Bystanders Who Aided A Woman In Trouble Are Injured

After discussing the bystander effect with a close friend and expressing my frustration with people failing to help others, they reminded me of the incident in Melbourne not too long ago.

Monday the 18th of June, 2007.

'Bystander Ross Murchie said: "A girl came out of a building over the road, she was a screaming and a guy had her by the hair."She tried to grab hold of a taxi that was going by and the couple of bystanders went over to ask what was happening. He let go of her hair, pulled out a gun and shot them all."

Another witness said he saw two men run to the aid of a woman who was being dragged by the hair out of a taxi by another man."There was a couple of guys [who came] to assist and after that the guy that was holding her by the hair just eventually gave in and reached out for the gun and shot one of the guys twice and shot the girl and shot the other guy," he said.

One person died at the scene, and two others were rushed to hospital




My friend pointed out to me that people may not feel safe to intervene in some situations and incidents such as this may further show they should not put themselves in harms way. This is a good point and may deter many people. However, instead of physically intervening people could call the police and report the incident. This is what many people fail to do.

http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s1953875.htm