News that a man who grew up in Natchez is suspected of threatening the U.S. President, a U.S. Senator and a local judge came as a shock to many locals who knew the man.

None of us yet know whether or not Kevin Curtis is guilty of what he’s accused of doing and, of course, he should be considered innocent until proven guilty. That’s how our justice system works.

Regardless of whether or not Curtis is responsible, clearly someone crossed the line from outspoken, letter-writing critic to deadly, national security-threatening criminal.

More than likely, someone close to whoever is responsible knew that the person was becoming unhinged and a potential threat.

Right-minded individuals usually don’t make wildly threatening statements and actions. Often some form of mental illness is at play.

Rarely in such cases do no warning signs or no clues exist. Usually someone knows something is going wrong.

But all too often, we worry too much about being polite. We all look the other way and think to ourselves, “It’s fine. They don’t mean what they say. They’re just talking.”

When such talk turns from merely critical to rambling tirades and rants, we all must learn to step up and call for some help.

Perhaps nothing could have been done to prevent this potentially deadly incident.

If the attack was preventable, the leadership of our nation could have been taken down merely because someone who knew something just didn’t want to get involved.