Police: Man who ran over and killed firefighter mad over traffic delay

A 22-year-old Michigan man allegedly told police he intentionally ran over and killed a local firefighter because he was “angry with the firefighters collecting money for charity and slowing traffic,” according to court documents obtained by the Lansing State Journal.

Yes, people are loosing it. From the rash of recent shooting and other senseless killings, to this.

Lansing police Detective Lee McCallister said that several firefighters, including Rodeman, told Taylor about the fundraiser they were participating in for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the International Association of Firefighters.

Taylor alleged in his interview that the firefighters mocked him during the encounter, the AP reported.

Court records state that Taylor then honked and threw an apple core at the firefighters before driving off, turning around, and heading back toward them, hitting Rodeman.

He was angry with the firefighters for slowing traffic while collecting CHARITY money? What the hell? Is there a reason for this or did this man simply "snap?" I guess we better now have a national discussion about CARS, since this man used a car to kill someone.

But wait, according to another source:

The Lansing 22-year-old, who has a history of mental illness, is charged with murder

Taylor's mother, Karen Taylor, petitioned Ingham County Probate Court twice in the past two years to involuntarily hospitalize him for mental health reasons, the newspaper reported, citing court records. Psychiatrists who evaluated Taylor diagnosed him with psychosis and bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

Once again, we have an apparent *serious* mental illness, seemingly unchecked, that results in a death. Is the mental illness the reason, or any possible medication that he may have been on—or may have been off of.

So, involuntarily hospitalized for psychosis and bipolar disorder, plus others. Had he had a GUN, *some* people would be saying guns are the issue. But since he had a CAR, are those same people going to say cars are the problem, or will they finally recognize that MENTAL ILLNESS is the issue.

Mental Illness is an issue that some people are too quick to dismiss and ignore. And here we have ANOTHER incident.

Link 1 Buzzfeed
Link 2 AP
Link 3 Lansing Journal

My god, condolences to the firefighters family, I fear this type of thing is going to become more common, they aren't going to solve the problem either..it will cost money.

It's time that all cold blooded murderers are removed from the planet. This event is beyond anything to can be remotely tolerated.

a reply to: vonclod

Yes, and this:

Rodeman, whose wife was pregnant with their first child, later died at a hospital.

:/ So sad, such a shame. Poor wife.

Your story is a heartbreaker. There's no shortage of mental illness to go round. Sounds like their family weren't getting the help they needed. That's no justification, I know. That firefighter will be remembered as a hero and rightly so. Again, not defending the young man, but I would guess this could have been avoided, had he got the help he needed.

This guy was an obvious loon but......

I have thought on several occasions that the fire fighters should not be in the road collecting money.
One distracted driver equals one dead fireman.
It was going to happen eventually.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
This guy was an obvious loon but......

I have thought on several occasions that the fire fighters should not be in the road collecting money.
One distracted driver equals one dead fireman.
It was going to happen eventually.

This driver wasn't distracted. Quite the opposite, he was focused ON and targeted the firefighter.

Usually, though, firefighters collect at intersections and stop signs where traffic slows or is halted, and usually move away from traffic when the light is green.

But, yes, odds are that eventually one will be hit by a *distracted* driver.

a reply to: Liquesence

Yeah I said he was a loon. I'm just saying it seems like a big risk to be out in traffic. There is very little room for error.

a reply to: Liquesence

Is this another side effect of the Virtual Reality Syndrome, where people start believe the narcissistic world they build in their minds, then find validity and support for their fictitious world on the internet?

Violence and killing have become acceptable means for conflict resolution on the internet. How often do you see the posts that are filled with bravado, and offer violence or killing as their first choice for righting a wrong? How often do you see the post where the poster feels that his rights and safety come before all others, and he/she is justified in their actions of removing the source of their aggravation or fear? Of course, this is done with anonymity so the poster feels safe to spout anything without fear of consequence.

People with immature and impaired minds are sometimes unable to separate the wheat for the chaff. They attach to the visceral response that the virtual world of the internet is designed to elicit, and act on this feelings with behavior they have conditioned themselves to believe appropriate.

It is all about conditioning. Whether subliminal or in your face, the programming and conditioning is taking place all around us. Whether we are aware of it or not. Whether awake or asleep, it is a problem we have to decide how to address.

I'd like to see the resident pro motor vehicle crowd defend this one. If only we had banned motor vehicles this never would've happened. Especially since he has mental illnesses. It definitely wouldn't have happened if cars were just banned.

Rant over.

Terrible story. The last time my locals were out "filling the boot" they ended up with a couple of cruisers parked with them to handle traffic and keep them safe, thanks to some close calls on one of the busier roads. What a god awful story this is.

Hate to read about such a waste of life, I can't imagine what it's like losing a loved one to such a stupid cause of death... just like that.

But on the point you're making: I live in a country where firearms are heavily regulated and where there're relatively few, and we don't have the mass shootings like those that unfortunately happen in the USA. The last time we had one, (if I recall this correctly) it was actually because firearm regulations failed and a person who most obviously shouldn't own any kind of weapon still pretty easily managed to get one and committed mass murder. However, we DO have people who suffer from mental illness, just like anywhere else, but given how firearms aren't really a part of daily life and our perception, the violence occurs far less often and far less severe. Of course, one individual European country is smaller in terms of population than the entirety of the USA, but even Europe-wide, it's much less of a thing, even though one can kill using a car, or a kitchen knife, or a cleverly placed hole in a staircase...

a reply to: Pitou

So maybe that says more about our society and mental illness than it does about firearms? Since the guy in the OP used a car and not a gun. He didn't apparently premeditate anything because it was an act of passion triggered by circumstance and aided by his psychosis. You said that

The last time we had one, (if I recall this correctly) it was actually because firearm regulations failed and a person who most obviously shouldn't own any kind of weapon still pretty easily managed to get one and committed mass murder.

That's the same here. The laws/regulations fail, so crazy people get them. Or the all out contradictions people face in society, in the media, and in their lives every day "short circuit" people's brains and they "snap."

The prevalence of mass murder in the US is not *because* of guns, because mass murder happens everywhere, by long people with knives, or swords, or bombs, or guns, or by whole governments.

Why does it happen in the US more? Not *because* of guns, but maybe because....society. And failure to address the mental illnesses it creates because of how society here is?

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: Liquesence

Is this another side effect of the Virtual Reality Syndrome, where people start believe the narcissistic world they build in their minds, then find validity and support for their fictitious world on the internet?

Violence and killing have become acceptable means for conflict resolution on the internet. How often do you see the posts that are filled with bravado, and offer violence or killing as their first choice for righting a wrong? How often do you see the post where the poster feels that his rights and safety come before all others, and he/she is justified in their actions of removing the source of their aggravation or fear?

I think you're correct in your first paragraph, and to address your second paragraph I think that it becomes about "control," plain and simple. I've posted similar things, but essentially one becomes ultimately in "control" when one decides to kill someone because it reaffirms and solidifies their position of being in control when things are out of their hands or not going the way they had hoped. The "last word," so to speak.

So, on the one hand we have (mentally ill) people whose virtual, made-up words bleed into real life and the lines between the two are blurred, and on the other hand we have people who have been conditioned by the virtual and manufactured world to be in control (and are therefore mentally ill by default conditioning), thereby taking things into their own hands to maintain control.

So, on the one hand we have (mentally ill) people whose virtual, made-up words bleed into real life and the lines between the two are blurred, and on the other hand we have people who have been conditioned by the virtual and manufactured world to be in control (and are therefore mentally ill by default conditioning), thereby taking things into their own hands to maintain control.

a reply to: Liquesence

It gives you something to think about doesn't it?

How did a piece of equipment that was supposed to give us control over our lives end up being the device that controls us?

I'm just saying. Not looking for an answer.

He didn't apparently premeditate anything because it was an act of passion triggered by circumstance and aided by his psychosis.

Given he drove off, turned around and returned to run over some one would tend to show premeditation. If the person is so mentally damaged that he couldn't know hitting someone with a vehicle would likely cause death then why was he even allowed to be out in the world and driving no less.

This is such a horrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends through this hard time.

Here is the part that caught my attention

Taylor's mother, Karen Taylor, petitioned Ingham County Probate Court twice in the past two years to involuntarily hospitalize him for mental health reasons, the newspaper reported, citing court records. Psychiatrists who evaluated Taylor diagnosed him with psychosis and bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

TWICE his mother tried to get him help. TWICE she petitioned the courts asking that they help with his mental health issues. He had been diagnosed with psychosis and bipolar disorder along with other mental illnesses. We know that we have a mental health issue, why not address it? To me this is made all the more tragic because it was avoidable. Every day people ask
"How could we have prevented this"
"How could we have stopped this before it started"

Address the mental health issue that is tearing this county apart!

Lets face it, currently, we are damned if we do, damned if we don't when it comes to mental illness in this country.
I've been through the court system here in MI, trying to get help for my son's issues when he was younger. That is the biggest, saddest joke there is.

But yet, how many of these kids, killing people, are actually on some kind of "mental illness" medication?

I've been following this story, since it is so close to home, literally.
This boy may have had issues, and may have needed help.

But you don't argue with someone, then drive past, turn around, and intentionally run someone over, without knowing what your doing.

Just seems to me, that many of our youth today, are broken. And we need to seriously concentrate on finding a way to fix them.

originally posted by: roadgravel

He didn't apparently premeditate anything because it was an act of passion triggered by circumstance and aided by his psychosis.

Given he drove off, turned around and returned to run over some one would tend to show premeditation. If the person is so mentally damaged that he couldn't know hitting someone with a vehicle would likely cause death then why was he even allowed to be out in the world and driving no less.

That's not exactly premeditation. Given *that* definition of it, almost anything can be argued as premeditation. Had he gone home thought about it and returned later, yes, but the fact that it apparently happened almost immediately after he drove off. At least that's the impression I get reading the article.

And he apparently wasn't too mentally ill to know that hitting someone wouldn't kill them, because he did it for that reason—in an act of passion as he was enraged and immediately following the exchange of words with and subsequent apple throwing at the firefighter.

Road rage is generally not considered premeditated.