A Murder Makes the News

 

                To this day I can’t recall the day or time it happened. This is particularly strange since the incident is no doubt public record and was such a large news story that it’s hard to believe that as one of the thousands, maybe millions, who witnessed it can’t remember the specifics of time and date. I think the reason I don’t remember is because I witnessed it as it happened. The event shocked my very soul so that anything else from that day seems pointless and insignificant in my life.

            I remember that I was feeling ill that day and so I had decided to skip my classes and take the day off work so that I might be able to recover. What I have noticed about sick days is that aside from the part about being ill the day sucks because there is literally nothing to do. Never the less I entertained myself by surfing the internet and watching television. Somehow I had discovered when the decent shows would be airing and so could watch them instead of searching for a long time for some DVD to watch. I watched Murder, She Wrote for a two hour block and watched Angela Lansbury solve the murder of the day in each episode. Before that I had entertained myself with Scooby and the Gang as they solved mysteries of a less sinister variety. As much as I enjoy mystery shows I generally find that I’m not that good at figuring out “whodunit” but still I enjoy watching the drama unfold as the sleuths for the most part reserve judgments and at the last five minutes or so reveal who the culprit is and how. Sometimes the motives are obvious and sometimes the caught killer explains just exactly why. At the end of the day though, all is well.

            After Murder, She Wrote I have about an hour of nothing definite to watch or do. Sometimes I get lucky and the History Channel or some other channel will be showing something of interest. After that I am entertained by the Canadian melodrama that is Degrassi: The Next Generation. With this show I am able to watch the high school drama that I myself never knew unfold and at the end of every episode I am always left wanting more.

 I like to think of myself as intelligent when it comes to entertainment so whenever I do watch “reality” television I find that even though I am slightly entertained I am still very aware at how horrendous and completely pointless the show is. I think the fact that I can recognize that I’m watching something stupid makes me feel that I’m okay. Well as okay as one person can really be anyway.

            Once Degrassi is over there’s really not much to watch for half an hour until Jeopardy! comes on so generally I end up watching reruns of Seinfeld that I’ve seen hundreds of times before. Then I’m able to answer trivia in the form of a question. Well as much as I know at least. I always feel good about myself when I’m able to answer things that I’m actually surprised I know.

            Flipping channels is really dull I’ve noticed. Most of the time I don’t find anything to watch so I end up just leaving the television on one channel or another until the time comes for a show I want to watch comes on. Doing this I get the see previews for all the many shows I won’t be watching. Seeing some of these makes me realize that literally anyone can really get a television show. It doesn’t seem like any talent or even decent concept is needed to get a thirty minute block on any channel.

            Well one the day in question I had stopped on one of the all news channels for no particular reason. I really wasn’t paying attention or anything. I was texting or on Facebook or Wikipedia or something. I looked up and watched as they started talking about some scandal or incident and sent it over to their reporter on the scene to get live updates on what was happening. At this point I had started trying to figure out just what in the hell was going on and was looking more at the background action than at the reporter. All of the sudden a white male dressed in black walked up behind the reporter. He was far away enough so that no one really took notice of him other than a bystander trying to see what was going on that would cause a television crew to be out and on the scene. This man was doing nothing, just standing in the corner of the shot and there for on my television. Then quickly and silently he pulled out a hand gun and shot the reporter in the back of the head. I sat there in shock as the feed was quickly redirected to the anchor in the studio, who was clearly shocked and confused. For a few minutes there was nothing but silence as the anchor tried to gather himself together. Then he vomited off camera and I changed the channel.

            I couldn’t believe that I had just witnessed a murder on live television. My thoughts raced and for some reason all I could think was that while they had gone away from the scene back to the studio I felt sure that some station manager was directing the cameraman to keep filming as the assailant was apprehended. Somewhere in my mind I felt sure that someone at the news network was thrilled that they were the first on the scene of a huge newsbreak. I have no way of knowing if that’s true, but it was all I could think about.

            I read the next day that the man who had shot the reporter immediately killed himself before police could apprehend him. He had left no note or given any evidence as to why he had done what he had done. I read all this because I have not turned on my television since the day the shooting happened. Even with pre-taped programs I am sure that someone will really kill someone on television again. I am sure of it.