Gunman fails to attract attention of smartphone users

[Hilander]

San Francisco police allege that on September 23, Nikhom Thephakaysone shot and killed college student Justin Valdez while they were getting off the train.
The randomness of the alleged murder is made more troubling, according to investigators, because of video evidence that demonstrates that although Thephakaysone openly brandished his .45-caliber pistol, commuters were too engrossed in their smartphones to notice.


San Francisco train gunman fails to attract attention of ‘overly engrossed’ smartphone users | The Raw Story

I don't see how anyone could miss someone waving a gun around even if you were using your phone at the time. People need to be aware of whats going on around them it could save your life. If someone had gotten their head out of their butt for 5 seconds and called police a man might still be alive.

 

[idisrsly]

As much as I hate to admit it, this could easily have been me as well. When I am on the train, I am either so deep in my book, or I am on my phone (GF :lol, and only concentrating on that. I switch off into whatever I am doing. I do this intentionally. I wouldn't be able to follow my book if I didn't switch the people around me out. So I guess I understand how this could happen.

 

[CaptainObvious]

It's crazy to me how engrossed people are with their phones. I check my phone too when I'm in public but I'm constantly looking around and I'm aware of my surroundings. I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

[Smelnick]

I'm guilty of this when I'm on the bus. Its boring on the bus, so I tend to play games on my phone the whole time. I do look up from time to time to make sure I'm not missing my stop and stuff, but I won't lie, I probably wouldn't have noticed the gun at first either. Other than on the bus though, I don't find that I engross myself in my phone too much.