Desperate times call for desperate measures. In the era of pandemic, millions are fearful of what the disease could do to them or their loved ones.
Most will await what fate has in store for them. However, it seems that a small minority may look for a more immediate way out, whatever the cost may be to others.
Certainly, such an impulse seems to be at the heart of the harrowing story of a New York City man who apparently wanted the police to kill him to put him out of his misery.
The NYPD announced the arrest on Thursday of a man who lunged at them with a knife and a gun.
Ricardo Cardona, 55, of Zerega Avenue in the Bronx, was charged with attempted assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing a police officer.
Cardona, who had tested positive for Covid-19, was shot by police in the Westchester Square section of the Bronx on Wednesday after he was warned multiple times to drop his weapons while continuing to approach and threaten the officers.
Two officers opened fire on Cardona, striking him in the torso. He was rushed to Jacobi Hospital in a stable condition. The officers were treated for ringing in their ears.
Cardona feared he was going to die from his infection because he is overweight and diabetic, according to a report in the New York Post.
He called 911 at around 4 a.m. on Wednesday to report a man with a gun inside his building lobby, police sources said.
Police answered the call and discovered Cardona carrying a gun and a large knife that looked to be covered in blood. It later turned out that the blade had been smothered in ketchup and the firearm was an antique.
Of course, cops were not to know any of that in the heat of the moment as they arrived on the scene.
Cardona ignored repeated requests to drop his weapons, and continued to threaten the officers, police sources said.
Two officers then opened fire, shooting nine times and striking him four times, hitting him in the back and hip
As he was rushed to Jacobi Hospital, the stricken Cardona told first responders that he had tested positive for the virus the day before.
The two police officers were uninjured.