Manhunt

When I was a wee lad of about 12, my hometown community of Montgomery County, Missouri, was gripped with fear. There was a killer on the loose-one who had even killed a state patrol officer or two. During that mid 80s time frame, we were both bewildered and shocked that the killer’s name was Michael Jackson. Michael Wayne Jackson, to be precise. Again, why are there so many sociopathic and psychopathic killers with the middle name Wayne?

Jackson was a prison escapee from Indiana and his last known sighting was probably about 20 miles down the highway from my home. For nearly two weeks, federal, state and local law enforcement were on the manhunt. When they finally closed in on Jackson, he blew his head off in a barn.

Earlier this week, my hometown community went through another scare very similar. In Kansas City, three hours west of my parents home, four men were murdered. The killer was at large and ended up abandoning his vehicle in Montgomery County. On foot, he killed a local man. With five murders under his belt in the span of about 12 hours, and with the knowledge that he was also carrying an AK-47, this was an armed and dangerous situation.

After an 18 hour manhunt, the killer was captured. No more killing, no more gunfire, no resistance.

In this era where law enforcement is under the microscope, I just want to send out some props to all who helped capture this individual and keep many people I love safe. Not every cop is gunning to kill minorities. Not every cop is practicing brutality. Not every cop is racist. Cops are people just like you and me. Of course there is racism, of course there are errors, of course there are unscrupulous activities with a certain percentage of law enforcement…ya know, kinda like there is with every other faction of society. This, however, showed a massive effort to do what police are supposed to do: serve and protect. Thank you to all the men and women in blue for helping keep crazy murderers out of the public.