This past month I was scrolling to social media as I usually do during the evenings when I came across an article that deeply disturbed me: "19-year-old arrested for beating 75-year-old (...) man".

Of course this got my attention knowing all of this occurred in my Hometown. It wasn't until I opened the article to see a picture of my former high school classmate that my heart sank. My face turned pale white. He had attacked a man with a metal bar for firing him from his job.

This kid was always known as a trouble maker. He was a small kid, came up to about my shoulders, and weighed probably no more than 110 pounds. He was a troubled kid, always picking fights with bigger guys and yelling at teachers when they'd ask him to quiet down.

He would often sit next to me for events since our last names were next to each other alphabetically. I knew him pretty well. We would get into arguments often but for the most part we were civil to one another.

You could tell he was a broken kid, I knew he was adopted and had lots of anger inside of him, he seemed to be misunderstood, but I never thought as him to be a terribly violent person.

The next day I got the news that the 75-year-old man had died from the wounds he received during the attack. His wife and daughter were in Taiwan on a mission trip during the attack. They promptly flew home and were by his hospital bedside when he passed away.

It's a very eerie feeling knowing that someone you used to talk to, have conversations with, sit by could be capable of killing a person, much less an elderly man.

My high school classmates and I reached out to discuss our feelings. Mostly disgust, but heartbreak comes along with it. It makes you question the people around you.

Do we really know these people as well as we think we do? My former classmate will (rightfully so) probably spend the rest of his life in prison. We all agree he should, but it takes a toll on all of us. Be careful who you surround yourself with, dangerous people hide themselves in plain sight.