The Dead Lights

Tyler, watching the lights from the emergency service vehicles

April 17th, 2026

"One gun has more power to take a life, than a hundred surgeons have to preserve it."

~Abhijit Naskar 

The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

Friday night in Stockton, California.

Yes, that beautiful glow that my cat, Tyler, is looking at, is indeed a whole neighborhood of police, fire and who knows what else, dealing with yet another shooting, at the same corner that it happened two times previously. Basically, those lights are right under my window. The first time was on September 9th, 2025, when a young man was shot dead, by police, while fleeing from them. He had several illegal weapons in the car with him, and he ran, and two officers opened fire on him. He was 19. Here is the bodycam footage, released by the Stockton Police Department, in October of 2025.   

WARNING: IT'S DISTURBING TO WATCH!

The next incident happened Thanksgiving weekend, when, several persons were killed, 2 under 21, and 2 under 10 years old, plus it left 13 others injured. It was a child's birthday party. All the children there, are now victims of gun violence. They were either injured, or they witnessed a murder. It was more than a tragedy. It was vile, and monstrous and deeply sad. It left me depressed for weeks. Later that evening, five suspects were arrested in the same place, as tonight's drama, and the night Rocco Robinson was shot, and, like I said, basically under my bedroom window. Recently, on April 2nd, there was an update about the birthday party murders, but I haven't heard anything about it since.

And then there was last night. I don't know anything about tonight's events. I will update when I can. Or maybe I won't. Honestly, I am a little depressed. We hear all kinds of sirens in this neighborhood, but just about a week ago, one night in the middle of the night we heard several shots, and it seemed they were nearby. The next night we heard loud machine gun fire, and it was definitely nearby. I was scared to death. I had just got my nerves under control, and now there are nine police cars, crime scene tape, and I expect the coroner will be here soon. 

Honestly, I am so tired. The most comforting feeling in the world is my cats sleeping on the bed with us. Morning kisses are the best. But not if doing so might put them in harms way! One day, someone is going to shoot a gun, and the bullet is going to hit something unintended. I hope it won't be us!