By Juliana McLeod, News correspondent

Imagine that your car breaks down while you are on a drive late at night. To top it off, your cell phone is dead.  There’s no telling how long it will take police to happen across you.

You decide to seek help from someone at a nearby house.

On Saturday, Nov. 2, 19-year-old Renisha McBride found herself in a very similar situation. According to her family, she approached a homeowner’s house in Detroit in search of help.

She received quite the opposite.

McBride was fatally shot in the head, allegedly by the homeowner. No words were spoken between the two, just a shot that ended the teenager’s life.

Though there are some discrepancies in the case, such as the homeowner’s explanation that the gun fired accidentally and that he thought the girl was breaking into his home, this event is a symbol of a different era.

Back before the common use of cellphones, it was a viable option to ask a stranger for help face-to-face since there was no other way to communicate in a situation of distress. However, with the increased use of technology, we have become a society that relies heavily on our phones, tablets and any other devices to be our savior.

Take away that technology from someone and they are not clueless. McBride knew to go to a neighbor for help, which was her only chance of getting assistance. Yet falling back to what was once a safe task was McBride’s undoing.

When did we become a society that justified shooting a gun by hearing a noise on a porch? It would seem that we have come to a point where our instinct is not to call the police, but to take matters into our own hands and add a firearm to the equation.

For a world of people that feel safer with guns, the world is becoming much more dangerous. This brings about the question: What is the line between a safe situation and a risky one?

It very well may depend on the area. For all we know, McBride may have been in a part of Detroit known for robbers that canvas the streets at early morning hours. The noise she caused may have frightened the gunman enough to be convinced the person on his porch was intent on burglarizing his house.

The time is a major factor as well. McBride was shot at 3:40 a.m., according to CNN. This is not a typical time of day to ring someone’s doorbell, looking to come in and make a phone call.

While the timing of McBride’s visit was unorthodox, she was a 19-year-old girl. She sought safety and sitting in a car by herself did not guarantee that safety.

McBride made the mistake of thinking that she could find safety in other people in today’s world. The fact that she could not rely on another person for help in a dire situation is truly sad. A decision to request help ended her life.

If a teenage girl is not safe, how will a teenage boy fare? What about a middle-aged man?

The truth is, there is no way to tell who fits the profile of a criminal. The shooting was provoked by fear; the gunman said he thought McBride was a thief, causing him to protect himself.

By that logic, where is the line?

In this new, shoot first, ask questions later society we live in I can only derive one lesson from this: Always charge my phone before I leave the house.

My phone will never shoot me in the head.

–Juliana McLeod can be reached at [email protected].