[greymule]

I thought the forum might be interested in a recent occurrence. If you remember, the gang attack on the softball team was in retribution for the actions of at least one player who broke up a beating that a kid was giving to his girlfriend. You also remember that the police who arrived cautioned the players that getting involved was foolish, because "you might get shot."

Yesterday an off-duty (and unarmed) Trenton police officer, driving past a pizzeria, saw a guy in the parking lot beating up a woman, so he stopped to intervene—and got shot in the chest for his trouble. He is now hospitalized in critical condition.

After a standoff of several hours, the police finally captured the perp by evacuating the entire neighborhood and tear-gassing his dwelling. Turns out the girl he was beating was his sister. The punk—er, youth with difficult-to-meet needs—was on parole after serving time for assaulting a police officer.

I wonder whether they had to wake up the chief to get the SWAT team dispatched.