Derrick Bird: Drugs, Self-Harm And Paul Goodwin
DERRICK Bird. Anorak’s at -a-glace look at the mass murderer in the news: drugs, Paul Goodwin, self harm, suicide and Cumbria Kills…
Daily Telegraph: “Cumbria shootings: Derrick Bird ‘showed suicidal tendencies before massacre’”
We know this because Bird killed himself, Bird had scratches on his arm and the Telegraph has called a vested interest group:
The 52-year-old killer had cuts on his arms which seem to ahve been inflicted some time ago. Steve Lax, from Self Injury Support, a charity helping people who self harm, says:
“There are photos suggesting he had cutting issues.”
So says the expert. And if you are looking for yet another reason as why Bird did it, here’s another one: Cumbria:
Cumbria has the second highest suicide rate in Britain – 56 in the last 12 months. Incidents of self harm are 26 per cent above average.
What can be done? Gabriel Hershman knows – and he’s coined a buzzword:
Now I propose another support group in the wake of Cumbrian taxi driver Derrick Bird’s dreadful killing spree – a support group for ageing, plain, anonymous, cash-strapped men. Chances are that these groups would be extremely popular once men had the courage to swallow their pride and let their guard down. “Hello, my name is Derrick. I’m Plain, Unsuccessful and Poor. I’m a PUP.”
Pup. As in sold a pup.
Maybe Bird needed medical help?
The following have much in common: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (Columbine massacre), Patrick Purdy (Cleveland School Massacre), Thomas McIlvane (shot nine postal worker); Jeff Weise (Red Lake High School Massacre), Ted Kaczynski, Michael McDermott, Kip Kinkel, John Hinckley, who gunned down President Reagan. Seung-Hui Cho went on the rampage, killing 33 and wounding two dozen students. Joseph Wesbecker killed eight and wounded twelve before taking his own life. Then there’s Dunblane, Hungerford and now Cumbria.
What could have been done during the event?
The police tried:
Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde has reportedly stated that “at no point” did officers “have the opportunity to end the killings sooner”. He said that the first officer went to the assistance of one of Bird’s victims and his female passenger, who had both been shot.
The officers in the police transit van, who were unarmed, continued to pursue Bird until he turned and pointed his gun at them. The taxi driver then escaped at high speed and the officers were unable to locate him, despite attempts to follow the 52-year-old.
Paul Goodwin tried to so something – anything. The 48-year-old grandfather saw Bird. He gave chase:
Mr Goodwin said of his own role: “Am I brave? No, stupid, yes. My mum said I could have been killed. I just didn’t think, it was instinctive.”
Describing how it unfolded, he said: “I was on Duke Street and it was a perfectly normal day. I pulled up at the junction opposite the taxi rank and I saw a friend of mine outside the pub, so I waved. The next thing I heard a really loud bang. I thought, ‘That’s a gun’.
“So I turned round and I see this taxi has pulled up. I see this fella walk round to the back of the car with a gun.
“I call 999. I pull up a bit further up the road. I’m shouting at people on the street to get out of the way because there’s a man on the loose with a gun.
“I then hear another bang and I think to myself that he’s shot somebody else. He gets into his taxi and drives away. He goes straight past my car, so I follow.”
In pictures:
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Posted: 8th, June 2010 | In: Reviews Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
