessing it... as someone who is very angry at others would do to send the message of being "the affected"

I thought the goal of a Islamic fanaticism was to take out as many people as possible... lest the enemy stop you, i.e. forcing them to shoot you or blowing themselves up, etc? I thought suicide wasn't allowed in Islam in this way, except to go out "in flames"... so when I read "shot themselves", I didn't connect this with Islamic terrorism. I connected this more readily with mental illness because of the message it sends... i.e. "Look what you made me do"... whereas I think Islamic terrorists, they are genuinely concerned with a higher death toll (i.e. their resolution towards their calling)... granted either is possible I think.

Just some thoughts.

You make far too much sense Maru, you should be in serious debates....ooooops, I see we are,:joker:

[Tom4784]

Has it actually been determined what the motivations are? I assume it's probably a case of right wing extremism if it's not an Islamic attack.

[smudgie]

Has it actually been determined what the motivations are? I assume it's probably a case of right wing extremism if it's not an Islamic attack.

Not sure Dezzy, I think it is another nutter.
To be honest, I class them all as nutters.

[jaxie]

It's awful that people are now using vehicles to deliberately hurt and maim. It's shocking because it's not something you heard of much in the past. It's also bewildering because it's not the anonymous, hidden sort of crime that terrorism seemed to be before, with the perpetrators seeming quite willing to die as well.

Since most of these crimes in the last few years have been due to Islamic terrorism, it's not a big stretch that is what people think it is when it first happens. But I see the finger pointing is gleeful as usual.

[user104658]

Since most of these crimes in the last few years have been due to Islamic terrorism, it's not a big stretch that is what people think it is when it first happens.

Its not a big stretch but it is a prejudiced one, as I mansplained above.

[Brillopad]

Its not a big stretch but it is a prejudiced one, as I mansplained above.

As are any posts assuming it must be right wing terrorists if not Islamic. Any assumptions must be prejudice in that case - all or nothing!

[bots]

Its not a big stretch but it is a prejudiced one, as I mansplained above.

given there has been a history of islamic terrorists using this method to kill people in Germany, its hardly prejudiced to think that it could be the same again.

[user104658]

given there has been a history of islamic terrorists using this method to kill people in Germany, its hardly prejudiced to think that it could be the same again.Again, as I explained above, all prejudice means is making an assumption before being in possession of the facts. So it is literally, etymologically, prejudice. It is a pre judgement before the facts were known.

Unless you're claiming that either;

1) it was not an assumption or supposition

Or,

2) the facts were known


... Then you can't possibly claim that it's "hardly" prejudiced. It is definitively prejudice.

[user104658]

Now you could claim that given past events it is an understandable prejudice, but that's a totally separate debate.

[user104658]

As are any posts assuming it must be right wing terrorists if not Islamic. Any assumptions must be prejudice in that case - all or nothing!Correct brillo; any assertion made made based on suppositions / guesswork in an absence of evidence.

[Oliver_W]

Assuming it was an islamic terrorist can both a fair bet and "prejudiced", I guess.

[Maru]

Assuming it was an islamic terrorist can both a fair bet and "prejudiced", I guess.

It cuts both ways really. When we assume mental illness, we are also reinforcing and playing up the stigma against mentally ill people... that illness automatically means they are more prone to violence, are instable, can't be trusted, should be incarcerated, are broken, etc... i.e. something to avoid

We are human beings and our brains are programmed to seek contrasts, i.e. things not like us, and this is how we weigh threats and potential "obstacles". Our brain is highly focused on these contrasts... so it's a survival instinct to some degree that can't be completely unwired I think. It may not necessarily have any malicious intent...

[Oliver_W]

We are human beings and our brains are programmed to seek contrasts, i.e. things not like us, and this is how we weigh threats and potential "obstacles". Our brain is highly focused on these contrasts... so it's a survival instinct to some degree that can't be completely unwired I think. It may not necessarily have any malicious intent...

Chinese culture is fairly different to ours, and despite that contrast they're not well known for vehicular murder.

[Maru]

Chinese culture is fairly different to ours, and despite that contrast they're not well known for vehicular murder.

Oh, well maybe what I meant when I say 'contrasts' is when thinking in terms of "new and unusual", experience-based, less different entities... though it would need to also be different in order to be "extraordinary" enough to stick out.. I'm talking about like if we go into a restaurant and see a food that is an unusual texture or color... something we would never associate with a food, our brain would focus on that... we may know the staff is good and that the place itself is fine, and that may be the only way we would try it... but I think if thrown in a situation where we had to determine ourselves with no other information, we wouldn't trust it. (and with good reason I think)

With Chinese or known cultures, I think we've integrated enough of the culture into our own understanding of what it is and how it functions, that we have some understanding there it's not a true contrast in that sense, since we've found a common ground between each society...

(Edit) Anyway my point is, we need some prejudice in order to function and to establish risk...

[Ammi]

...this is the only information I can find about the two who lost their lives...


The victims were a 51-year-old woman from near Lueneburg, in the north of the country, and a 65-year-old man from Borken, near Muenster. Some 20 others were injured.

[Ammi]

...something I had noticed with this attack when it happened...was that ‘Islamic’ was referred to in the media and reporting...even though it was reported ‘no evidence that....’..etc...it’s still a reference, so I just think it’s inevitable with such reporting that links will be as they e been in the thread...awful reporting by the medias I think...

...and even now, references are still being made in the media...

‘He said there was no evidence linking the suspect to Islamist militancy, and that he was not a refugee.’

...he was someone who was mentally ill, was known to the police...there are things that are known now...why still the words ‘Islamist’ and ‘refugee’, even in the context they’re being used to say that he wasn’t...for me I think...obviously it would associate and link because surely it’s intended to...

[Kazanne]

This is the latest attack of choice for your Islamist terrorist. We've heard countless stories now of terrorists driving cars into crowds. So it's not a stretch of the imagination when you hear of an identical attack to immediately assume an Islamist is behind it. It's not a crime to leap immediately for the obvious. It doesn't make you anti-Muslim, or racist, or anything. And it really pisses me off when someone comes on the call everyone out on being racists when it is not the case.

I don't need to add anything to this Livia,well said :clap1::clap1:

[Cherie]

Back to the issue in hand, it is only human nature to automatically assume terrorism when this happens given the state of the world at the moment. I don't see an issue with that, I agree with TS it probably best to wait before airing those views as it isn't helpful.

[user104658]

Back on thread topic; of course everyone has prejudice and makes snap judgements, it is indeed "human nature" and as Maru alluded to earlier, its even an essential part of human psychology (as in order to work effeciently , our brains HAVE to categorise, or else we'd constantly be raking through every experience we've ever had, every time we have a thought, and our heads would explode).

Anyone who claims that they have zero prejudice or never have thoughts that amount to stereotyping is straight up lying... BUT, we're (supposedly) not just basic human animals these days, we're supposed to be socialised and civilised, and part of that is STOPPING for a minute when one has those thoughts to say "well hold on... Is that rational? Is it logical? What else might be going on? Should I wait for more information before making a decision on what I think is going on here?"

When no further information is forthcoming, again its understandable to start to "ponder" and draw conclusions. An example there would be the McCann case, or several other "high profile mysteries". But in this case, the further information was available really VERY soon after the event. There's not much excuse for people feeling the need to share "suspicions and assumptions", that turned out to be totally off base, so quickly.

[MB.]

RIP to the two killed

[AnnieK]

Absolutely MB -

Thoughts to the families of those lost in this tragic event and speedy recovery to the injured.