Like most people in southern Maine last Wednesday I spent the afternoon at work trying to complete a few last tasks before heading home for the evening. It was almost without concern when a headline appeared that said something like, “Incident causes Saco grocery store to close.” Going back to my tasks I figured that it was an odd smell or a gas leak that caused the commotion.

Thirty minutes later I checked and saw that this incident had now turned into a stabbing. Sometime later it turned into a murder. Since that announcement from Saco, I have been interested in how this could happen. How did a grandmother find herself searching for ice cream one moment and wind up dead the next?

Wendy Boudreau, the grandmother who was murdered, appears in the many news reports in the days since, to have been a wonderful person. She led a good life and was loved by those she came in contact with. Connor Mac- Calister, the alleged murderer, seems to be a deeply troubled individual who may have plotted this attack for some time. Either way, their paths intersected that fateful afternoon and now the lives of many will never be the same.

Besides this senseless killing, Maine has seen several instances in the past two weeks of highly violent, seemingly random attacks. There was the murder of a person in Portland by three alleged attackers. Yet another person was attacked in Portland and left in a coma. A Bangor man was arrested on Thursday in what is being called a case of domestic violence assault. Brunswick has even joined in on the phenomena with an individual, Anthony White, being arrested for beating another man with a baseball bat.

Could this have been avoided? Are there ways to make yourself less of a target while out in the community? What could you do to be less vulnerable? These are also the questions I posed to two local instructors in personal safety.

Mark Holbrook, a personal safety and threat assessment expert, lives in Brunswick and knows the area well. Holbrook said, “… that as random acts of violence increase, the first step to keeping yourself safe is to accept the fact we don’t live in Andy Griffith’s idyllic world called Mayberry RFD.” Someone in Brunswick should have no less a level of awareness than someone in a larger city like Portland.

Alex Armstrong, also of Brunswick and the instructor of the class, “Aware: Intuitive Approach to Personal Protection,” spoke about the recent attacks in Maine. Ms. Armstrong echoed the idea that acts of violence can and do happen here. She spoke of an incident several years ago at a local store where she believed that she was going to be the potential victim of a crime. However, given her training and understanding of what was taking place she was able to thwart the attack and make it to her vehicle unscathed.

In order to avoid a potential attack Ms. Armstrong recommended knowing your environment. She said, “When you go to a drive-up ATM, choose one in a well-lit, busy location. Use your rear view mirrors. Pay attention to whom and what is around you.” Armstrong stressed that being safe may not always be convenient for you, but changing potential victim behavior requires practice. Take stock of your daily patterns and routine. “What am I doing right now that might make me a likely target? What patterns can I change to insure better personal safety?”

Holbrook added that, you need to tune yourself into your own surroundings. An increased sense of situational awareness will serve you well. Know what is around you. Know and recognize who is around you. Notice what those people who are around you are doing. Listening to your intuition and being vigilant is one of the single most important attributes one can have in maintaining their own personal safety according to Holbrook.

Both Armstrong and Holbrook were adamant that staying safe means changing some current activities. You need all of your senses working for you in any environment. This means taking the ear buds out. This means limiting your time on the cell phone. Pay attention to your space and those in it. Pay attention to what is around you.

Not every act of violence is going to be stopped by taking some of these simple steps to increase awareness. Sometimes violence may be unavoidable. For those moments when you can make yourself less of a target of opportunity for an attacker you should do everything you can to make them think twice.

For more information on private classes:

Alex Armstrong can be reached at 800-786-8502 and at facebook.com/awarealex

Mark Holbrook can be reached at (207) 373-1480 or at his website: www.social-work-safety.com

That’s my two cents …

———

Jonathan Crimmins lives in Brunswick.