30 Nov 2003 Police Shoot, Kidnap Citizen — or Maybe Not

Either the Associated Press needs to hire better editors, or the Baltimore police need to find less violent officers. Or so I conclude after reading an article in the Washington Times, part of which I reprint here:

County police are investigating the incident as a shooting and kidnapping with assistance from Baltimore police, Mr. Vinson said.

More seriously, the story is about a kidnapping victim who went to a house looking for help after being released by the bad guys. As it happened, the house belonged to former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripkin, who called the police. (A local TV station has said calling the police makes Ripkin a “hero.” No. He did the right thing, but it takes more than that to be a hero.)