Passengers were too immersed on phones to spot murderer
55 replies, posted
[quote]
SAN FRANCISCO — The man drew the gun several times on the crowded San Francisco commuter train, with surveillance video showing him pointing it across the aisle without anyone noticing and then putting it back against his side, according to authorities.
The other passengers were so absorbed in their phones and tablets they didn't notice the gunman until he randomly shot and killed a university student, authorities said.
Before that moment, footage showed the man pull out the .45-caliber pistol and once wipe his nose with the hand holding the weapon, authorities told the San Francisco Chronicle ( [url]http://bit.ly/1crPYQc[/url] ) in a story on Monday.
"These weren't concealed movements - the gun is very clear," District Attorney George Gascon said. "These people are in very close proximity with him, and nobody sees this. They're just so engrossed, texting and reading and whatnot. They're completely oblivious of their surroundings."
Authorities declined a request by The Associated Press for the surveillance footage, citing an ongoing investigation.
San Francisco police officials say people who pay too much attention to digital technology are also vulnerable to theft.
"Oftentimes when you interview people who get their phones stolen, when you ask them to describe where the person came from, what he was wearing, they have no idea," said police Chief Greg Suhr.
Nikhom Thephakaysone, 30, has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder in the Sept. 23 attack on Justin Valdez, 20, a student at San Francisco State University who was shot in the back of the head as he left the train.[/quote]
[url]http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/08/police-rail-commuters-on-phones-didnt-notice-gun/[/url]
This sounds like something from a dystopian sci-fi novel.
Louis CK must be laughing his ass off at this
Wow...
[QUOTE=Aidan_088;42465500]This sounds like something from a dystopian sci-fi novel.[/QUOTE]
Not really. You don't get onto a bus expecting something to happen. There's nothing wrong with people just not really paying attention around themselves in an environment where 99% of the time there's absolutely no negative side to it.
[editline]9th October 2013[/editline]
That being said you'd expect at least [i]someone[/i] to notice.
Who's to say nobody noticed and instead people just didn't do anything because there's a visibly armed guy on the trains.
I rarely use my phone in public. I just enjoy the feeling of travelling somewhere or doing something without being connected to an electronic device, I only really use it to make the occasional call or take a photo, rest of the time I leave it off.
[editline]9th October 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Protocol7;42465581]Who's to say nobody noticed and just didn't do anything because there's a visibly armed guy on the trains.[/QUOTE]
Good point actually. Maybe they did notice him but were too scared to do anything in fear of him turning on them instead.
[quote]"Oftentimes when you interview people who get their phones stolen, when you ask them to describe where the person came from, what he was wearing, they have no idea," said police Chief Greg Suhr.[/quote]
hard to claim the person is too engrossed in their phone to pay attention to the criminal when they have your phone
it would be like this with anything else if someone stole something out of your pocket or hand, you wouldn't be paying attention to them before they do it because you're in a crowd and tune it out, and by the time they grab something they're running the opposite direction and it's kinda hard to see a face through the back of a head
If you're on the train to the same old place for the thousandth time I don't really blame anyone for just tuning out the world until they get where they're going. This isn't some epidemic of laziness, these same people would be reading books and magazines if we didn't have cell phones with internet connections. If someone's not reading on a long bus/train ride they're just bored and sleepy, which isn't any better
[QUOTE=Protocol7;42465581]Who's to say nobody noticed and instead people just didn't do anything because there's a visibly armed guy on the trains.[/QUOTE]
Yeah if I was sitting there on my phone and theres a guy with a gun, and I could do nothing I'd much rather just continue prodding my phone rather than waving my arms around in vain trying to stop him.
Probably just make yourself the target instead then.
[QUOTE=Handsome Matt;42465830]ban phones[/QUOTE]
If only phones had inbuilt guns this wouldn't have happened.
[QUOTE=Desuh;42466014]If only phones had inbuilt guns this wouldn't have happened.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.17683.1314099765!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/gallery_635/gal-gadget-phonegun-jpg.jpg[/img]
but they do!
what, you're telling me your phone doesn't eject casings when you hold down end call?
This guy was in my geography class and all his family was down in Southern California when this happened, we had a mourning event at night, on top of the school and on the same week.
[url]http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/justin-valdez-20-idd-as-man-fatally-shot-after-disembarking-muni-train/Content?oid=2588763[/url]
Daily Mail link with suspect shooter attched.
[url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2450076/Justin-Valdez-murder-San-Francisco-commuters-absorbed-phones-didnt-notice-man-waving-gun.html[/url]
Shooter according to article was also a student at SFSU,[url]http://www.goldengatexpress.org/2013/09/26/shooter-justin-valdez-sf-state-student/[/url]
And another article claims that the shooter had flashed the gun beforehand to two other people, can't bring it up I have to head to the class Justin was also in.
nowadays we could probably fit a gun and a phone into one case. Not a powerful phone though.
I didn't really know him, but I was surprised I didn't see it on facebook or my parents telling me to stay indoors because of the incident, they usually hear about events quicker than I do.
Forgot to put in the other post, but the shooter is in custody and denying he did it.
Are they really trying to make it sound like being engrossed in your phone/book/whatever for a train journey is such a bad thing? Let's face it, if you do the same train journey every day for work then just staring out the window is gonna get very boring, very quickly. I know bad things happen, like this, but I don't think we're at the point yet where we shouldn't read a book during a train journey because we have to remain vigilant to potential murderers.
That's why i refuse to have a smartphone.
[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42466216]That's why i refuse to have a smartphone.[/QUOTE]
What. Do you have no self control? :v:
[QUOTE=CommanderPT;42466261]What. Do you have no self control? :v:[/QUOTE]
Yeah, maybe not.
I hate when i go somewhere and just about everyone is using their smartphones and not talking to each other. I always think: "I don't wanna be like that." So, i just don't buy one.
It's a pretty sad scenario. You see people seating next to each other, yet they are so far from each other. I hate that.
I understand paying attention to your phone during such a boring trip, but they could at least look around [I]once[/I] in a while
Angry birds is more important.
This has nothing to do with phones or devices or any of the crap that people will try to make this out to be. "Oh my god the current generation is doomed with their lack of awareness they're attached to their electronic devices!" If you have ever been on a train, you would understand how easy it is for something like this to happen. People typically don't sit around and stare at people walking past them. I usually read a book for the entire ride if I'm not napping. This has everything to do with being on a commuter train and nothing to do with cell phones.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect[/url]
This is also a factor you have to consider in something like this.
also this is a subway
you aren't supposed to look at other people, thats just how subways work
[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42466294]Yeah, maybe not.
I hate when i go somewhere and just about everyone is using their smartphones and not talking to each other. I always think: "I don't wanna be like that." So, i just don't buy one.
It's a pretty sad scenario. You see people seating next to each other, yet they are so far from each other. I hate that.[/QUOTE]
Why would I want to talk to some random stranger on the bus?
Better yet, why would some random stranger on a bus want to talk to me?
[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42466294]Yeah, maybe not.
I hate when i go somewhere and just about everyone is using their smartphones and not talking to each other. I always think: "I don't wanna be like that." So, i just don't buy one.
It's a pretty sad scenario. You see people seating next to each other, yet they are so far from each other. I hate that.[/QUOTE]
stop getting philosophical
the only time anyone ever talks to randoms on a train or bus it tends to be extremely awkward. Sure it's fine if they're a newbie out on their own and just nervously chitchatting to get reassurance, but the only people talking are already friends or they're drunk or mental and get in everybody's personal bubble
Even then, there's always tons of people who don't have phones out, or they're listening to music, or just watching the scenery flying by the window. Who honestly treats public transit as a social event?
[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42466294]Yeah, maybe not.
I hate when i go somewhere and just about everyone is using their smartphones and not talking to each other. I always think: "I don't wanna be like that." So, i just don't buy one.
It's a pretty sad scenario. You see people seating next to each other, yet they are so far from each other. I hate that.[/QUOTE]
So, you're the weird guy that smells like beer and piss that's always talking to random people on the bus? :v:
[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42466294]Yeah, maybe not.
I hate when i go somewhere and just about everyone is using their smartphones and not talking to each other. I always think: "I don't wanna be like that." So, i just don't buy one.
It's a pretty sad scenario. You see people seating next to each other, yet they are so far from each other. I hate that.[/QUOTE]
To each his own but smartphones are pretty awesome and useful devices. You're missing out. I use mine all the time and have no issues socializing. I tend not to text when a more personal option is available.
As for that scenario; I've never seen anyone do that unless they couldn't actually speak to each other about the subject in front of others. Like, I was flirting with a friend while in the car with her parents. Obviously I didn't want to verbally say those things to her in front of them. I can't see why outside of cases like that why you wouldn't actually talk to someone.
Although I haven't have tons of exposure to teenagers. Since I didn't attend public/private school. So it might be as common as you say.
[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42466294]Yeah, maybe not.
I hate when i go somewhere and just about everyone is using their smartphones and not talking to each other. I always think: "I don't wanna be like that." So, i just don't buy one.
It's a pretty sad scenario. You see people seating next to each other, yet they are so far from each other. I hate that.[/QUOTE]
The chance of me talking to other passengers is pretty much nil either way, so I don't see the problem. It does become problematic when you're at a social occasion (like the pub) and people are buried in their phones, but a "no tech at the table" rule helps with that.
And yeah, if I was one of the passengers I'd be too scared to do anything to make me stand out, besides perhaps quietly getting off at the next stop.
brave new world
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