Readers React: An empathetic woman defused the Trader Joe’s hostage crisis. Take note, LAPD

To the editor: I have been waiting for two weeks to read a report on the four heroes who averted a potential massacre on that fateful day at the Silver Lake Trader Joe’s: shoppers MaryLinda Moss and Mike D’Angelo, and store employees Victor and Josie. Robin Abcarian’s column about them was absolutely riveting.

Moss, who spoke with empathy to suspected gunman Gene Atkins, was the right person in the right place at the right time. Because of these people’s compassion and willingness to put their own lives at risk, the Los Angeles Police Department officers at the scene did not kill anyone else besides store manager Melyda Corado.

Our new police chief needs to learn something from this incident. Moss is a hero to her community and to the city of Los Angeles.

Lesley St. James, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: Abcarian’s beautifully written account of Moss’ tender presence in the Trader Joe’s I’ve used for decades underscored what I thought was probably happening as the crisis was underway.

The huge police presence I encountered at Hyperion Avenue and Griffith Park Boulevard indicated something had gone horribly wrong. Watching the tense standoff for the next two hours on live TV, I thought, if this young man had ended up in South L.A., he’d be dead by now. It was because this unfolded in Silver Lake that he had a chance to survive.

I knew that the people of Silver Lake were somehow impacting the situation, but little did I know that a beautiful soul was choosing to be in just the right place at the right time, and was skillfully guiding the outcome.

I hope Moss is doing OK. I wish her well.

Karen Pokraka, Silver Lake

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To the editor: Thank you for publishing the article about Moss and the way she helped resolve the terrible crisis in Silver Lake. It broke my heart reading that Atkins “told her he’d wished he’d met her sooner,” and that he “just needed someone to talk to.”

Each of us can respond to our society’s problems with fear, violence or isolation, or we can respond by seeking out those who are different from us or who scare us — the “least of these,” in Jesus’ words. There are so many who need us — and we need them too.

Jon Allen, La Crescenta

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