London falling
There certainly has been some disturbing events occuring recently over in the UK. Two bombings on a mass transit system of late, and a massive hunt for the suspects have kept things pretty much on edge. Police presence has naturally been stepped up, and people are preternaturally aware of anyone moving about suspiciously.

Well, last Friday we had our first report of someone gunned down in a police chase. I had heard that police had chased down an unknown suspect and, after he tripped and fell, they shot him while he was on the ground 5-6 times. Now, while this would certainly sound like an example from a totaliaristic state, in light of what is going on there, I can understand their caution. Suicide bombers will have the explosives on them, and could trigger them at any moment. In order to be safe you have to 'take them down' before they can detonate.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the suspect was an innocent man, but apparently one without much hint of common sense:

Blair said Menezes had emerged from an apartment block in south London that had been under surveillance in connection with Thursday’s attacks, and refused police orders to halt. Menezes had also been wearing an unseasonably heavy coat, further raising police suspicions.

I can understand wearing suspicious clothing, but I can't understand what would possess someone to run from the police during this tension. The first line that leaped to mind was from Top Gun -- it reminds me of the line Goose quotes when envisioning the condolence letters from their deaths in the mock combat, "The Defense Department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were stupid."