365个英语简短小故事-246. Man Shoots Up Post Office

A 36-year-old man stormed into the Ramona post office yelling at everyone to get out of his way. Carrying a shotgun, he climbed up onto the countertop and told everyone to lie on the floor. Then he pulled the trigger and fired a round into the ceiling. Plaster splattered onto the floor and the customers.

The man ordered all the customers and employees to sit up and look at him. He said, "Repeat after me: I hate the post office!" Everyone repeated the words. He fired another round, but this one he aimed at the front plate glass window. Shattered glass went everywhere.

Three minutes later, five police cars pulled up in front of the post office, lights flashing and sirens wailing¹. Using a bullhorn, a police officer told the man to walk out backwards² with his hands up. The man fired another blast out the shattered window. The police officer and his bullhorn were uninjured. However, one police car had three little pit marks in it.

The man yelled, "I'm not coming out until the post office pays me for pain and suffering. A postal³ truck ran into my car two years ago. My back is killing⁴ me. I can't work anymore. My wife left me. I can't take it anymore."

After a while, the man calmed down. He released all the people inside. At 7:00 p.m., the man walked out backwards with his hands up. The police handcuffed him, put him in the back seat of the car, and drove him to the police station.

A post office official said that they had tried to settle with the man out of court, but he refused anything less than a million dollars. "So the whole thing went to court," he said. "I guess he got tired of waiting for the trial to begin. He'll probably go to jail for a few years because of this stunt⁵."

 

1 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

2 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

3 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。