1) At one time or another, I think everyone has witnessed armored guards filling up a bank machine...whether it's the little ones in gas stations or actual bank ATMs. From what we've seen, there are ALWAYS two guards that stay in the truck - one in the back, one in the driver's seat. Two guards (sometimes three) then proceed into the bank, with one guard always standing watch. The watch guard is obviously assessing the public, ready to react against any common person who approaches them (not necessarily with their gun). What you would NOT be watching for (or suspecting) is that one of your co-workers is going to attack you. That is one of the biggest things that has us both riled up...you are supposed to be able to trust your co-workers...especially in jobs such as theirs.
2) We have been trying to map out how the actual attack played out...what Baumgartner's (from this point on, just Baum) role consisted of that evening. Given that three guards were found inside the ATM and one in the truck, we can only assume Baum was the second man in the truck. The first scenario is that Baum killed the truck guard first and then proceeded inside to shoot the other three. That would be the only way he could exit the truck without raising the truck guard's suspicion (unless the truck guard was also in on the robbery and Baum double-crossed him and killed him when he returned).
Either way, Baum would have approached the ATM at some point. How did he manage to do this without raising the other three guards' alarm bells? What story did he concoct for why he was there? How did he manage to shoot all three guards without them returning fire?
3) What was Baum's plan post-robbery? Where did he think he could honestly escape to? He was caught on Saturday, still in his original getaway vehicle, trying to cross into the US...sans passport. Why wouldn't he have switched vehicles? Why wouldn't he have attempted to cross the border on foot, in the middle of the night?
4) On a different, possibly slightly deranged note, I can't imagine the amount of adrenaline that would be pumping through one's body in the moments leading up to carrying out a plan to murder four people. I mentioned to Mike about how I felt planning his surprise 40th birthday party. While it is on the opposite end of the spectrum of murder, there is one common theme - the element of surprise. I had planned this party for months and as the moment to the actual surprise drew closer, I was completely hopped up on adrenaline, hoping that everything would play out exactly as I had planned it. When I think back to those moments when Mike was walking up the driveway and I was shushing everyone to stay quiet, I could physically hear my blood pumping through my veins. I can only guess that Baum would have been feeling something similar, only his surprise was on the horrifically evil side.
5) In this day and age, where social media spreads like wildfire, where do we draw the line between what is acceptable to publish (journalism-wise) and what is unacceptable? There has been one photo and one video published that I feel are both unacceptable. The first is a photo (taken by a student's cell phone) that shows the EMT's working on the bodies of the guards found inside the ATM. There is a very clear trail of a massive amount of blood leading from the ATM to one of the bodies. Why does the general public need to see that?
The video is even more horrific. Again, it was shot on a student's cell phone and it takes place before the above mentioned photo. The video shows the police attempting to break down the door to the ATM, while several students look on. Over the banging of the battering ram, the screams of the injured guard (who was shot in the head and is still fighting for his life) can be heard. The screams are beyond bone-chilling. The video was posted on the Edmonton Sun's web site and it was Mike that clicked 'play'. Twenty four hours later and I still cannot get the sound of his screams out of my head. Again, why does the general public need to see/hear this?
********
That is all I can think of for now. Like I said, this story has dominated the majority of mine and Mike's thoughts throughout the weekend. Now that this killer has been caught, perhaps some of our questions can be answered. I'm just hoping that this douchebag doesn't try to use the "mentally incapacitated" defense. On one hand, yes, you would have to be out of your mind to shoot four people in the head, but there is too much evidence that points towards the planning that went into this (ie: his ominous Facebook posts leading up to the event) for it to be a temporary psychotic break.
At this point, I can only hope our joke of a justice system throws the book at this monster and puts him away for a very long time. It's times like these I wish Canada still had the death penalty.
No comments:
Post a Comment