I got a phone call yesterday.
My mother was calling and ended up telling me about some stuff that happened on Monday where she works. She and my sister are both employees there, and apparently they were physically attacked. It turns out a mentally unstable guy, who is about 6'6, and easily 350 lbs (BIG guy), came into their store, went completely apeshit and started destroying things. He ended up destroying a lot of stock and fixtures and BENT metal shelving. Well, he also caught sight of my mother, sister and another CW of theirs who's also a family friend. He attacks family friend first. Punches her in the face, and shoves her back hard enough to send her flying back and on her ass. She manages to crawl away and go sprinting for help.
Well, Guy starts destroying more stuff, mom and sister are trying to get out and see a shelf falling on them. They throw out their arms to catch it and stop it from injuring them. Guy catches sight of them and attacks them. He grabs my mother (5'3, MAYBE 110 lbs mind you), by the back of her head hard enough to shatter the hair clips she was wearing - plastic jaw clips - against her scalp. He then throws her to the ground and begins shaking her like a rag doll. She was shaken hard enough to be given whiplash, there are lumps on her scalp from the clip and bruises on her head. Not to mention overall bruising in general. My mom has fibromyalgia as it is, or something that's causing her chronic pain (don't know yet, doctors are doing all sorts of tests.) so you can imagine, this was probably so very extra painful and scary for her.
meanwhile, with his other hand, he grabs my sister (5'7, about 120 lbs) by the back of her neck, ripping her shirt in the process, and repeats the throw down and shake maneuver. My sister was shaken hard enough to end up with a sprained neck, and lots of bruising too. My whole family, we're the type that bruise easily if you look at us funny. Well, sister managed to break free by basically tearing the rest of her shirt off, then turns around half naked and attacks the guy to get him to let go of my mom.
Where was help you ask? There were 3 male managers there at this point. They watched, did NOTHING. When he finally broke his grip on my mom, one of them grabbed her and dragged her away and told her to get out. She butt scooted until she could crawl to another aisle, pick herself up and run to the break room with my sister, where they met family friend CW (who is also little, 5'6, about 120 lbs as well).
One male manager told my mom since they were by sporting goods he was considering grabbing a baseball bat and wading in...but didn't. In case he or his family sued.
...
Gets better from here. See, the males started talking to the guy and he calmed right down! Cool as you please, just chatted with them like nothing was wrong. Police had been called and they came in, and the KNEW this guy. Were all "hey, Nathan! Man, didn't we do this a couple weeks ago??"
Yeah, see, apparently Mentally unstable Guy had been in a psych ward for 6 days, two weeks prior for attacking 3 of his female teachers. Because he was diminished capacity, he didn't go to jail, he got institutionalized...that is until his mother came and got him out. She declared he DOESN'T need to be institutionalized, she'd rather he stay home with her. Except in the course of the attack, once my mom, sister, and friend were all out of sight, he attacked his own mother, bit down on her hand hard enough to tear a chunk out and cause her to bleed all over the place. So she doesn't think he should be locked up, but she's scared to death of him because he beats the shit out of her.
Now, Nathan walked out with the male officers and managers calmly, and only threw a fit when he saw the ambulance and was told he needed to get in it. He got strapped down and taken away.
The aftermath is a mess and I'm raging on the inside over so many different things, on various levels.
1. Why in the hell didn't anyone step in and STOP this guy!? Three male managers, who matched him better than my mom and sister stood around and would only "engage with words", because otherwise it's a lawsuit risk. One even admitted he wanted to get in there and start swinging, but couldn't because he and the company might be sued. On the one hand, thanks to this manager because he is the one who dragged mom out, but on the other, they left my mom and my sister to basically defend and free themselves. I'm actually kind of surprised THEY weren't told to stop fighting him because of lawsuit risks. My mother is in constant pain, and it's been worse since. My sister can't move her neck at ALL, and they're both feeling a bit traumatized about going back to work, to say the least. I mean, this isn't one of the standard risks you have to consider working RETAIL. Mom said she's now leery of approaching customers and asking if they need help (apparently how this all started), but is also leery because she'll get dinged for not doing her best to provide customer service.
2. The Guy's mother. wtf, bitch?? She's just as responsible for what happened to my mother!! Where in the fuck do you get off!?! He's diminished capacity, has a HISTORY of violence and you sign him out of the hospital because '"he doesn't NEED IT!" And the doctors and cops who KNOW this guy, there HAS to be something you can do, because his primary caregiver isn't doing jackshit!! She's endangering everyone, everywhere they go. no woman is safe, since he apparently hates anyone female!! How is this ok? How is this not preventable!? HOW? Gods, I just want to rage and hit something or someone and scream, but I can't DO anything.
3. I feel helpless. Mom and sister were attacked, were hurt, and I can't do ANYTHING. I know logically if I were there, I couldn't have done anything except get myself hurt, but you can damn well bet I wouldn't have hesitated to grab a baseball bat and start hitting this guy. Lawsuit be damned he was trying to kill my mother and my sister and our friend. I can't stand it that all I can do is sit here and cry, because my mom is in pain and afraid and my sister can't move her head without crying and I'm 800 miles away.
4. This gets even more personal. Mom didn't' tell me. In fact, she said she wasn't GONNA tell me, except yesterday was my gramma's birthday, and she asked if I was going to call her. I said yes, and then she was all "well, since you are, I guess I should tell you what happened in case Gramma mentions something..." So, was I EVER going to be told? Then she says I never call her, I"m always too busy with my boyfriend, and I slap right back at her because I'm not the only one obligated to pick up the phone. She knows how to call me. I got that load of guilt from my dad a LOT, I do NOT like it. It sets off bad memories.
So, all in all, I've been a little off kilter. Didn't sleep well last night, kept having nightmares. I"m just glad that fate worked it so my boyfriend has been here all week (his job sent him "out of town". To MY city) It's helped. And I just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening, if nothing else, y'all. Didn't figure I could post this at CS.
My mother was calling and ended up telling me about some stuff that happened on Monday where she works. She and my sister are both employees there, and apparently they were physically attacked. It turns out a mentally unstable guy, who is about 6'6, and easily 350 lbs (BIG guy), came into their store, went completely apeshit and started destroying things. He ended up destroying a lot of stock and fixtures and BENT metal shelving. Well, he also caught sight of my mother, sister and another CW of theirs who's also a family friend. He attacks family friend first. Punches her in the face, and shoves her back hard enough to send her flying back and on her ass. She manages to crawl away and go sprinting for help.
Well, Guy starts destroying more stuff, mom and sister are trying to get out and see a shelf falling on them. They throw out their arms to catch it and stop it from injuring them. Guy catches sight of them and attacks them. He grabs my mother (5'3, MAYBE 110 lbs mind you), by the back of her head hard enough to shatter the hair clips she was wearing - plastic jaw clips - against her scalp. He then throws her to the ground and begins shaking her like a rag doll. She was shaken hard enough to be given whiplash, there are lumps on her scalp from the clip and bruises on her head. Not to mention overall bruising in general. My mom has fibromyalgia as it is, or something that's causing her chronic pain (don't know yet, doctors are doing all sorts of tests.) so you can imagine, this was probably so very extra painful and scary for her.
meanwhile, with his other hand, he grabs my sister (5'7, about 120 lbs) by the back of her neck, ripping her shirt in the process, and repeats the throw down and shake maneuver. My sister was shaken hard enough to end up with a sprained neck, and lots of bruising too. My whole family, we're the type that bruise easily if you look at us funny. Well, sister managed to break free by basically tearing the rest of her shirt off, then turns around half naked and attacks the guy to get him to let go of my mom.
Where was help you ask? There were 3 male managers there at this point. They watched, did NOTHING. When he finally broke his grip on my mom, one of them grabbed her and dragged her away and told her to get out. She butt scooted until she could crawl to another aisle, pick herself up and run to the break room with my sister, where they met family friend CW (who is also little, 5'6, about 120 lbs as well).
One male manager told my mom since they were by sporting goods he was considering grabbing a baseball bat and wading in...but didn't. In case he or his family sued.
...
Gets better from here. See, the males started talking to the guy and he calmed right down! Cool as you please, just chatted with them like nothing was wrong. Police had been called and they came in, and the KNEW this guy. Were all "hey, Nathan! Man, didn't we do this a couple weeks ago??"
Yeah, see, apparently Mentally unstable Guy had been in a psych ward for 6 days, two weeks prior for attacking 3 of his female teachers. Because he was diminished capacity, he didn't go to jail, he got institutionalized...that is until his mother came and got him out. She declared he DOESN'T need to be institutionalized, she'd rather he stay home with her. Except in the course of the attack, once my mom, sister, and friend were all out of sight, he attacked his own mother, bit down on her hand hard enough to tear a chunk out and cause her to bleed all over the place. So she doesn't think he should be locked up, but she's scared to death of him because he beats the shit out of her.
Now, Nathan walked out with the male officers and managers calmly, and only threw a fit when he saw the ambulance and was told he needed to get in it. He got strapped down and taken away.
The aftermath is a mess and I'm raging on the inside over so many different things, on various levels.
1. Why in the hell didn't anyone step in and STOP this guy!? Three male managers, who matched him better than my mom and sister stood around and would only "engage with words", because otherwise it's a lawsuit risk. One even admitted he wanted to get in there and start swinging, but couldn't because he and the company might be sued. On the one hand, thanks to this manager because he is the one who dragged mom out, but on the other, they left my mom and my sister to basically defend and free themselves. I'm actually kind of surprised THEY weren't told to stop fighting him because of lawsuit risks. My mother is in constant pain, and it's been worse since. My sister can't move her neck at ALL, and they're both feeling a bit traumatized about going back to work, to say the least. I mean, this isn't one of the standard risks you have to consider working RETAIL. Mom said she's now leery of approaching customers and asking if they need help (apparently how this all started), but is also leery because she'll get dinged for not doing her best to provide customer service.
2. The Guy's mother. wtf, bitch?? She's just as responsible for what happened to my mother!! Where in the fuck do you get off!?! He's diminished capacity, has a HISTORY of violence and you sign him out of the hospital because '"he doesn't NEED IT!" And the doctors and cops who KNOW this guy, there HAS to be something you can do, because his primary caregiver isn't doing jackshit!! She's endangering everyone, everywhere they go. no woman is safe, since he apparently hates anyone female!! How is this ok? How is this not preventable!? HOW? Gods, I just want to rage and hit something or someone and scream, but I can't DO anything.
3. I feel helpless. Mom and sister were attacked, were hurt, and I can't do ANYTHING. I know logically if I were there, I couldn't have done anything except get myself hurt, but you can damn well bet I wouldn't have hesitated to grab a baseball bat and start hitting this guy. Lawsuit be damned he was trying to kill my mother and my sister and our friend. I can't stand it that all I can do is sit here and cry, because my mom is in pain and afraid and my sister can't move her head without crying and I'm 800 miles away.
4. This gets even more personal. Mom didn't' tell me. In fact, she said she wasn't GONNA tell me, except yesterday was my gramma's birthday, and she asked if I was going to call her. I said yes, and then she was all "well, since you are, I guess I should tell you what happened in case Gramma mentions something..." So, was I EVER going to be told? Then she says I never call her, I"m always too busy with my boyfriend, and I slap right back at her because I'm not the only one obligated to pick up the phone. She knows how to call me. I got that load of guilt from my dad a LOT, I do NOT like it. It sets off bad memories.
So, all in all, I've been a little off kilter. Didn't sleep well last night, kept having nightmares. I"m just glad that fate worked it so my boyfriend has been here all week (his job sent him "out of town". To MY city) It's helped. And I just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening, if nothing else, y'all. Didn't figure I could post this at CS.
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