Early this morning, I dreamed I was in inner city Los Angeles, in a run down commercial district that also included apartment units over some of the businesses. It was day time and there were people all around me when suddenly two men got into a dispute that instantly turned into gunfire from pistols they were both carrying.
They were just several feet away from me and several feet from each other and as the bullets flew, people fled and I stepped back, that being all I could do in the sudden explosion of rage. When one of the two men went down from his wounds, the other shot him repeatedly at point blank range, presumably killing him.
The man with the gun then turned to me as a witness to the shooting. He stood at my left but I stared straight ahead and sensing he was about to shoot me, I said "I'm staring straight ahead so that I can't identify you."
There was an instant of silence as he decided whether to shoot me or not, when someone yelled, "That's Dr. Campbell," in reference to the fallen man. The man with the gun then fled. Just then there was an explosion in an apartment about 50 yards away, and I said aloud to all those around me, "What kind of a neighborhood is this?"
During the gun fight, I saw both shooters. The one who prevailed was a white or Hispanic male, trim with black hair, medium height, about 40 in age and I could easily pick him out from a police lineup.. The other man was older, white, with brown hair.
My intent was to assist the police when they arrived, but I abruptly awoke, overwhelmed by the sense of how dangerous some neighborhoods are, not many miles from where I live. And I felt bad for those who live in such danger, especially the children, for no-one should live like that. I also realized that I have the luxury of writing of solutions to major problems while there are many people struggling just to survive
Dick
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