Another shooting tragedy...

[Tuckins1]

My heart goes out to those who were affected by the crazed gunman who opened fire in a Colorado theater.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-dark-knight-shooting-20120720,0,2147749.story

Scary, there are nut jobs everywhere!

 

[Christina...]

This is the scariest and saddest story that I have ever heard! My hearts go out to the victims and their families.

 

[armywife13]

The whole situation is very scary and saddening. My heart goes out to all those who are affected by it.

I believe I read in an article that the shooter was sitting in the parking lot after the shooting and didn't resist arrest...weird. I wonder(and kind of assume) the shooter had some level of mental instability, apparently he had some major life changes in the last few months including dropping out of med school. It's no excuse for his actions, but maybe a little insight into what caused this.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/20/12854157-ap-colo-movie-theater-shooter-is-medical-school-dropout?lite

 

[Jennifer W]

I am so sorry to hear of this, so saddened for those who lost their lives or were injured. Thoughts and prayers are with their families at this very dark time.

 

[ame]

Just insane. Insane! What brings someone to this point, I will never get it.

I find myself focusing on the side story in this stuff though, such as why in the hell a 3 month old baby was in the movies, besides the inconsiderate behavior of a parent inflicting a baby on a bunch of other paying customers, there's no reason why a 3 month old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, should be in a PG13 extremely violent film at midnight. No one expects such an event to occur but these children would be home safe (asleep at that hour or not) and out of the way of such an event had the parents thought beyond their own desires to see a film at midnight on opening day. I just cannot wrap my head around why a parent would bring their kid to that in the first place. It just happens that this time a seemingly mundane event brought a lunatic with an armory on his person into their lives.

 

[labellavita81]

Just insane. Insane! What brings someone to this point, I will never get it.

I find myself focusing on the side story in this stuff though, such as why in the hell a 3 month old baby was in the movies, besides the inconsiderate behavior of a parent inflicting a baby on a bunch of other paying customers, there's no reason why a 3 month old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, should be in a PG13 extremely violent film at midnight. No one expects such an event to occur but these children would be home safe (asleep at that hour or not) and out of the way of such an event had the parents thought beyond their own desires to see a film at midnight on opening day. I just cannot wrap my head around why a parent would bring their kid to that in the first place. It just happens that this time a seemingly mundane event brought a lunatic with an armory on his person into their lives.

I was thinking this EXACT same thing....

 

[iheartscience]

So awful.

My hope is that instead of everyone wringing their hands over what a tragedy this is, it starts a conversation about gun laws. I'm no anti-gun liberal (grew up with a hunting dad, a gunsmith grandfather, and I actually own a couple of guns myself that I was given as gifts), but this type of tragedy is getting way too common.

 

[TravelingGal]

Just insane. Insane! What brings someone to this point, I will never get it.

I find myself focusing on the side story in this stuff though, such as why in the hell a 3 month old baby was in the movies, besides the inconsiderate behavior of a parent inflicting a baby on a bunch of other paying customers, there's no reason why a 3 month old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, should be in a PG13 extremely violent film at midnight. No one expects such an event to occur but these children would be home safe (asleep at that hour or not) and out of the way of such an event had the parents thought beyond their own desires to see a film at midnight on opening day. I just cannot wrap my head around why a parent would bring their kid to that in the first place. It just happens that this time a seemingly mundane event brought a lunatic with an armory on his person into their lives.

Well, I won't make a comment on that specifically, but I spent my earliest years in the US in Aurora. My aunt and my cousin still live there, and I wondered for a minute if I need to call them (but I would have heard this morning from my mom if anything was wrong). Then I heard it was a midnight showing and thought that my cousin wouldn't be there (hopefully) since he has a 6 year old son.

 

[justginger]

This is a terrible tragedy, and like everyone else, I can't conceive events that would lead to this point.

That being said, there have been multiple posts on my FB about it...and how there is 'no better proof' for the need of concealed weapons. Because panicked civilians with loaded guns would have resulted in LESS damage?

 

[iheartscience]

This is a terrible tragedy, and like everyone else, I can't conceive events that would lead to this point.

That being said, there have been multiple posts on my FB about it...and how there is 'no better proof' for the need of concealed weapons. Because panicked civilians with loaded guns would have resulted in LESS damage?

Jesus. Yes, panicked civilians with guns in a dark theater would have solved everything.

 

[decodelighted]

You know ... this guy had AN APARTMENT FULL OF EXPLOSIVES. He could have probably injured/killed as many people with a single bomb placed in the center of that theater. For me, it's not about the weapon of choice -- it's about the mental health system that's probably failed here. His mom's "not surprised"? REALLY?!!! And about the fact that pure evil exists.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

You know ... this guy had AN APARTMENT FULL OF EXPLOSIVES. He could have probably injured/killed as many people with a single bomb placed in the center of that theater. For me, it's not about the weapon of choice -- it's about the mental health system that's probably failed here. His mom's "not surprised"? REALLY?!!! And about the fact that pure evil exists.

Deco, I'm with you on this one... I think this young man would have carried out his plan one way or another. It's clear he was mentally unwell. This was a well thought out attack I live very close to this theater and am compulsively checking for a list of victims' names and am praying, wishing, and hoping I don't see the names of anyone I know, especially past/current students. My thoughts are with all the families of the killed and injured. I so sincerely hope this act is not repeated anywhere else. It's so, so sad.

 

[Laila619]

You know ... this guy had AN APARTMENT FULL OF EXPLOSIVES. He could have probably injured/killed as many people with a single bomb placed in the center of that theater. For me, it's not about the weapon of choice -- it's about the mental health system that's probably failed here. His mom's "not surprised"? REALLY?!!! And about the fact that pure evil exists.

Ditto.

Guns or no guns, this a$$ would have found some way to cause all this damage and ruin lives. He is sick.

I'm especially hoping that 3 month old baby pulls through. So incredibly tragic.

 

[decodelighted]

My hope is that instead of everyone wringing their hands over what a tragedy this is, it starts a conversation about gun laws. I'm no anti-gun liberal (grew up with a hunting dad, a gunsmith grandfather, and I actually own a couple of guns myself that I was given as gifts), but this type of tragedy is getting way too common.

I hope it starts the conversation about the state of the mental health system in the country. We don't know exactly what this guy's situation is yet ... so I don't know for sure that there's anything that could have been done from that standpoint in this case. But that's my primary concern when it comes to *cases like this*. Not, as I said earlier, the particular *weapon of choice*. You take away one thing, you open the door for other, equally dangerous ones to take their place. People who are intent on causing harm & chaos always seem to find a way to do so. How many crazed killers do you think moped away from a gun store kicking sand w/their shoe, their evil intentions diffused by too much paperwork?

 

[AGBF]

For me, it's not about the weapon of choice -- it's about the mental health system that's probably failed here.

No one wants to pay for mental health. The states closed down the state psychiatric hospitals and "deintitutionalized" the patients...often into the parks and gutters. The fine citizens of each state refuse to have their taxes raised to help "the poor" (like the people in the gutter who include a lot of traumatized Vietnam, Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan War veterans).

My last job as a social worker was providing psychotherapy at a religious based agency in a large, very poor city in Connecticut. The agency was so poor that it could not afford to hire me for any more hours unless I brought in more revenue, but none of the clients who came in to see me had any revenue. No one on the regular agency payroll had had a raise in years and everyone worried about the daily needs of the clients we were supposed to be seeing for mental health problems. On my own time I wrote letters to bad ladlords and asked attorney friends to intervene on the behalf of my clients because, unlike in social service agencies, in this mental health clinic each hour had to be billed to insurance. And insurance doesn't want to pay for anything, certainly not extra services besides psychotherapy!

The insurance companies rule the world. In the old days one walked into a doctor's office and saw two doctors and one nurse/secretary. Now one goes in and there's one doctor and four women handling phones and insurance forms. It's just outrageous how much paperwork has to be done so that insurance companies can deny claims and keep their expenses down.

Taxes low for the rich. Insurance companies profits high. Mental health and social service system broken. The poor screwed.

AGBF

 

[AGBF]

I hope it starts the conversation about the state of the mental health system in the country.

deco-

We were writing at the same time. Your posting certainly started the conversation about mental health here in this thread!

Deb

 

[miraclesrule]

Well, it will get interesting once we understand more about him. He had a moderately privileged upbringing by the looks of things so far.
I always find it somewhat fascinating that the mass shooters are usually young, white, educated males with a upper middle class background.

 

[decodelighted]

http://adultfriendfinder.com/p/member.cgi?&&mid=315520407_66669

 

[Dancing Fire]

You know ... this guy had AN APARTMENT FULL OF EXPLOSIVES. He could have probably injured/killed as many people with a single bomb placed in the center of that theater. For me, it's not about the weapon of choice -- it's about the mental health system that's probably failed here. His mom's "not surprised"? REALLY?!!! And about the fact that pure evil exists.

Ditto.

Guns or no guns, this a$$ would have found some way to cause all this damage and ruin lives. He is sick.

I'm especially hoping that 3 month old baby pulls through. So incredibly tragic.

really sad!!.what the hell is wrong with the parents?... why did you take your baby to a mid night show when the baby should be in bed...

 

[sstephensid]

Just insane. Insane! What brings someone to this point, I will never get it.

I find myself focusing on the side story in this stuff though, such as why in the hell a 3 month old baby was in the movies, besides the inconsiderate behavior of a parent inflicting a baby on a bunch of other paying customers, there's no reason why a 3 month old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, should be in a PG13 extremely violent film at midnight. No one expects such an event to occur but these children would be home safe (asleep at that hour or not) and out of the way of such an event had the parents thought beyond their own desires to see a film at midnight on opening day. I just cannot wrap my head around why a parent would bring their kid to that in the first place. It just happens that this time a seemingly mundane event brought a lunatic with an armory on his person into their lives.

Seriously? This sounds very heartless.

It is not the parent's fault for having their children there. Don't you think they are going through enough grief and regret without judging them? They didn't take the kids to a wild party with drugs and thugs. They went to a movie theater. It almost sounds like you are BLAMING the victims :/. - If only the parents weren't so selfish and desired to see a midnight movie, their kids would be home safe -

Would I have a 6 or 9 year old at a midnight movie? I don't know. Probably not, but then again it is summer, they could have napped during the day or sleep in today to make up for it. Maybe they made an exception for a child's birthday present or bravery for enduring a tonsillectomy or who knows! It doesn't matter if the movie was at 5 pm showing of Little Mermaid or a midnight Batman. Plus, maybe the 3 month old can sleep through a tornado and who cares if it is *violent* the baby is 3 months old. Does it matter if he/she slept in the carrier at a theater or slept in a crib at home?

I am sure these poor parents will never forgive themselves for going to that movie. But it is NOT their fault, and I would never want them to feel that way. I would never want them suffer so much guilt and on top of it, realize the general public blames them too!!

Regardless, it is a horrible, horrible tragedy. I feel for everyone involved.

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="sstephensid|1342826308|
I am sure these poor parents will never forgive themselves for going to that movie. But it is NOT their fault, and I would never want them to feel that way. I would never want them suffer so much guilt and on top of it, realize the general public blames them too!!

Regardless, it is a horrible, horrible tragedy. I feel for everyone involved.[/quote][/quote]


they are irresponsible parents!! .. like they couldn't wait till the next day to find a baby sitter before they go to see that movie.

 

[ksinger]

Just insane. Insane! What brings someone to this point, I will never get it.

I find myself focusing on the side story in this stuff though, such as why in the hell a 3 month old baby was in the movies, besides the inconsiderate behavior of a parent inflicting a baby on a bunch of other paying customers, there's no reason why a 3 month old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, should be in a PG13 extremely violent film at midnight. No one expects such an event to occur but these children would be home safe (asleep at that hour or not) and out of the way of such an event had the parents thought beyond their own desires to see a film at midnight on opening day. I just cannot wrap my head around why a parent would bring their kid to that in the first place. It just happens that this time a seemingly mundane event brought a lunatic with an armory on his person into their lives.

Seriously? This sounds very heartless.

It is not the parent's fault for having their children there. Don't you think they are going through enough grief and regret without judging them? They didn't take the kids to a wild party with drugs and thugs. They went to a movie theater. It almost sounds like you are BLAMING the victims :/. - If only the parents weren't so selfish and desired to see a midnight movie, their kids would be home safe -

Would I have a 6 or 9 year old at a midnight movie? I don't know. Probably not, but then again it is summer, they could have napped during the day or sleep in today to make up for it. Maybe they made an exception for a child's birthday present or bravery for enduring a tonsillectomy or who knows! It doesn't matter if the movie was at 5 pm showing of Little Mermaid or a midnight Batman. Plus, maybe the 3 month old can sleep through a tornado and who cares if it is *violent* the baby is 3 months old. Does it matter if he/she slept in the carrier at a theater or slept in a crib at home?

I am sure these poor parents will never forgive themselves for going to that movie. But it is NOT their fault, and I would never want them to feel that way. I would never want them suffer so much guilt and on top of it, realize the general public blames them too!!

Regardless, it is a horrible, horrible tragedy. I feel for everyone involved.

Yes, I can think of any number of reasons to NOT take a child - especially a young one - to a midnight screening of any movie - bad for keeping the child on a schedule (and there is NO making up for lost sleep, as those of us who lose it know quite well), potentially distracting and irritating to others, etc., but avoiding a mass-murderer is NOT one of them. This could just as easily happened in the middle of the day after all, since it's not like there is a "Psychopathy for Dummies", or tips for non-psychopaths on how to avoid them. I am more than willing to place responsibility for most things pertaining to their children squarely on the shoulders of parents, but protecting them from something so completely off-the wall and nigh-unimaginable as a mass-shooter is NOT one of them.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Needless to say, this is a horrific tragedy. But even when there are signs that a person is disturbed mentally, there is absolutely no way you can just have them committed to a mental institution just because you are concerned about strange behavior or words. It was the same with the VA Tech shooter. Hindsight is easy. One thing that disturbs me is that today young people watch sooo much violence and play R rated violent video games that a few of them seem to have some degree of desensitization to killing and some who are mentally ill go on to do very sick things. I have read some about the Dark Knight movies and how sadistic and violent they are.

And while no one should ever fear for their safety in a movie theater, I am sorry, I have to agree with those who said...what kind of parent takes a young child to an extremely violent movie anytime, but especially MIDNIGHT???!!! PG-13 means 13 and up! I am surprised the theater even allowed an infant in there just because an infant might disturb other customers.

 

[sstephensid]

they are irresponsible parents!! .. like they couldn't wait till the next day to find a baby sitter before they go to see that movie.

So? Because they saw a late night movie, they are at fault for a maniac (possibly) killing/injuring their child? That is absurd.

The worst thing that should have happened is 1. the kid cries/disturbs others 2. the kid is sleep deprived and is a grumpy brat the next day 3. the kid has a nightmare from the "violence"

Those three consequences, yes the parent should be held responsible. But being murdered by a gunman? No, they are not at fault. Do you really believe that? If so, how?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

they are irresponsible parents!! .. like they couldn't wait till the next day to find a baby sitter before they go to see that movie.

So? Because they saw a late night movie, they are at fault for a maniac (possibly) killing/injuring their child? That is absurd.

The worst thing that should have happened is 1. the kid cries/disturbs others 2. the kid is sleep deprived and is a grumpy brat the next day 3. the kid has a nightmare from the "violence"

Those three consequences, yes the parent should be held responsible. But being murdered by a gunman? No, they are not at fault. Do you really believe that? If so, how?

Yes, that is right. They are irresponsible for taking their children out to an inappropriate movie at midnight. No one including Dancing Fire has said they are responsible for a maniac coming in killing people. But, like I said above, PART of the problem of escalated violence in young people in this country is because they are exposed to so much violence. The parents are at fault to the extent they allow young children to be exposed to it.

 

[Sha]

Such a sad and senseless tragedy. I feel so disturbed by the whole thing.

As far as I've read, there's no evidence yet that he was mentally impaired.

I agree that this kind of thing is becoming way too common. I don't live in the U.S, but I'm for gun control laws. It just boggles my mind that someone can go into a store and buy a gun with relative ease. Guns are killing machines. They make it so easy to carry out senseless carnage. And yes it's people to have to shoot the guns...but guess what? There will always be evil people out there (or vindictive, or angry, or mentally impaired). A segment of the gun-having population will not behave responsibly. If we accept this, we have to accept that this segment of the population + relatively easy access to guns = very dangerous combination. How many more of these incidents have to happen before something changes?

 

[Skippy123]

So awful.

My hope is that instead of everyone wringing their hands over what a tragedy this is, it starts a conversation about gun laws. I'm no anti-gun liberal (grew up with a hunting dad, a gunsmith grandfather, and I actually own a couple of guns myself that I was given as gifts), but this type of tragedy is getting way too common.

you know that is my exact thoughts!!! for sure sad but we need to take action in order for these things to no longer happen! I read reports that he had somewhere between 3 or 4 guns or rifles, etc.

 

[marym]

This is just so incredibly awful. I actually grew up in Aurora, so this definitely hits close to home. I feel so sorry for the all of the victims families.

 

[sstephensid]

they are irresponsible parents!! .. like they couldn't wait till the next day to find a baby sitter before they go to see that movie.

So? Because they saw a late night movie, they are at fault for a maniac (possibly) killing/injuring their child? That is absurd.

The worst thing that should have happened is 1. the kid cries/disturbs others 2. the kid is sleep deprived and is a grumpy brat the next day 3. the kid has a nightmare from the "violence"

Those three consequences, yes the parent should be held responsible. But being murdered by a gunman? No, they are not at fault. Do you really believe that? If so, how?

Yes, that is right. They are irresponsible for taking their children out to an inappropriate movie at midnight. No one including Dancing Fire has said they are responsible for a maniac coming in killing people. But, like I said above, PART of the problem of escalated violence in young people in this country is because they are exposed to so much violence. The parents are at fault to the extent they allow young children to be exposed to it.

Perhaps no one has directly said that. However, it seems odd that instead of focusing on those that are injured and dead; some have focused on the fact that the parents brought kids to the movie. Of all of the horrible things that happened, who can focus on the fact that the parents *may* have been a tad irresponsible?

It just seems a little cold to me. I am sure these parents feel guilty. Their kids may be injured or dead, do we really need to ADD to that? Do these parents really need people talking about how irresponsible they were?

In the grand scheme of things, as proven by this incident, a little parent irresponsibility- such as staying late at a movie is NOTHING. At this point, who has the energy to worry that the kids shouldn't have been to the movie, but instead worry about justice, quick recovery for those who are hurt, sorrow for the families who have lost someone etc.

 

[FrekeChild]

Needless to say, this is a horrific tragedy. But even when there are signs that a person is disturbed mentally, there is absolutely no way you can just have them committed to a mental institution just because you are concerned about strange behavior or words. It was the same with the VA Tech shooter. Hindsight is easy. One thing that disturbs me is that today young people watch sooo much violence and play R rated violent video games that a few of them seem to have some degree of desensitization to killing and some who are mentally ill go on to do very sick things. I have read some about the Dark Knight movies and how sadistic and violent they are.

And while no one should ever fear for their safety in a movie theater, I am sorry, I have to agree with those who said...what kind of parent takes a young child to an extremely violent movie anytime, but especially MIDNIGHT???!!! PG-13 means 13 and up! I am surprised the theater even allowed an infant in there just because an infant might disturb other customers.

You realize, of course, that the only published articles about "desensitization" due to "media violence" are in popular media, right? There have been plenty of academic studies on this subject (Marilyn Manson and Grand Theft Auto = Columbine ring a bell?) and so far, in peer reviewed academic literature, there is no discernable link between media violence and actual violence.

This really hits for me. I work with a lot of depressed, schizophrenic, sociopathic, psychopathic, etc, people in what I do every single day, and most of them are absolutely harmless. My husband studies crime, so I know far more about this subject than I care to.

This, and other related senseless tragedies, is something far beyond mental illness. It is the individual. It is not video games, mental illness, Marilyn Manson, etc. Sure, those could be contributing factors, but so could a lot of other things.

(For the record, I happen to really enjoy the newer Batman franchise. I have always loved Batman in all of his incarnations, but this is a comic that is and always has been dark. It is about someone who is a vigilante who goes after the bad guys, he has money, fancy crime-fighting toys and a secret underground fortress. Why does he go after bad guys? Because he watched a dude mug and kill his parents in front of him. Dark? Absolutely. Sadistic? No. Violent, yes. Batman is NOT a happy camper, he's out to kill bad guys so they stop hurting innocent people. He kills bad guys including bad guys with mental illness (Arkham Asylum ring any bells? The Joker? the Riddler?). These are gritty, dark, not for the light hearted, movies, and they are far more real and more like the comic than the previous incarnation's antics (Uma as Poison Ivy? Val Kilmer as Batman? George Clooney as Batman?!). Please don't knock a franchise until you've seen it. Heresy is heresy.)

Since it has been brought up, speaking as a mom to an 8 month old who happens to be a pretty big Batman fan, I wouldn't take my kid to go to a movie theater until she's old enough and mature enough to watch the movie herself. I don't want to deal with an infant who is hungry/wet/poopy/tired/can't sleep/whatever during a three hour movie. I'm not paying $10+ to watch a movie and have a kid interrupt it. So I happen to agree. I think it was totally irresponsible to take those children to go see that movie at that time. Why couldn't they have gone to the first showing in the morning? I am NOT blaming the parents for the kids getting shot at(I don't see that anyone has or would do this, I think you're being a drama queen on this point sstephensid) and a mentally unstable person invading the safety zone of a movie theater. But responsible parents would have left their kids at home with a babysitter, or at grandma's, OR would have gone to see it the next day.

No one is to blame. I'm not even sure that this dude has any psychological disorders to blame. It is a senseless tragedy and I'm sure someone is thinking they could have somehow prevented it (maybe his mom?) but how do you prevent something if you're not even sure it will happen? Why put a social stigma on a person when you're not 100% you're preventing a tragedy?

Which is part of the reason mental institutions have been...done away with. The social stigma of being labeled with mental illness. So, instead those people are on the streets, incarcerated (often not for violent crimes!) and in my office. I agree, mental illness has been swept under the rug entirely too much in this country.

ETA: Interesting:
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/201... Content=Earned to Original=1&__utmk=89745752