GUILTY KS - LaShanda Calloway, 27, stabbed to death, Wichita, 23 June 2007

Paladin said:

Well, if there isn't a law they can charge these people with, maybe they can just release the footage and let these animals deal with the fallout.

Edit: Why is this news reported on an Australian website and not on CNN or something?

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This'll probably end up on Court TV's "World's Most Shocking" series I'm sure.

This makes me really angry. While i agree that this is behaviour is not indicative of all of society, sadly i think it is becoming less of an aberration as time goes by. I remember a documentary shown a few years ago in the UK about people in london and how society was changing - they had a young woman lying on the side of a busy road, half off the pavement, and they put up secret cameras to video bypassers reactions, it amazed me how many people walked on past her like she was a sack of garbage, some didnt even appear to notice she was even there. Sadly, i think this type of reaction is becoming more and more common....

Don`t you know, a portion of an entire generation is ME, ME, ME.

What is in it for ME. How does this benefit ME. What do I gain for ME. If I make a phone call to 911, what is in it for ME.

You cannot force people to be good citizens, by showing a film or taking a class in school. Being a good citizen is because you want to, not because you are `forced`to. These people were too concerned about ME, to do anything for this women.

I am not finding the article in Kansas news sources though, and Kansas is very up-front about such things. We don't sweep that under the rug, we hold it up to the light so all may take note and repudiate the crime. I'll keep searching. Maybe it's a case of a reporter who wanted to make some news though?

ETA: Ok, a search of the victim's name did bring up the story. Here is an editorial about it, and here is a more recent article, they have arrested a suspect, and are pursuing at least one other. (Haven't yet fully read the article or editorial myself.)

Here are two more articles about the incident. Someone tried to break up the fight. Hmmm, accessing their archives is proving problematic. I'll link to the search page for now. The one I am referring to are: 3. STABBING RESPONSE ILLUSTRATES QUANDARY



ETA: They have the second suspect now as well. (Link is to the search page.)

Second suspect in stabbing death surrenders
Thu, Jun 28, 2007
http://nl.newsbank.com/nojavascript.html

KatK said:

Here are two more articles about the incident. Someone tried to break up the fight. Hmmm, accessing their archives is proving problematic. I'll link to the search page for now. The one I am referring to are: 3. STABBING RESPONSE ILLUSTRATES QUANDARY



ETA: They have the second suspect now as well. (Link is to the search page.)

Second suspect in stabbing death surrenders
Thu, Jun 28, 2007
http://nl.newsbank.com/nojavascript.html

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Fox News is covering this on TV.

Found this article:

SUSPECT IN WEEKEND STABBING OUT ON BOND

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11A12B13DD60EB78&p_docnum=2

Can you get a link to the article about the guy trying to break up the fight? Here is the preview for it:

Shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday, Rob Thurman pulled into a convenience store at 25th and Hillside for a 2-liter. He saw two women swing wildly at each other inside.

He briefly separated the women. Then, he said, one stabbed the other. Thurman dialed 911 for help at 5:58 p.m. By 6 p.m., Wichita firefighters "checked close." They had the scene in sight.

But, Thurman said, while he and others frantically waved to firefighters to come and help LaShanda Calloway,...

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lizzybeth said:

It's stories like this that make you lose faith in mankind. The thought of someone laying there dying and you step over them?!! Those people should be prosecuted right along with the two that stabbed her.

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Somehow, someway there is becoming a disconnect in our society and it seems to be happening more and more often.

These people truly have to have no feelings at all for human life. It just means nothing and they feel nothing. There are a multitude of issues imo that is creating these"zombie" like people who truly seem to be dead inside and without consciences. I think it will only worsen not become better.

We have people seeing someone in desperate need of help yet they walk on like it means nothing to them because it doesnt. We have seen where murder is becoming a blood sport while picking on the most defenseless.

It truly scares me to death as to just how bad it will get. Imo as I said it will get worse. These people will produce children and those children will grow up emotionless, dead and twisted inside to roam our streets just like these sub humans do.

imoo

KatK said:

Can you get a link to the article about the guy trying to break up the fight? Here is the preview for it:

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Here you go:
http://www.kansas.com/201/story/106639.html

Stabbing response illustrates quandary

Shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday, Rob Thurman pulled into a convenience store at 25th and Hillside for a 2-liter. He saw two women swing wildly at each other inside.

He briefly separated the women. Then, he said, one stabbed the other.

Thurman dialed 911 for help at 5:58 p.m. By 6 p.m., Wichita firefighters "checked close." They had the scene in sight.

But, Thurman said, while he and others frantically waved to firefighters to come and help LaShanda Calloway, the firefighters didn't move until the Kansas Highway Patrol arrived. Calloway later died at a hospital.

"They sat over there in that vacant car wash lot," said Thurman, adding that he repeatedly told the 911 dispatcher the suspects had gone. "There was no imminent threat.... I don't understand why it would take so long.... That girl's life could have been saved."

Perhaps, say local fire officials. Firefighters are trained to be the first medical responders. But they don't have the means to defend themselves, so it is policy for them to "stand off" until police secure an area -- which could

steal time from people who have none to spare.

No one wants to see fire and EMS crews attacked. I sure don't.

But Thurman says, and I agree, that public safety officials ought to review this policy to see what can be done to squeeze precious minutes off response times.

In this case, firefighters radioed that Calloway was code blue, at or near cardiac arrest, at 6:04, six minutes after the call.

"That time can feel like an eternity," said Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz.

Wichita Deputy Fire Chief Mike Rudd said the department has had the stand-off policy for 10 to 15 years. And for good reason. "Nationally, we've just had a lot of crews injured when someone was still on scene."


~more at link~

While I agree that maybe a review of procedures are needed, we still cannot have our EMT / Fire people placed in danger. They are not armed and if they get into a situation where violence or arms are used, they could be killed.

People will be quick to condemn them for waiting, even though they were following procedures. How do you think they felt, not being able to do a thing to try and help because the police didn't come quickly?

I don't know how to deal with it - it's a difficult problem - but it seems to me that you never know how dangerous a place is. I can really see it when we've got a very violent, ongoing shooting or shooter - but there will always be some risk, no matter what. We need to judge more closely what risk is worth accepting, and measure the risk versus the risk to the injured person. If they're already dead - don't take any significant risks. If they've got a minor little injury - don't take any significant risks. If there's a real chance time could be a factor between life and death - that needs to be taken into account.

Seems to me also like the police should be able to get there sooner, prioritize these calls much higher. Why can the fire truck get there from their station so soon, but not the police?


If these later reports are correct though - sounds like 911 was called pretty immediately. I don't know what the customers were doing - but I do wonder a little about the initial article now. Plenty of reporters seem sure enough the world is going to heck that sometimes they slant a set of facts to fit what they expect to or want to report. Not sure actually - either it's because they believe it to be true, or because they know it'll get plenty of readers, links and emails when they write about something outrageous.

It could be true - but it could also be exaggeration or significantly false.

Well there seems to be an easy solution to that. Every firehouse should have it's own cop that rides along. He may or may not be trained as a fireman but it's like having an air marshall. I can see the hesitancy of an unarmed crew to be first on the scene. The police should accompany firetrucks because they are usually first on the scene and an officer could help with crowd control and crime scene preservation for many situations including car accidents and fires as well as violent crimes.

We live in a very sad world. While a young woman lay on the floor dying, several shoppers stepped over her to go about their business. One even took a pic of her with a cell phone!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070704/ap_on_re_us/stabbing_video

Seems like so many people are desensitized to others suffering. I worry for this world.

Not sure if this has been posted. I searched for it.




WICHITA | Stabbing victim LaShanda Calloway lay dying on the floor of a Wichita convenience store.
Instead of dialing 911, five shoppers stepped over Calloway to carry out purchases — and at least one used a cell phone to take pictures of the stabbing victim.
With a murder investigation ongoing, police aren’t releasing the store surveillance video, but they have described the June 23 incident.
“It was tragic to watch,” police spokesman Gordon Bassham said Tuesday. “The fact that people were more interested in taking a picture with a cell phone and shopping for snacks rather than helping this innocent young woman is, frankly, revolting.”



http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/176623.html

From August 2008:

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/27175919.html

During a brief hearing Wednesday morning, Cherish McCullough was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

A Sedgwick County jury found 20-year-old McCullough guilty of First Degree murder last month for the stabbing death of 27-year-old LaShanda Callaway at a Wichita convenience store.

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