HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - A 20-year-old man died on the 101 freeway at 8:15 am yesterday; he took a gunshot to the head before his car sailed across five lanes of the freeway and crashed into the divide. Initial reports suggested that the man was the victim of a violent attack, but police are now considering the possibility of suicide. A tragic story is beginning to emerge.
Early Sunday morning, police responded to an emergency call involving an attempted suicide. When officers arrived at the address on the 1800 block of Cordova St., they found Virginia Castillo, 19, had hanged herself. She was taken to hospital and died at 5:48 am. According to reports, Castillo had been arguing with her boyfriend, Marlon Gordillo Sical, 20, and had attempted suicide after Sical had run away. Three hours later, Sical too was dead, and what remained of his Sedan littered the freeway and silenced the busy road in sad memorial.
Police were investigating another freeway shooting in Long Beach when the incident occurred; part of a strain of freeway shootings involving road rage.
This story sounds like a Shakespearean tragedy; a Romeo and Juliet of Hollywood. What could have moved this young couple to such extremes?
Also, why is everyone shooting each other on the freeway?
Some experts say that weather has a correlation to crime. In warm weather, crime rates go up. It's a pretty insignificant correlation; as if sunshine makes people crazy.
The more accurate explanation is the simplest. Los Angeles is a difficult place to live. The divide between the rich and the poor leaves one half bitter and the other half scared. The tension is as clear as the transience and superficiality of the city. Nothing lasts. Not even the people. They either move up, into the hills, or down, into the dirt. There is no in between, no comfort in limbo. There is Compton, and there is Beverly Hills, and both are perpetuated by the stereotypes that live in the mind of Angelenos. This is a tough place to call home. As Jack Kerouac wrote: "L.A is the loneliest and most brutal of American cities."
Lonely. Brutal.
A fight for survival on a physical and spiritual level.
In a city of extremes, life and death are executed extremely. There is so much drama, and so little solace.
Dedicated to Virginia Castillo and Marlon Gordillo Sical. May they rest in peace.
Early Sunday morning, police responded to an emergency call involving an attempted suicide. When officers arrived at the address on the 1800 block of Cordova St., they found Virginia Castillo, 19, had hanged herself. She was taken to hospital and died at 5:48 am. According to reports, Castillo had been arguing with her boyfriend, Marlon Gordillo Sical, 20, and had attempted suicide after Sical had run away. Three hours later, Sical too was dead, and what remained of his Sedan littered the freeway and silenced the busy road in sad memorial.Police were investigating another freeway shooting in Long Beach when the incident occurred; part of a strain of freeway shootings involving road rage.
This story sounds like a Shakespearean tragedy; a Romeo and Juliet of Hollywood. What could have moved this young couple to such extremes?
Also, why is everyone shooting each other on the freeway?
Some experts say that weather has a correlation to crime. In warm weather, crime rates go up. It's a pretty insignificant correlation; as if sunshine makes people crazy.
The more accurate explanation is the simplest. Los Angeles is a difficult place to live. The divide between the rich and the poor leaves one half bitter and the other half scared. The tension is as clear as the transience and superficiality of the city. Nothing lasts. Not even the people. They either move up, into the hills, or down, into the dirt. There is no in between, no comfort in limbo. There is Compton, and there is Beverly Hills, and both are perpetuated by the stereotypes that live in the mind of Angelenos. This is a tough place to call home. As Jack Kerouac wrote: "L.A is the loneliest and most brutal of American cities."
Lonely. Brutal.
A fight for survival on a physical and spiritual level.
In a city of extremes, life and death are executed extremely. There is so much drama, and so little solace.
Dedicated to Virginia Castillo and Marlon Gordillo Sical. May they rest in peace.
1 comment:
Oh, you make me so sad because I was so excited when I moved as a teenager from San Diego to L.A. It was "up", it was bigger, and it had Hollywood in it. I guess I was lucky because it was decades ago. I read what it has become but I was saddened to read your tale of a simple tragedy of two real people. Keep writing, but I do hope you find more hope there... otherwise I just say "God help them". Thanks. A Fan.
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