Sunday, September 28, 2008

Minnesotans stabbed while in China for Olympics

On August 9th Todd and Barbara Bachman of Minnesota were victims of a stabbing that took place in Beijing during the summer olympics. Todd was killed and Barbara was hospitalized with serious injuries. The Bachmans were visiting a tourist site called the Drum Tower and the Chinese man attacked them with a knife and then committed suicide by throwing himself from the second story of the site.
Todd and Barbara are the parents of a former Olympian Elizabeth Backman who is married to the men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. They are also the parents of my former 1st and 2nd grade teacher Sarah Bachman.Surprisingly the olympic officals said the two weren't wearing any clothing that would have shown they were involved with the United States Olympic Team and people came to the conclusion that the horrible actions that took place at the summer olympics were out of pure cruelty.

When I read about the events that had taken place I was shocked. Its so sad to think about what a dangerous world we live in and how anything can happen at any given time. Because of this horrific crime many Olympic fans lost their Olympic spirit, including myslef. I find it depressing that something like this can happen and ruin the esscense of something as special as the Olympics.

- Laney Sheehan

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