Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Good news: Carjackings are rare, even in a deathtown like this.

In case you care, here's an update on the carjacking/shooting near my house the other day. (Well, to be specific, the carjacking was a ways away, but the woman was shot trying to flee near my house.)

Anyway, they arrested a man and a woman and say they're linked to a string of recent carjackings. The victim was alive but still critical.

Interesting but unclear note here from the Birmingham News story:
In Bessemer, Mountain Brook, Pelham, Hoover and Vestavia Hills, police officials said carjacking was so rare, statistics were unavailable. The sheriff's departments in Shelby and Jefferson counties didn't recall any recent carjackings.


It's not really clear whether that includes Birmingham proper. When I was a reporter working out of downtown, a carjacking would not have seemed that strange. Multiple homicides were virtually a daily occurance. That being said, I can't remember covering a carjacking. Oh well, at least we can all rest easy now, until that serial killer in my neighborhood decides to get crackin on his femur lamp collection.

1 comment:

Griner said...

The lawyer case was an abduction, but I don't think it was a carjacking. She was kidnpapped from a parking lot. Here's a disturbing update on that story.

What's really strange about this update (the lawyer one, not the carjacking one) is that they hide the victim's identity throughout the story, except in one sentence, where they just flat out say her name. I'm wondering if an editor fell asleep at the wheel and missed a reference. That, or the News is trying the bizarre half-ass tactic of naming a sex-crime victim, but burying the name in the story and just saying it once. Hell, if you're going to do it, just do it. If you're not, don't.