Yet another tale of pure insanity. This one from San Bernardino County:

A 65-year-old Hesperia woman was shot and killed Thursday evening after she and family members confronted taggers spray-painting graffiti on their apartment wall and trash cans.

[snip]

Seutatia Tausili of Hesperia was shot about 8:30 p.m. Thursday after she and other family members approached several people spray-painting their apartment complex on First Avenue.

"All we wanted to know is why they were doing it," said Vasa Ptnesapele, Tausili's grandson, who said he was among the family members who approached the taggers.

"My grandmother was letting them know we were going to call the police. A couple of them started mouthing off to our grandmother. They wanted to fight and it turned into self- defense. Next thing we know, we hear six shots." [LA Times]

This is the second death in weeks related to residents calling out taggers.

In another incident earlier this year in North Hollywood, a young tagger was shot and killed by another tag crew. The incident ignited a flurry of R.I.P-related tags all over the East Valley.

In the City of Los Angeles, tips leading to an arrest of a tagger can land you a thousand dollar reward, but approaching a tagger has proven dangerous. A few years ago, the LAPD found that a 12-year old was tagging while carrying a sawed off shot gun in his backpack.

If you ever see someone tagging, take note, but don't approach. Call 9-1-1 and describe the location and the suspect. Sometimes the best intelligence you can gather is the type of shoes they are wearing. Clothes are easily changed on the run, but shoes are rarely swapped out.

Photo by GypsyRock via Flickr