Cosmic Trigger in Indiana: 23s at 2:30 am

The 23 phenomenon is strong in this one, grasshoppers. There was a shooting in which 7 people were injured in Broad Ripple.

Was it a ripple in the cosmic trigger of our realities? Or did the cosmic trigger go off in a name game involving Broad Ripple.

For some background on this 23 weirdness, see my Boing Boing contribution, "RAW Week: 23 Skidoo + 5 -- Robert Anton Wilson Again, By Loren Coleman." Wilson died 7 years ago.

Broad Ripple Village is one of six areas designated as cultural districts in Indianapolis, Indiana. Located about six miles north of Downtown Indianapolis, Broad Ripple was established in 1837 as an independent municipality and annexed to the city of Indianapolis in 1922. The neighborhood has a reputation for being socially, economically, and ethnically diverse and is thus generally associated with its vibrant social scene and progressive political attitudes. The area is where talk show host David Letterman, astronaut David Wolf and social activist author Dan Wakefield (Going All the Way, 1970) grew up.

Broad Ripple's position as a cornerstone of Indianapolis youth culture and nightlife is a result of its thriving bar scene and the near presence of Butler University. Staying true to the neighborhood motto "we're open if you are," numerous Broad Ripple bars and restaurants remain open as late as 3am - often on weekdays as well as weekends.

The shooting that injured seven people in Broad Ripple began at 2:30, near the intersection of Broad Ripple and Carrolton avenue. It seems to have began as an argument between two individuals, with bystanders being hit, "rather than a target mass shooting," Indianapolis Police's Troy Riggs said.

Several police were on duty in the area, and immediately went to the aid of the victims.
"They were making tourniquets, acting as professionally as can be expected," Riggs said.
As the officers gave aid, one man carrying a gun was seen trying to put a .45-caliber Bersa into a car. Lawrence Jones, 23, Indianapolis, was preliminarily charged with possession of a handgun without a license. But police do not consider him a suspect in the shooting, though they will continue to probe that possibility.
Otherwise, Riggs said, police have no solid leads or firm descriptions of the gunman.

What is remarkable is how often the number "23" comes up in this 2:30 am shooting.

Six men and one woman were injured in the shooting. Dontay Harris, 23, Indianapolis, was the most seriously injured, and was taken to St. Vincent Hospital in critical condition. The other victims had "non-life threatening" injuries, said IMPD Lt. Christopher Bailey.
The other injured were listed in a police report as:
Antell Garnett, 23, Indianapolis, was sent to Eskenazi Health.
Duran Simmons, 23, Indianapolis, taken to Eskenazi.
Betty Jean Antwi, 23, Fishers., went to Methodist Hospital.
Joshua Kyner, 26, Indianapolis, refused treatment but later drove himself to Community East Hospital for stitches.
Marcus Clayton, 23, Indianapolis, status not clear.
Stacy Lamont Griffin, 23, Indianapolis, went to Methodist Hospital.

The Indianapolis Star, nevertheless, called it a mass shooting, in the context of listing it with other "mass shootings" in the area. Source.

This was the second mass shooting in Broad Ripple in the last year. On Aug. 2, a 26-year-old Westfield man shot four people following an altercation at a bar in the 6200 block of N. College.
...
In another public mass shooting, 17-year-old Shamus Patton fired into crowds at two Downtown locations on July 17, 2010, striking nine victims ages 10 to 19. Patton was thought to be a member of the Ratchetz Boyz street gang in the Martindale-Brightwood area, and some of his shots appeared to be directed at rival gang members.
...
Less than a month after the downtown shooting, eight people were shot in the 1200 block of West 32th Street. Two people who had been attending a birthday party were killed in that shooting. Witnesses said a man stepped out of a car in front of a house, put on a black ski mask and sprayed the house and its front yard and backyard with up to 30 rounds from an assault rifle. The carnage left 54-year-old Charles Mays, Indianapolis, dead of a gunshot wound in the front yard, next to a bicycle he used to try to flee the barrage of bullets. In the backyard, Barbara Johnson, 37, was fatally shot in the back as she ran away along with about 40 other guests at the birthday party and barbecue.
Indianapolis also has been plagued in recent years by violence as large crowds gather to celebrate the Fourth of July.
In 2013, 16-year-old Monquize Edwards was fatally shot on a packed Downtown street after the July 4 celebration. Police found Edwards' body at Maryland and Meridian streets after the fireworks show.
Eron Bonner, 18, Indianapolis is charged in the shooting. Witnesses told police they saw Edwards and Bonner face off on the streets. Moments later, a witness saw Bonner pull out his gun and then saw that Edwards had been shot, according to a probable cause affidavit. Both teen were believed to be members of two rival gangs: Bonner of the Grimmie Boyz and Edwards of the Homicide Goonz.
In 2011, two teens were shot Downtown after the fireworks show. A third teenager reported to police that he was beaten by a group of men near the Downtown Canal. And in a fourth incident, a report of shots fired near the Downtown Hyatt Regency sent dozens of people into a parking garage, scrambling for cover.

Touch+23+5

Interestingly, the new series Touch (from Heroes creator Tim Kring) screened their pilot on January 25, 2012. It happened to be the same day that Boing Boing, coincidentally, also decided to publish my essay, "23 + 5: Robert Anton Wilson Again."

As I wrote, "The 23s, 33s, and yes, 11s, heighten our awareness of the twilight language surrounding us."

Touch goes there too.


Touch is an American procedural and science fiction television series written and created by Tim Kring and starring Kiefer Sutherland. Fox officially picked up the series for a 13-episode season in September 2011. The series premiere is scheduled for Monday, March 19, 2012, Kiefer Sutherland's old 24 spot, with a preview on January 25, 2012.
Here are the characters, and their plot lines, thusfar:
Kiefer Sutherland as Martin Bohm – a former journalist and luggage handler whose wife was killed in the September 11 attacks.
David Mazouz as Jacob "Jake" Bohm – a mute boy who is obsessed with numbers and can predict future events. Mazouz will also serve as the narrator of the series.
Danny Glover as Professor Arthur DeWitt – an expert on children who possess special gifts when it comes to numbers.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Clea Hopkins – a social worker who is sent to do an evaluation of the Bohms’ living situation.
Roxana Brusso as Sheri – a former biker and the director of the facility that Jake attends.
Karen David as Kayla Graham – a woman who works at a call center and whose dream is to become a singer.

Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland), is a widower and single father who is haunted by an inability to connect to his emotionally challenged 11-year-old son Jake (David Mazouz). But when Martin discovers that Jake can predict events before they happen, everything changes.


Will it be worth watching to see how the notion that "connecting the dots" can have favorable outcomes? The challenge is, can a form of narrative visual fiction about numbers and the twilight language be created for television, similar to the movies Knowing and The Number 23, without episodes ending in constant disasters? That is, something with a bit more humanity beyond Numb3rs.


"What Touch is trying to sell viewers, in the words of Kring, is 'social benefit storytelling.' Now, that’s different. What he means is that Touch will mostly (but not always) be infused with hope — that the interconnectivity of people in the universe can be used for good, that it can produce positive results (as the pilot clearly proves through a series of international, interconnected storylines set off by Jake’s numbers)," wrote Tim Goodman in The Hollywood Reporter.