Apparently, this local guy was found dead in his house; he had failed to show up for his court hearing today on an attempted murder charge related to a road rage incident. Duncan had earlier made a point about how suburbanites routinely call urban, usually black or Hispanic criminal suspects "animals" but would never apply that label to a white engineer who lives in Montgomery County.
My take is slightly different: I wish we could direct some of the massive criminal justice industry funding toward providing mandated psychological care for people who are arrested for behavior like "road rage". I think that it's especially necessary when people pass a certain age - say, 25 or 30. While a younger person popping off might not be a sign of a major emotional or psychological problem, my instinct is that a 40-something who throws bottles out his car window at other drivers is on a seriously wrong path. I'm not an expert or anything, this is just my impression.
Part of the problem is that people acting like dicks on the road is too common for people to report it. Back in September of 2009, Mr. Yannerell nearly ran a couple of people off the road before throwing the bottle at one of them. One driver wrote down his license plate - then didn't report it. Yannerell had a license to carry a firearm issued to him by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If he had been cited in connection with the September incident, the Montgomery County police could have lifted his weapons permit. There's no guarantee that would have stopped him from carrying a gun, but maybe it would have. As it was, Yannerell probably fired and missed at one driver in January before wounding the woman in April.
Another thing we might do is profile white male conservative engineers.*
* - Just a joke; don't freak, teabagger.
Updated to add:
The kind of incident I am talking about is not just someone losing their temper, however extremely. If someone screams and raves, but doesn't do anything physical in connection with it, then generally I don't think it requires any intervention. (Obviously, if someone flies into rages all the time, I think that warrants concern. There is a line.) But if they engage in behavior like reckless driving, throwing things, whether aimed at a person or not, breaking things, brandishing weapons, or touching or physically threatening another person, then they need help and should get it whether they want it or not. This is the same as my thoughts on domestic violence generally: Action is required the first time it happens.
Also, obviously, I am not saying the burden for preventing this kind of behavior is on the victim or witnesses. The person with the anger issue should take responsibility for getting treatment. Someone like Yannerell, who was functional enough to hold down a job and was apparently intelligent, should have seen and been frightened by the escalation in his own behavior. If you've acted out on anger, you should (a) realize you have a big, dangerous problem and (b) find a shrink who specializes in anger issues.
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