Tuesday, February 19, 2013

More Random Killings in Orange County Today

We haven't yet recovered from Christopher Dorner's February 2 murders in Irvine when the overhead police helicopters woke us up early this morning in Tustin - never a good wake up call. Tustin is a sleepy suburb in Orange County, a county of suburbs and exurbs, and that's how we like it. 20 year old Ali Syed killed a still unidentified young woman in his parent's Ladera Ranch condo at 4:45AM, and then drove off in their GMC Yukon Denali onto the I 5. They phoned 911. The car sprang a flat and he pulled off on Red Hill into a Denny's close to Tustin High School, walking distance from our house. He shot the driver of a car in an unsuccessful carjacking. He then went next door and took the car keys from a motorist filing up at the Mobil Station. He let this driver live, telling him "I killed somebody. Today is my last day." He drove off in his Dakota pickup. Today was that driver's lucky day. The stolen Dakota was short on gas. Back on and off the freeways. He exited the 55 in Santa Ana. He found 69 year old Melvin Lee Edwards sitting in his BMW on his way to work. He ordered Edwards out of his car, executed him, and drove off in the BMW. Back on and off the 55 at Edinger. He killed 26 year old Jeremy Lewis, a plumber working a construction site, and wounded a co-worker, He stole a pickup truck. Back on the 55 he shot at cars on the road. He pulled off the 5 at Katella and proceeded to blow his head off at Katella and North Wanda. 25 miles and 75 minutes of a random shooting spree with a shotgun, Vice President Biden's recommended weapon for self defense. 4 dead and 3 wounded for no known reason. We now know that crazed Dorner's Irvine killings were planned and not random. He was also stalking other LAPD officers and their families. No such explanation has surfaced for for Ali. We could speculate, but that's all it would be - random speculation. Ali was unemployed and taking three units at Saddleback Community College. He found no meaning in life, certainly not in his death and those of his randomly chosen victims. Four Dead in the OC. This is not The OC of the TV series, Arrested Development, Laguna Beach, or the Really Desperate Housewives of Orange County. This is The Oc that should not be. Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth, is 4 miles west on Katella.

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