Thread: Massacre at Virginia Tech

Massacre seems to be the only appropriate word.

Here is the story.

Someone started shooting at a college in Virginia today, over 30 dead, more injured. It seems the shooter chained the doors. My prayers for all of those affected, the families and friends of those killed or injured, and for everyone who lived through this.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

Though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Psalm 46:1-3

Over the next few weeks, we will learn more about this than we want to know, the gunner’s life story will be discussed with zeal, the media and politicians will have a field day, arguments over everything under the sun that can be linked to this incident will arise. But more than thirty people are dead right now and however hard we may try to rationalize and understand it, over thirty seats will be empty next time the families of the victims sit down to eat dinner and there is no good reason why to be found anywhere on earth. And that is the important thing to remember in all of this.

I cannot imagine what the families of the slain are going though, or the grief of their friends at suffering such senseless loss. Nor can I comprehend the trauma of the survivors. My thoughts and prayers go with them.

Michael

Well said, Michael.

-Lou

That's horrible. I still have no idea what would possess a person to take such deliberate and violent action and how they could get their hands on a firearm. My heart goes out to the families of the victims.

One of my co-workers suggested that I must be proud, that Texas is no longer the "worst" (the shootings at the University of Texas). All I could think of was that I couldn't be "sadder" (more sad). My heart, thoughts, tears and prayers go out to all of those effected by this atrocity. Recently, here in Salt Lake City, we had a shooting in which many were killed at Trolley Square, a shopping mall. What a sad state this world has reached.

RT

What really gets to me when these things happen is that some crazed S.O.B. couldn't just end his own life if he thought it wasn't worth living. He just had to go and kill innocent people that hadn't done anything to him. It's as if people like this believe that they're victims; that their lives failed because of a perception that everybody else was persecuting them and they thought this was their only way to fight back against it. It's really sad especially when many of these shooters give warning signs that are fairly obvious to people that know what to look for.

A massacre indeed, and one that saddens and worries me very much! Especially with the warning signs that the teachers saw in his writings... maybe it could have been prevented. I don't even think I can see him as a human being. I have kids and I may be paranoid but I am afraid for them

I understand he was mad at "rich kids" - and the decay of morals...

I am not sure if he suffered from these, and it is possible that he did. We'll never know, unfortunately. This certainly does not justify what he did.

It just baffles me what can drive a person to do such a thing
Ivo

I heard on the radio the other day that the school knew he had problems and was a risk already, but due to certain civil-rights litigation from the past the schools have no power to expel him from school unless he has already committed a crime or been ordered by a court(?-think that's what they said) to resident mental care, regardless of the risk they presume him to be. So the school HAD to let him keep coming, even after knowing he was dangerous, for fear of violating his civil rights....which, incidentally....he is/was not a citizen, which opens other questions, but still.
Figures.
John P.

Originally Posted by izlat

A massacre indeed, and one that saddens and worries me very much! Especially with the warning signs that the teachers saw in his writings... maybe it could have been prevented. I don't even think I can see him as a human being. I have kids and I may be paranoid but I am afraid for them

I understand he was mad at "rich kids" - and the decay of morals...

I am not sure if he suffered from these, and it is possible that he did. We'll never know, unfortunately. This certainly does not justify what he did.

It just baffles me what can drive a person to do such a thing
Ivo

This is a touchy subject so I'll tread carefully.

From the footage that was aired yesterday, it is obvious that he was a severely disturbed person, but we don't yet know how he ended up like that.

Just to play the devil's advocate: it is entirely possible that he has been picked on by his peers. that, together with existing problems could have been enough to break him.
I agree that what he did is horrible, but perhaps not beyond understanding how he ended up like that.
Combine anger for always being picked on and not fitting in with a feeling of defeat and hopelessness, and this is what happens every time. Maybe without the anger he'd simply have killed himself.

People who have never been bullied and picked on usually cannot understand the impact that has on a persons reasoning and mental state.

Belgium's most famous lawyer Jef Vermassen (who is also widely respected despite always trying murder cases) wrote a book 'murderers and their motives' based on 20 years of study of different murder cases.
It was sold out before it hit the stores. I managed to get a 3d print.
Jef was once scolded by the public attorney that normal people do not kill, and that he'd never have done what the defendant did.
A couple of years later, HE was the defendant in a murder case.

If you think that it is impossible for you to end up like that, think again. There is a murderer inside everyone.

But what amazes me is that a mentally unsound person like him was able to buy 2 handguns.

Originally Posted by Bruno

But what amazes me is that a mentally unsound person like him was able to buy 2 handguns.

There is a background check that all gun sellers (legal) do to check on a person's background. This guy had been ordered by a judge to get mental help as he was a danger to himself and others -----I don't know if this should have been posted so the gun seller would know ---

The bureacracy of government and educational systems always tends to drop the ball and information is rarely exchanged efficiently --- maybe that happened here (wouldn't surprise me).

To me, the guy could of chosen to use a gun, a car, a bomb, whatever to do what he did --- that's the end game but he fell through the cracks for years and nothing was done. He was stalking girls, teachers made note of him to administrators, he was deemed a threat to himself and others by a judge, --but nothing was done.

I think you need to ask yourself what has changed in American society over the last fifty years or so. (1) Gun ownership ? --- no --- guns have always been around and it use to be easier to obtain legally than now (2)family life (?) --- yeah there's been considerable loss there --- fathers not around, lack of respect for the traditional family, lack of respect in general (3) violence in culture? -- yeah --- too much of it I think --- from video games to Hollywood (4) work ethic, sense of entitlement; ? -- yeap --- to me most young Americans think they are owed everything and have a sense of immediate entitlement ---- if someone else has it better than you then it's their fault not yours - anything else ? -- I don't know if anything can describe why this guy would murder 32 people --- but he did fall through the cracks.

On the gun thing, the vast majority of crimes are committed by illegaly obtained firearms. There are no background checks for these and if an individual wants a weapon then he can get it --- just like you can get drugs easy in the U.S. no matter how regulated and illegal they are. The authorities can't even stop drug and illegal transactions within a high security jail ---- for most things regulation is a pipe dream that hurts good citizens who obey the law and promotes and gives power to the criminals who never will. Moreover, it always amazes me how the most visible people who want to regulate guns ( high society liberals and Hollywood types) are the same people who promote things in movies and society that lead to a crumbling of the traditional family and basic societal well being.


Justin

Originally Posted by jaegerhund

... Moreover, it always amazes me how the most visible people who want to regulate guns ( high society liberals and Hollywood types) are the same people who promote things in movies and society that lead to a crumbling of the traditional family and basic societal well being.


Justin

Interesting insight, Justin, and food for thought.

-Lou