For those of you reading these things thinking, "Oh, I don't know anybody who has had this happen to them. This could never happen to me or anybody I know". 11

For those of you reading these things thinking, "Oh, I don't know anybody who has had this happen to them. This could never happen to me or anybody I know". 11 years ago, Steven Fountain, a friend of mine, a programmer / systems administrator I met when I was working at Napster who suffered from schizophrenia was shot to death by police in Campbell, California. He had called the police in a moment of confusion and despair. I had just interviewed him for a job at a company where I was working two weeks earlier, and was trying to convince my boss to hire him even though he was quirky, not quite realizing how bad his emotional state was until talking to his ex-gf at the funeral. http://www.mydeathspace.com/article/2007/11/09/Steven_Fountain_(24)_was_shot_and_killed_by_police_because_the_officer_thought_he_was_wielding_a_knife http://www.mydeathspace.com/article/2007/11/09/Steven_Founta... Edited for clarity and date accuracy