If Only

By Mad Dog
Published: Oct 22, 2009

Strolling through his Camden, New Jersey neighborhood in 1949, Howard Unruh killed 13 people in 20 minutes. He was a quiet guy, a World War II vet who lived with his mother; he could never explain his killing spree. Last week, he died. From his obituary: “Mr. Cohen fled to the roof of his apartment… as his wife, Rose, 38, hid in a closet and pushed their son Charles, 12, into another closet. Mr. Unruh shot Mr. Cohen in the back, sending him plunging to the street. He also shot Ms. Cohen, firing through the closet door, and Minnie Cohen, 63, the druggist’s mother, as she was trying to call the police from a bedroom. Charles Cohen was unharmed.” I get the meaning of that last phrase, but the line stayed with me. Charles Cohen, unharmed? Really?