Tragedy on a Greyhound Bus

Recently, Winnipeg Manitoba (Canada) had gained notoriety, via the media, in a most unfortunate and tragic way. As many may have heard by now, the terrible events in which a young man lost his life to a seemingly random act of violence in it's worst form. This has even been described as the worst case of violence in Canadian history to date.

Young Tim McLean, a 22 year old from Winnipeg Manitoba, was on his way home, traveling on a Greyhound bus from Edmonton Alberta. It's not unusual for the younger generation to travel from city to city, town to town, during the summer months in Canada. There is the opportunity to gain employment, especially with the fair circuit, making good, quick money. This is exactly what this young man was doing.

Unfortunately, he lost his life all too soon. A stranger to him, and everyone else on the bus, for a reason known only to the perpetrator at this present moment, stood up and stabbed Tim McLean, repeatedly (I won't mention what else was done to this unfortunate young man out of respect to him, his family and friends).

It's so hard to make any kind of sense from actions such as these. Why do people do these things? Was this perpetrator mentally deranged? Surely he must have been to have committed such an atrocious and horrendous act. And even if that were the case, it doesn't make it any easier to comprehend. Is there any way it could have been prevented? Could this man have gotten some kind of help that would have prevented him from going to such unthinkable extremes? .... to which Tim McLean would still be alive and enjoying his youthful years. Is there anything at all that we can learn from such actions? It hardly seems fathomable really. Are we all just destined to be victims at one time or another in our lives? Is this just the way of the world that we must somehow accept, or can there be some possible glimpse of hope in the future that these events won't occur anymore, or in the least, with less frequency? There are just so many unanswered questions!

Of course, when these things first happen, the details are very sketchy. The police must do their work as best they can without encumbrances and here-say. They must gather all the details and facts from the source. Even though such heinous acts occur in our communities, we must still remember that we are a "civilized" society and to allow the perpetrator due process, even when these innocent victims aren't given so much as a 2 minute warning in order to protect themselves.

As more details have been gathered and brought to light, it has now been reported that upon this perpetrator's capture and arrest, he was found to be in the possession of a plastic bag containing facial parts. These did not belong to Tim McLean, but obviously belonged to some other unfortunate soul. Is it possible that this unassuming person, who was described by previous employers as being a quiet but hard working employee, might he have done this to others? Maybe Tim McLean was not his first victim. How many more might there be? Only time, and the gathering of yet more evidence and information will tell.

Many people were glued to the media (myself included), not out of morbid curiosity, but in hopes of finding out any sort of information as to why someone might do such a thing. If a person could only just make some sense of these tragedies, maybe we could prevent them from occurring again and again. I suppose too, we want to hear and see for ourselves, that he WAS and IS a monster of some fashion, as to be on the lookout for future "monsters" in our midst, in order to protect our families and ourselves. But sadly, this is not the case. These people cannot be spotted in a crowd. It makes us realize just how sad and vulnerable society has become.

Sadly, Tim McLean will be forgotten by many of us (aside from his loving family and dear friends of course), as time continues to move forward (as we go on with our own lives) and until the next great tragedy is reported on the news. I write this article, perhaps, because of that fact. I don't think we should ever forget or dismiss these young innocent victims. To do so, would in my opinion, leave us complacent to the reality of what's happening around us. To do so would give criminals the power and more rights than the innocent or law abiding citizens. To put these people in the backs of our minds would give the perpetrators greater notoriety and infamy. I think the victims should always be remembered and maybe even viewed as "heroes". Maybe too, by remembering the victims, they can help to pave the way so that our system of humanity and justice can learn better ways of dealing with, or even preventing, such tragedies in the future. Don't let these innocent victims lose their lives in vain.

In Memory of Tim McLean. Even though I knew nothing of him before this tragedy, I view him as a "hero".

I also want a young girl to be remembered. Her name didn't make the news in any grand way. She was a beautiful 12 year old child (just weeks away from her 13th birthday), residing in VT. She lost her life recently to a sexual perpetrator. Her name was Brooke Bennett.

Remember these names. Don't let them (and other victims of horrendous crimes) or their memories fade with time.

** Maybe we need a wall of remembrance, such as we have with war veterans, so as not to forget the innocent! In this way, maybe something can be done to make this a safer world for us all. We definitely need our laws and mental health care systems to be looked into, making necessary changes in order to create a safer environment, and society, for our children in the very near future!