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Criminals rule, in part because the Second Amendment rights have been oppressed. If Zapp had been armed, I have no doubt Leahy would have been another passing "bringing a knife to a gunfight" joke.

The late Mrs. Harpseal and Ioften stopped at this rest area when traveling through Massachusettes. Several years ago despite the prohibition on carrying firearms in Massachusettes when Mrs. Harpseal had been required to travel alone during the wee hours of the morning she had stopped at this same rest area When a male entered the ladies room we presume to prey upon her he did have a knife he found himslef staring down the barrel of a .357 magnum (4 inch barrel) He made some noises about he got in the wrong restroom and left. Due to the nature of the MA gun laws Maryann did not contact the PD.

As for the policeman, O'Riley, why did he let Leahy out of that restroom alive? Leahy had a knife, there was a dead body on the floor, this LEO did not exercise good judgement in dealing with the perp. He should have blown him away.

Once more we are dealing with MA where hadc the policeman shot he would have been crucified by the court system there

With regard to your experience, it was not atypical:

TROUBLE IS COMMON AT REST AREA

by Margaret Boyle; (Brockton) Enterprise Staff Writer; July 20, 2002

Bridgewater police have responded to the two Route 24 Rest Areas 31 times this year, and that number doesn't include times the state police have been summoned

(excerpts)

"We have had some pretty wide-ranging problems out there," said Bridgewater Sgt. Christopher Delmonte. "You can have those problems anywhere, but the number of calls we have there is disproportionate to similar type businesses in town."

The incidents range from everything from medical emergencies to fights inside or in the parking lot," Delmonte said. "We have had employee thefts, stolden vehicles, domestic disputes, drug searches."

The bulk of the calls to the rest areas are handled by the state police, who do not keep track of incidents at the two spots. But Bridgewater police are often called directly or asked to assist state police and, since 2000, have investigated 165 incidents.

The cases have ranged from a 15-year old boy who escaped from a Department of Youth Services van in 2000 to attacks on state and local police investigating allegations of sex and drugs in a south-bound rest area bathroom in 2001. Earlier this year, police were called after an employee fired from one of the businesses in February threatened someone with a knife.

"It is attractive for people who want to be anonymous," Delmonte said. "It attracts transients, and it attracts local transients as well. It is a good place to get lost in the crowd."

The rest areas are well-lit, boasting familiar names such as Burger King, which may give people a false sense of security. But the spots are also open 24-hours a day, drawing the same problems other late night businesses may draw.

(the rest of the article pretty much duplicates articles in other newspapers)

Just a few comments. This is the only stop on the highway from Boston through Southeast Massachusetts and down to Newport RI. There should be an expectation that it is secure. The number of incidents is shocking; people who have to use that road will be asking some real hard questions why there wasn't greater scrutiny over the workforce, especially in light of some of these reported incidences. Some poster mentioned Brockton, as this is an adjoining town. This area is south of Brockton and there is no Brockton connection here (which is, indeed, not a place where one would take a midnight stroll).

The shock around here, among people who use that road and those rest areas, is profound. This woman didn't do anything out of the ordinary; she was killed by someone who never should've been working there. I think, as a taxpayer, there should be an expectation that an area like this is kept safe...problems are incredibly common there.