Purple Blood

A young man gets first hand experience with a mass shooting

The homeless man was dressed in all purple. From head to toe he was wearing purple. He had on a dark purple Jersey thing with a hood to it. Under that he wore a plain purple T-shirt. Then there were his pants. Purple Corduroy. They were a deep shade of purple. I had never seen pants like this before in my life. His shoes were plain old regular sneakers but they were also purple. These shoes were a pale, pastel shade though.- all most lavender. All his clothes were way to big for him.  They were hanging off him. His clothes were as purple as a kings robe and baggy enough to look like a robe. looking at this man, I couldn't help but think of  Barney the Dinosaur.

It was a really warm April day. The park was filled with more people then usual. Most late afternoons its filled with 75 or so poor  schmucks like me waiting for a bus. Then theres 25 or so more people that just seem to like the park. A good number of this second group are homeless people.The high yesterday was 58 degrees, a normal April day. Yesterday had also been the warmest day out of the last seven.

Todays high was 88. It was one of those beautiful, perfect days that came along right after a week of cold, rainy days. People were saying tomorrow was going to be ninety. The park was packed. All of these working schmucks seemed to be in a good mood. Happy for a change. All Bus stops everywhere, in every town, are filled with grumpy working people. They are people that don't like their jobs much, and like riding the bus even less. 

Today though, everyone was a little less pissy then most days. The people today, homeless and Working people alike,  seemed to be buzzing around the park instead of moping around it, the way they did most mornings and afternoons. 

This buzzing was something you could see and feel. It was tangible. Some would claim I was just being silly and melodramatic when I say that, but I believe it to be true.

In my town , this particular park is like the very center of "Center City" . This park is where almost every bus stops. It's an entire city block in size. It's a small block. Not like the size of a block in Baltimore or Philly;   but  pretty good sized. Theres nothing in the park except a large open grass field with benches along the perimeter. Then theres a stone wall around three sides of it with more benches , outside the wall, facing the street.

I had been coming to this park since January when My car died. I had been riding the same bus everyday for close to five  months. I knew most of the faces that were Sitting next to me on the benches. I don't know any of these peoples names but I knew almost every face.I knew the purple homeless guy very well. Everyone called him Teeter.

 At the time I had no idea how he got this nick name, and I still don't know today. It may have been because, very often, he was very drunk. He was always Teetering as he walked. When he was really drunk, he always seemed to be on the verge of  falling over, but he never did. I never saw him fall once. 

Iv been told;  God takes care of: Small children, Crazy people, and Drunks. As I watched Teeter walking through the park for the last Twelve weeks or so, and never once fall on his a*s,  I started to believe this. 

Teeter had asked me for money about 120 times since I started riding bus number six every morning. I gave him a hand full of change about ten times out of these 120. Once I gave him a five dollar bill. The smile that came over his face was worth it. I don't mind giving to homeless people once in awhile. Teeter was a good natured homeless guy who always acted grateful when you gave him even a lousy quarter. He's a tall skinny black man about sixty years old. He seemed to me (at the time) to be in  basically good health, other then the fact that he was drunk all the time and he was really skinny. 

On this day Teeter was in rare form. With his new clothes, he walk around the center of the park talking to every one that past by. He knew many of these people. He said hi to everyone wether he knew them or not. He was talking louder the he usually did. He was laughing, telling dirty jokes to the guys he knew well. He even tried to play Frisbee with some college kids. He gave up on Frisbee  in just a few minutes but he was in better spirits then I'd ever seen him. If he drunk at all it was only a little bit and you couldn't tell.

Everyone at the bus stops and in the park was watching him. The mothers pushing baby strollers were watching him and the Babies were to. There was a four year old girl,  next to me on the bench who gazed at this very loud, purple clad, man in wide wonder. She never took her eyes off him. I thought at the time the purple man must have looked like a living cartoon character to her. 

The business people in expensive suits, the janitors and the hotel maids, the kids in McDonald uniforms, the nurses aids, . We all watch the homeless man. All of us miserable working schmucks, stared at this Jobless , homeless man- who was just as happy as a person could be.

Most of us smiled as we watched him. 

  It was such a nice day, I almost decided to walk home. My house was less then two miles from this park. I almost walked but I didn't, because I wasn't  feeling well. I was tired, and hot, and sun burnt  from working outside all day. At my job, I had been cutting grass and laying down mulch for ten hours straight. I had  welcomed the overtime, but now I was feeling it. 

If I had walked home  that day, my whole life (afterwards) would have been different.

The four year old girl and I watched Teeter in silence together. The child's  mother was next to us on the bench reading a magazine. Even she glanced up every so often to look at Teeter and then smile at me and her girl. The bench we were on faced the street. We had to turn around to look towards the park. At some point Teeter moved towards the center of the grassy area where we couldn't see him anymore. The child simply  stood up on the bench, so she could see him. When she stood up she knocked her 'Dora' backpack off the bench to the ground.  I decided to get up and walk out into the grassy area. I wanted to stretch my legs and I wanted to watch this giddy, purple man do his thing. I lifted the girls backpack and placed it where I had been sitting. Both mother And daughter smiled at me. I smiled back.

Teeter was now dead center in the middle of the park. A group of high school girls, eight or ten of them, all wearing catholic school uniforms  were strolling  by him. Teeter was ignoring these girls in favor of two large dogs that an elderly couple was walking in the grass.The effect of seeing Teeter (in purple) there with the Catholic girls in there uniforms (red and purple) and the two St. Bernard size dogs was kind of surreal. Above Teeter and Above the whole street is a statue. Its a huge statue of a man on a horse. Its a  " larger the life " brass  thing that dominates an otherwise empty park . The man is dressed in 1700 garb and the horse is reared up on its hind legs. If you look at a Delaware state quarter you can see what this huge, brass  statue looks like. The statue added to the sur-realness of the scene for me. 

The two dogs seemed to love teeter.  They were running around him in circles, sniffing him all over. Teeter  was fearless. He was loving the dogs. The elderly couple did not seem to be the least bit afraid of Teeter either. 

I decide right then that I wanted to play with these dogs also, so I started walking towards Teeter and the others. I remember thinking that Teeters good mood was a combination of  few things. It was the weather, and his new clothes and , most likely, just the right amount of alcohol in his system. Not to much and not  to little. This is what I was thinking about,  when I heard the first gun shot.

 

 

The first gun shot went off and the whole city seemed to go silent for two seconds. 

The people, the traffic, the dogs, and Teeter himself . Everything. There seemed to be two seconds of absolute silence. I know this can't be true, but thats how I remember it. Everyone just kind of froze. No one moved, or said a word. We really didn't know what the sound was. It didn't register for two seconds...until we heard the second gun shot. Everyone understood what it was then. Most people started to run and scream after the second shot. 

A few people just froze. I was one of these people. Some just "squatted down" where they were standing, trying to  make them selves into smaller 'targets'. Some ran behind trash-cans or the brick wall that lined the park. I saw one guy,  run behind a bush and squat there. He seemed to think the bush would stop a bullet.

The shots had come from my right. I turned to face the sound. They had come from the bus stop shelter. The shelter was on the street corner, just outside the park itself.  I couldn't see the  shooter or shooters but I could see thirty of forty people running away from this shelter in all directions. I could tell exactly where the shots had come from, by watching the people run away from that spot. 

 

I saw mothers run up, grab their  children, and start to run away from the shots. . I saw one guy in an electric wheelchair, stand up and move as fast as he could away from the shooting.  He moved really well- for a handicapped guy.  I saw one heavy set  woman on a bench right next to this shelter. She  slumped down, on to the street, and layed her head down on the concrete. I thought at the time that she had been shot. It turned out she had just fainted or something.

And there was the screaming. It came from all directions  at once. Lots of it. The loudest of the screams came from my left side, in the center of the park. It came from the high school girls that had just walked by Teeter and the dogs. I didn't have to turn to see that it came from the girls, I just knew it. I saw a good number of people that had just frozen-in-place, as I had done. It occurred to me that maybe this wasn't the best strategy for a situation like this , so I squatted down in the grass right where I was.

All of this happened in a span of six seconds. All of this happened in slow motion for me. I remember every detail of it perfectly because it all moved so slow.

There was a short pause before shot number three. When I heard this shot , things were not in slow motion anymore. I stated to panic just a little but I remained still, crouched on the grass. 

Then shot four rang out followed immediately  by a bizarre 'gong' sound.  I swear to god,  it sounded like someone had hit a huge gong. But it was a loud sickly gong sound, as if the gong was old, dented and rusted away. This sound  of a gong was so unreal, it sent me back into slow motion time again. I think at this point I almost fainted, just  like the heavy set woman had done.  This "gong sound" is one of the things I will never, ever forget, as long as I live.

 

I didn't faint and my brain had only one thought. Run. I still hadn't seen the shooter, I didn't know if the bullets were coming towards me or not , but I decided to run. I ran to my right. I went back out of the park the way I came in,  except I stop and crouched next to the brick wall. There was already three people in this spot, all of them crouched down in front of me. It wasn't the safest spot to be in, but it was better then  the open grass field. Their was a pause now. There was a lull in the screaming. I remember thinking  "Maybe its over..."

I stood up.  I was still in "slow motion mode".  I still have no idea why I stood up or why I walked out into the street. My mind was working by itself. It was like I had no control over my actions. I was just there watching myself from the outside. If I had any thoughts going on in my mind at this time, I don't remember what they were.  From the moment I stood up, my brain was on auto-pilot.

Everyone was still running, or hiding behind something.   Except me. I was walking slowly and calmly  out into the street looking at the bus stop shelter where the shots had come from.  I wanted to get a look at the shooter.  My personal "auto-pilot" guy,  is an idiot.

 I saw the shooter. He was running away, with his back to me.  He was at least half a block away but I saw him and I clearly saw the gun in his left hand. ( I remember telling the police later that the shooter was left handed, as if  that was important )

I watched the shooter run down the street untill I couldn't see him anymore. I knew for sure it was over now.  The shooter had fled the scene. I started walking towards the block where he had fired the shoots. "...To see if anyone was hurt" I remember thinking.

I hadn't taken four steps before the fifth shot rang out. Then a new round of screaming. I stopped. Even my stupid auto-pilot guy, understood that there was a second shooter and that  I shouldn't be moving towards the shots. I ran back to the spot I had been to before, crouched next to the wall. There was only one guy in this spot  now. The other two had left at some point. I thought of the four year old and her mother that had been bench with me, only  90 seconds ago. I turned to look at the bench. The mother and daughter were not there.  I assumed they must be Ok.  Looking back this was a stupid assumption but at the time it seemed reasonable.

  Then six shot rang out., then the seventh...then the eighth... 

The guy in front of me  layed down  flat on the ground, getting as low as he could. I followed his lead. This was the first smart thing my auto-pilot guy had done.  The last  two shots were very close to each other . I heard ricochet sounds also. It sounded like a war. I was content to lay there on my stomach and face, untill this was all over. 

A ninth shot rang out. I thought it would never end. I realized later that I (auto-pilot guy) had been  consciously counting the shots and I  (he) had done a good job. I told the police later that there had been ten shots and I was correct with this. This was the second good thing Mr. auto-pilot had done . I didn't count the shots. He did.  That might not make any sense , but its true.

There was a pause and then the tenth shot;  then another pause. It was a long pause.  I heard people yelling. They were not screaming- they were yelling actual words. I heard someone say "...call nine, one, one.!!" some one else yelled "...help her!!!...help her!!!" These voices were coming from the far side of the park right where the shots had come from. 

  The guy in front of me jumped up on his feet. He  turned away from the voices. He  took one big step over me , where I was still lying on the ground. Then he took off running. I never got a good look at his face. I only know his sneakers were black with pink trim,  and pink laces. Hot pink.  Don't ask me why I remember that- I have no clue.

I heard more voices. I decided to stand up. I stood up very slowly and  walked out to the grass where I might be able to see what was going on at the shelter. I saw a crowd of people just standing around  yelling and pointing and starring at the ground. Only a few people were still running away. A few people were running towards the shelter- to try and help I supposed.

I knew it was over. People were arguing about stuff. Everyone was yelling "call the police" or "Call an ambulance" no one was listening to any one else. I saw one woman laying face down on the sidewalk. A bunch of people were standing around her.  I assumed this woman had been shot and this time I was correct.(Later, I learned she was seventeen)

Again my thoughts turned to the mother an daughter that I had shared a bench with. I turned and ran to the bench. There was no one there but the child's Dora backpack was still right where I had layed it. I looked up and down the streets for the two of them. I  saw no one who even  looked like them.  I looked down at the backpack again  and  thought to my self : " they were real! " , " they were real ! " ..."I didn't imagine them...they were real ! ", "The backpack is proof".  I can not explain these thoughts. Not at all.

My thoughts turned to the people that were hurt at the other end of the park. I turned again to go back in that direction. I stated jogging towards the bus stop shelter. Then I had a thought that stoped me in my tracks.

Teeter, the dogs, the old couple, the high school girls... I turned to my left to look at the grassy area where they had all been . There was no one there. Except Teeter.

Teeter was lying, face up, in the grass . His Purple clothes were highly contrasted against the dark green. Even as far away from him as I was, I could see his eyes were wide open. His mouth was open to. He wasn't moving though. His arms and legs were pointed out a little bit from his body. He was almost "spread eagle" in the grass, gaping at the sky. The look on his face is another thing I'll never forget.

I remember thinking "... He's almost in the spread eagle position, but not quite... ". I have no idea why this thought crossed my mind. None what so ever.

I ran slowly towards him. By the time I got ten feet away , I saw a dark spot on the grass next to his head. It was neither purple or green. It was blackish. When I got really close, I could see it was red. Dark red. It was blood. It was a big, deep spot. It was a lot of blood and it was right near his head.

"...He was shot in the head..."  I said out loud to no one. As I dropped to my knees in front of him, I said the word " Teeter! "  really loud. He didn't move or flinch or even blink. I leaned down towards him and  I screamed the word "TEETER!!' right in his face. Again he had no reaction at all. I saw there was blood splatter on the side of his face and head. I looked for a wound but found none. Then I saw the blood was coming from his shoulder. I couldn't tell for sure if he was even breathing.

I was terrified to do any thing. What ever I did might do more harm then good. I was suddenly over whelmed with helplessness. 

It was a complete and total feeling of helplessness that I do not have the ability to describe. I don't think anyone, who's ever had it,  can describe it.

I raised my face up and screamed . " This guys hit!!!   this guys hit!! ". I repeated this four times in four different directions. No one heard me . Everyone was busy with the people injured at the shelter, or they were busy running away from it all. No one payed any attention to me. No one even glanced at Teeter and I. The shelter had 4 small groups of people crowding around four spots now.  Four people hit up there, and one down here;  was my thought.

I decide "to do nothing",  would be worse then trying to do something.  I took two fingers and pulled away the Jersey thing from Teeters shoulder.  Then peeled back his purple shirt so I could see the wound. It was bad. really bad.. It was a gash the ran from his collar bone all the way to his should blade.  I could see the white shard, of his collar bone, sticking out of his skin. It was a jagged kind of wound. Blood was squirting out in little pulses. Kind of like a water fountain. I decided I was going to do something now, instead of waiting for paramedics to come. It already felt like an hour had gone by. I couldn't understand why the cops werent here already. The truth was only four minutes had gone by since the first shot. Less then that,  maybe.

I grabbed my own T-shirt with both hands and peeled it over my head. 

Mr. auto-pilot was back. I knew that when blood "spurts out " like this, its called "Artery blood" and I knew that this was  bad. This was the full extent of my medical knowledge though.

I positioned myself with my knees near his head and pressed my wadded up T-shirt on the wound . I pressed down. I heard Teeter grown and saw him close his eyes. I was happy about this because I knew he was breathing. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed Teeter and I yet. No one had, but I saw the first cop car pull up to the curb, sirens blaring. I was happy about this also. I leaned down to Teeters face and said  ' your gonna be alright... their here now" Teeter made no response to me but I could hear raspy breathing. 

The cop got out of his car and ran towards the bus shelter. He didn't even see me. I wasn't surprised by this.  I was content to sit here all day with my hands pressing on teeters wound. I would sit right here untill someone relieved me. I could do this. It was a simple Job. Keep the pressure on - Wait. I didn't have to be a doctor to do this.

Now more cops cars were pulling up. I counted six in like 20 seconds. Then one minute after that, there was like twenty cars.

The lights, the sirens, the People still yelling, it all really looked like a war zone. Still,  no one took notice of me kneeling in the grass.

I remember thinking " I can wait...I wait all day, ...but Teeter can't ". I started screaming again. I screamed louder then I ever have in my life.. I think I screamed " Man down !!!...Man Down..." and "... I need help....I need help!!!" but I can't remember for sure what my words were.

When help finally came, it was a paramedic who came up behind me. He knelled in the grass next to Teeter, before I even knew he was there. He startled the hell out of me. He looked at me and said  " I can take over, Let him go! ". I did as I was told. I left my T-shirt were it was and the guy took it off and throw it aside. The medic looked up at me and said "Are you hurt at all?" I said " NO , no, not me Him..." I pointed at Teeter when I said this, as if the medic don't know the man on the grass was shot. The medic ignored this comment from me, and went to work on Teeter.

I stood up and watched as the paramedic guy did his thing. I just stood and watched. I don't know how long I was there but it was a good long while. Then  I heard crying from my right. I turned to see it was a woman at the shelter. She was crying and screaming  loud enough for the whole park to hear her, even over the few sirens that were still going off. She was walking around and didn't appear to be hurt. Just upset. There was a huge crowd over by the bus stop shelter now. It was filled with cops and medics and people that hadn't been there when the shots went off. I saw one guy there with a large TV camera on his shoulder. I was surprised he had gotten to the scene just as fast as the medics had.

I started to walk towards the huge crowd. Maybe I could help some how up there, was my thought. Just as I got up to the edge of the crown, I saw some cops hustling away a middle aged  woman in hand-cuffs. This made no sense to me at the time. It never occurred to me that this woman might have been one of the shooters. I was baffled as to why they were  taking her away.

I saw the medics put one guy on a stretcher and start to push it towards an ambulance. There were two more people lying on the street but I could see they were moving and talking, Their going to be OK- I thought. 

I realized I couldn't be of any help here. They didn't really need help. The cops and medics where there and they would handle it.

I turned around and started to walk back to where Teeter was. He was gone. The medic was gone. I scanned the park and saw two medics carrying Teeter on a stretcher, up the steps of the park.

Teeters going to OK too- I thought. There was nothing for me to do now. It was over for me. I looked at all the people and cop cars and ambulances and thought, "Theres probably not going to be any more buses running today- guess I'll have to walk." .

Right at this point I saw my white T-shirt in the grass where it had been tossed. My auto-pilot guy  decide to go and get it. So I (we) could wear it home. At the time I didn't think this was a strange idea at all. It seemed logical to me. When I got over to where the shirt was lying, I slipped on something wet, in the grass. 

It was blood. Teeters blood. I now had it all over my right leg and hip. I also noticed for the first time I had blood all over both my hands. This didn't really bother me at all. It simply didn't "register" for me at this time. Mr. auto-pilot didn't care about blood, it was not a big deal for him. 

I looked at me shirt. It was soaked in blood. There was no way I could wear it. Thank all the gods-- I at least had enough sense to know that. I took one last look around the park and started walking home- Shirtless.

I was walking fast, almost running. I walked down the center of the street.- Twelve street, a major road in my little city. All traffic had stopped. I remember, as I was walking, a lot of people were staring at me. I decided they were staring because I was not wearing a shirt. There was nothing I could do about this. I could only try to get home as fast as I could.

I few blocks later I notice the blood on my jeans. I noticed it was Purple. I looked at my hands and saw all that blood was purple also. This  simple could not be, I thought to myself. I looked at it again. "Maybe it not blood, was my only thought. Maybe Teeters clothes had some how "put a stain on me" . Both my knees were soaked in this wet purple stuff. I looked at my hands again-close up. It looked like blood and I could smell that it was blood. But it was Purple.  It was the same deep purple that Teeters pants had been. It was the same color as Grape Jelly.  "Purple as a kings robe" was my next thought. 

I became very scared at this point. How could a man have purple blood ?. How can this be? I tried to push this all out of my mind. I had to get home. I would figure it all out then. No one could have purple blood? Could they? 

My eyes where not working right. I couldn't see very well. It also felt like I was half deaf. Everything sounded far away. I kept walking. I was man on a mission. I was going to get home-then everything would be OK. I ignored all the people that were staring at me , I just kept walking. At about six blocks away from the scene, the traffic was moving again. I needed to cross a road, so I stop and looked behind me to see if any cars were coming. Thank all the gods again I didn't just "step into traffic".

As soon as I turned around , I saw a cop car coming towards me. It swerved and came up on to the curb- almost where I was standing. I saw the car jerk really hard as it came to a stop. I knew this meant the driver had thrown it into Park a little bit before it had stopped moving. Poor form- I thought to myself. 

A female cop jumped out of the drivers seat and stared at me. She said nothing, just stared.

I clearly remember thinking " She wants to arrest me !.... for not wearing a shirt ?". 

I felt dizzy and sick and out of breath--and I didn't know why. The flashing lights were not helping.

The lady started to walk around the car towards me. She stopped in front of me and asked , "Are you hurt?" . I could just barely hear her words. It was like she was talking to me from the far end of a long tunnel.  Even though I heard her words (sort of) -.I couldn't process what she was asking.

 

 I held up both my hands , palms out, so she could see the blood on them

I replied to her question " are you hurt?"  with  " Its all purple - I don't understand it."

She asked me something else that I didn't hear at all. I shrugged at lady to try and indicated I was not understanding her, then I said.

 "... He was purple...then he got shot. " I have no idea what this poor woman must have been thinking.

(I was completely 'out of it' at this point)

She said something else I didn't understand . I think she told me to sit down on the curb, but thats just a guess.

I replied "... The Dora girl disappeared..." I pointed back to the park and continued "...Her backpack is there... if you want it..."

She stepped closer to me now and put her hand firmly on my arm . Very firmly.

She lead into my face and said "Sit down , right there.... Were going to get you some help.

A second cop car pulled up just then. I shook my head no. I wanted to say to her "I don't need any help. I need to get home" But I couldn't make the words. She seemed to understand what I was thinking and said. " were going to have a doctor check you out. Just to be sure your OK.". I grimaced at her and put my free hand on my hip. I couldn't talk, but I was able to communicated that:  I didn't want to see a doctor. I was not happy about this. She smiled at me.  Just as the second cop came walking up she said simply. " your going to see a doctor. Sit down, Now!" . I sat down on the curb, with no more protest.

I noticed that a lot of people had gathered around me and these cops. They were just staring at me.

It was a crowd of about 20 people. They had come out of nowhere. I held up my palms to them as well, but I said nothing.

The second cop talked to Lady cop about something .I couldn't see these two very well. Just like with my hearing, It was like I was looking at them from down a long tunnel.

I didn't understand any of it. I lifted my hands again to both of them and said. " Its all purple, purple... He was purple...." 

The second cop, a man, asked me something, I think he asked my name.

I said " ...he was all most spread eagle, ...but not quite....". The man turned away from me and got on his radio.

Right here I remember the flash of a camera. I turned to the crowd.  My only thought was "F*****g people..."

I was really feeling sick now . I decided to lay down right on the side walk. I was afraid I was going to throw up. I slowly lowered my head down on the concrete. I felt a little better once I was horizontal. I curled  my knees up to my chest. Fetal position. This also made me feel better. I didn't care if anyone was staring, or taking pictures.

 

I woke up in a hospital with no memory of how I got there. Two people in white were standing over me. I looked at myself lying on a stretcher (maybe it was a bed) . I saw the blood all over my stomach, waist,  hips , knees, forearms, and hands.  It was all red. Blood red.  I realized how other people must have seen me in the street. I realized they were staring at me because I was covered with blood. 

Not because I was shirtless. 

I asked the two people in white "Do you guys see any grape jelly  on me?. 

Neither of them said anything at first.  Then the older of the two, an older black woman, said.

 "...No baby, just relax, your going to be all right. " Her voice was very relaxing to me.  I passed out again.

 

I woke up a second time in a different room. There was an older, gray haired man standing over me and a very young nurse.

Every muscle in my body seemed to be sore. I had a head ache and I take a leak in the worst way. I tried to sit up but my muscles were so sore I changed my mind. I groaned out loud as I did this . The doctor looked at me and said." Hello Mr. Mitchell, relax, don't try to get up.

I looked at my self and saw most of the blood had been cleaned away. I asked the two of them "Did I get shot and not know it?"

The nurse laughed a little and the doctor said "No, you werent shot, your going to be fine " 

I asked " How did you know my name?". He said  "You told us earlier, and we went into your wallet"

I let out a louder groan. I realized I had been having whole conversations that I know could not remember. I noticed my vision and my hearing seemed to be OK. 

"Whats wrong with my muscles?" , "Why am I so sore?" . 

The Doctor said " Based on what you told us, I believe you were suffering from acute hysteria ". He paused. then said "  Also the tests we've done show you are severely dehydrated." Another pause then " Both these things could account for sore muscles."

He then said. " Can you tell me your first and middle names? " . I gave him the correct answers, but I had to think about it for three  four seconds first. 

I said to them " I don't feel hysterical. Just sore." The young nurse handed me a plastic bottle with a lid and straw on the top,. I was sure it was water and I took it gladly. I propped myself upon the pillow and head board as best I could. This hurt a little and I let out another groan. I knew I was going to have to walk to a bathroom soon.

 The gray haired man continued " You were involved in a shooting, You assisted someone who had been hurt. You became covered in blood and became hysterical. I believe you were dehydrated before any of this happened.. This would account for your symptoms of  tunnel vision and your passing out. . He finished with  "... and for your apparent Hallucinations ." 

I realized here I must have told the doctors and nurses the whole story. I didn't want to talk about it now. "I have to go the bathroom" was all I said.  I felt like crying, but I didn't. They got me to a bathroom and then back into bed. I feel asleep in ten seconds.

 ***********************************************************************************

Our little city made CNN and every other big news show in the country. "Mass shooting in Wilmington" was one the headline. "Three different shooters injure five people". was another . Five people were injured. Three at the shelter, Teeter in the grass, and one of the high school girls broke her leg as she was running away. 

The final story was complicated. It seems that two drug dealers had decided to have a "shout out" right at the bus shelter, during rush hour. 

 

Jonas Burk and Lavar King , eighteen and nineteen respectively, both of Wilmington , Fire two shots each at each other on twelve street in front of a crowd of people at a bus stop. Police say one of the shots fired by  Mr. King hit  Mr.  Jeremy Fadder in the shoulder, critically injuring him.

 

Teeters real name was Jeremy Fadder. It still sounds strange to me, even today.

 

...Mr. Fadder almost certainly would have died at the scene had it not been for the efforts of  Keith Mitchell.  Mr. Mitchell held pressure on Mr. Fadder's wound untill paramedics arrived. Mr. Mitchell himself was later taken to Wilmington Hospital. He was treated and released for Dehydration and exhaustion 

 

No  'bloody' pictures of me made it on the news or papers. They made no mention of ' Hysteria '.  I was grateful for this.

     Someone emailed me the pictures that were taken of me on the side walk with the cops. I saw that I also had a good amount of blood on my face and in my hair. They were horrible, gruesome pictures.

Later I got to talk to the lady cop who first stopped me. She said when she got out of the car, she wasn't completely sure wether I  was one of the shooters or not. She asked if I remember the things I had said and I said yes.  I told her the whole story. I told her about he purple blood. I told no one else about that untill now. Only the people at the hospital and her.

I have had to tell and re-tell this story about four thousand times, to about two thousand people, but I always gave them the short version. What your reading here, is the full version.

There was a third shooter. A middle aged woman named Martha Bell. She was the woman I saw being lead away in hand cuffs.

Martha Bell had nothing to do with the gun toting drug dealers. She had only been there waiting for a bus. She had been in mental institutions her whole life. She had recently reported to police that their was drug activity going on in the building where she lived . She had made nine sperate reports to the police, in the last four weeks. She told police that some of the "young people" in her building were working for her ex-husband and that they were selling drugs out of the buildings laundry room. She informed the police that these "young people" and her ex-husband were trying to kill her. Police discovered that her ex-husband had been dead for eleven years. They dismissed her complaints.

At some point Martha Bell got a hold of a gun. She was twenty feet away when the two teenage drug dealers started shooting.

Both the drug dealers ran away as soon as they fired. Apparently  Ms. Bell believed they had been trying to kill her. She pulled out her gun and fired one shot at Mr. King as he was running away. King was the left handed Guy that I saw fleeing the scene. 

Ms. Bell missed him, but then decided to start shooting any "young person" that was standing near her.

 

...[She] hit seventeen year old Alicia Monaghan in the Leg. Ms. Bell also  hit  Toby Weston (fifteen) in the stomach and Jesse Valentine (eighteen) in the right arm.

At the scene, Ms. Bell told police that these young people were trying to kill her.

 

...Martha Bell was wrestled to the ground by a Robert Castle, fifty-five of Wilmington. Mr. Castle took the gun away from the suspect and held her down untill police arrived. Mr. Castle is also credited with keeping some people in the crowd from hurting Ms. Bell... 

 

I met Mr. Castle. He's a great guy. He's funny and weighs about three hundred and fifty pounds. The shooter, Ms. Bell weighs about 109 pounds, soaking wet , with a brick in her pocket. 

The idea of him, lying on top of her, still makes me laugh. Mr. Castle became the hero of the day. He was on CNN and all the networks. He works as a janitor at three different schools in Wilmington. When ever he goes to work now, three or four hundred children want his autograph. Even I asked him for his autograph, and he asked for mine.

 

This mental patient, Martha bell, had simply whipped out a gun and fired on random teenagers. The gun shots from the two drug dealers had put her over the edge. The gun she had was reported stolen from Allentown Pennsylvania two years earlier. Either she couldn't , or wouldn't,  tell police how she came to have it. Today I have no feelings towards this woman one way or another.  None at all. 

I hope they never let her back out on the street though.

 

Teeter and the boy who was shot in the stomach were both in critical condition. The boy, Toby Weston was released seven days later. He's going to be fine.

 

The third shot , fired by King, struck Mr. Fadder in the shoulder. The forth shot, also by King , Hit the statue of Sir Rodney that sits at the top of Rodney Square, on Market street.

  

The gong sound I heard was the forth bullet hitting the brass statue of the horse.  I went back to the park  few days later and saw that the bullet had hit the horse in the Right shoulder. Teeter had been hit in the left shoulder. I was very relieved to learn I had not imagined  the gong sound,  as I had imagined the blood being Purple.  It turned out the purple blood was my only hallucination.

I never heard anything about the mother and daughter from the bench.  I'm sure if they had been hurt- I would have. 

Perhaps if the mother ever reads this, she will come and find me.

 

The police caught both the teenage drug dealers that same afternoon. Before the sun went down, they were both in jail.

I got to meet Joe Biden. He came back to Wilmington and made some poignant comments about the shooting. I don't remember much what he said but I remember one line he uttered.  He said " ...When Wilmington bleeds, ...I bleed...We all bleed..."

This comment makes me shiver. I dislike any and  all "Blood metaphors" now. I hate them.  I think their gross.

 Mr. Jeremy Fadder died forty eight hours after he arrived at the hospital. 

 

Teeter had all kinds of problems with his liver and kidneys. His nearly life time of alcoholism had weakened his body. Like Ms. Bell, Teeter also weighed 109 pounds ...on a good day.

 

The day he died, was a good day for him. Untill the end. 

I no longer flirt with the idea that  God pays any special attention to drunks or crazy people or anyone else.

I don't think God likes to get involved.

Teeter was the drunk,  Martha Bell was the crazy person, and  the Dora-backpack-girl was the small child. I don't know what my role was, or if I even had one.

Reviews

[GC]

Teeter needed to stay alive to say something to keith mitchell i reckon , just a hat tip his way - maybe return the five dollars with a smile before he died . There needs to be something at the end tiny . I wanted something at the end - and a drunk guys smile , anything - just to finish the story for me.

[PaisleyGingham]

VERY good suggestion. useful.thank you