A crime that shocks the senses: Shooting children and staff to death in their school
Updated Saturday with DeKalb Schools statement:
The shootings in Newtown have deeply shaken people everywhere. I continue to see numerous Facebook postings expressing shock, grief and anger, and it is the first thing people mention wherever I go in Decatur today. Many people cry as they talk about the mass murder of 20 children and six adults at the school.
In addition, my local school system sent out an advisory today about to talk to children here about the deaths of children, teachers and administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
We are a nation in crisis today over this. And a nation unsure of what to do next.
Back to the original posting from yesterday:
There are simply no words. A gunman opens fire in a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school and kills 26 people, many children in first grade.
Twenty children are among the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary, a school of 700 in Newtown, a small town in Connecticut, about 65 miles from New York City. The gunmen, who committed suicide after his rampage, is 20-year-olds. Adam Lanza died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but not before killing his mother Nancy Lanza at home and then driving to the school in her car, according to news report. (The details of this horrific story are changing by the hour as more information is released.)
Earlier reports were that Nancy Lanza was a teacher at the school but that is now in question. She is not on the faculty list at the school.
Lanza’s violent rampage through the school this morning left 20 young children and six adults dead there. All told, he shot and killed 27 people before turning the gun on himself.
My husband’s sister lives in this picturesque town and teaches at the middle school. I have not talked to her but my husband has exchanged messages with her. I cannot imagine the grief and horror as families learn that their beloved child is among the victims of this psycho.
Among the responses:
DeKalb County Schools:
In light of the tragedy in Connecticut, the DeKalb County School District has asked all school administrators and staff to review their safe school and emergency plans. School resource officers and campus supervisors will continue to be highly visible at their assigned schools to provide maximum security for staff and students. We will continue to communicate with the different police departments in the district to provide support as needed. The safety of students, staff and visitors is our top priority in the DeKalb County School District, and we are dedicated to ensuring that our public schools remain the safest places for our most precious resources -our children
President Obama:
This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.
We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would — as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.
This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight. And they need all of us right now. In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans. And I will do everything in my power as President to help.
Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need — to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours. May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.
John Barge, Georgia state school superintendent:
We at the Georgia Department of Education grieve with the victims and families of the senseless tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Generally speaking, schools are safe places for students, but these kinds of incidents remind us to always keep school safety at the forefront. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School community.
Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund:
What is it going to take to stop the craziness of gun violence in this country when every three hours a child or teen is killed by a gun? What is it going to take to make the politicians stand up and put sensible gun laws in place so we don’t have to mourn the horror of more senseless deaths of young children murdered at an elementary school? Once again we are faced with unspeakable horror, and once again we are reminded that there is no safe harbor for our children. How young do the victims have to be and how many children need to die before we stop the proliferation of guns in our nation?
We can’t just talk about it and then do nothing until the next shooting when we will profess shock again. This latest terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is no fluke. It is a result of the senseless, immoral neglect of all of us as a nation to fail to protect children instead of guns and to speak out against the pervasive culture of violence. It is up to us to stop these preventable tragedies.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan:
School shootings are always incomprehensible and horrific tragedies. But words fail to describe today’s heartbreaking and savage attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As the father of two children in elementary school, I can barely imagine the anguish and losses suffered today by the Newtown community. Our hearts and prayers go out to every parent, child, teacher, staff member, and administrator at Sandy Hook and the surrounding community. And our thanks go out to every teacher, staff member, and first responder who cared for, comforted, and protected children from harm, often at risk to themselves. We will do everything in our power to assist and support the healing and recovery of Newtown.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten:
The entire AFT community is shaken to its core by this massacre of young children and the educators and school employees who care for and nurture them. Twenty children and six adults were shot and killed today in one of the worst school shootings in history. We grieve for them all, and our prayers are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School community and all of Newtown, as well as the AFT nurses caring for victims at Danbury Hospital, following this heinous act. I just got off the phone with Newtown Federation of Teachers President Tom Kuroski, and pledged to do everything we can to provide support and comfort to the students, teachers, administrators, their families and everyone in this community grappling with this trauma.
Our thanks go out to all of the first responders for their efforts to ensure the safety of all the students and staff. In this horrible moment, there were also extraordinary acts of courage by school staff to lock down the school and protect children.
We’ll never be able to prevent every senseless act of violence, but our children, educators and school employees go to school believing it is a safe sanctuary. We’ve been through this too many times. Everything we can do, we must do, including a renewed focus on gun control and preventing gun violence.
To all of those statements, I can only offer an amen.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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139 comments Add your comment
Put in Timeout by Ken Suguira,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned by Bill King, Chip Towers & only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 14th, 2012
10:02 pm
One GUN allows many people to be killed, but 2 Guns allow many people to survive.
Put in Timeout by Ken Suguira,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned by Bill King, Chip Towers & only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 14th, 2012
10:04 pm
We took the BIBLE out of school. You know Bibles are given out in JAIL but can’t be in our schools. Maybe if Bibles were in our schools then we wouldn’t need so many Bibles in our jails.
Private Citizen
December 14th, 2012
10:15 pm
I attended a Moslem funeral in Britain one time. A child had been run over by a police car, killed, and it was the policeman’s fault. The father’s stance was submission to the will of God. There was no blame to the police from the family. It was a very formal funeral, police were there as well. In the Moslem tradition, the child’s body was wrapped in clothe and there was no coffin. The funeral was outdoors at a cemetery grave site, very proper, very British. A ceremony was made and the child’s corpus was lowered into the grave. The only difference was the absence of coffin, wrapped white clothe instead (non materialistic). The father was a professional. It was a pretty high-end funeral, pardon me. It was really a beautiful experience to attend and to this day I am stunned? by the father’s devotion and faith, which was completely silent and also respectful to the officer who had the misfortune of committing the error to such effect for this family.
Old South
December 14th, 2012
10:17 pm
a once in a lifetime crime that in all likelihood will never be repeated, it is not the baseline in which to set policy
No, in fact there have been other elementary school targets. There are so damn many mass shootings you can’t keep up. Carlsbad CA elementary was hit by one of these guys not long ago.
The bottom line is America as a nation is the most advanced, rotting, nation ever to exist.
ellen
December 14th, 2012
10:20 pm
Why does anyone NEED automatic weapons, assault style guns? I’m OK for people having guns, but why have one that can kill masses of people? Is it really necessary in private hands? What say you NRAers?
Why not sell rocket launchers, tanks and bombs to private citizens? Where do we draw the line?
Babe
December 14th, 2012
10:21 pm
How do mentally people access guns? Why do we let this happen?
David Granger
December 14th, 2012
10:30 pm
How ironic that…when those brave teachers shepherded their students in the corner (so they wouldn’t be readily seen) and tried to calm and comfort them…when they all held hands and prayed, they were violating school system policy.
Private Citizen
December 14th, 2012
10:34 pm
Dave, “response team” is a term used in the school house. It means certain people are trained in dealing with unusual situations. Generally, it means a “response” to a student who has gone off the rails, includes training in how to do restraint, etc. appropriately, care for the student, etc. Maybe it includes medical response training as would be appropriate to health situations, coordinating building staff who already have this medical training, that sort of thing. -Some story on the news, I think in Texas, kid falls out on the floor, someone rushes and get a defibrillator, saves the student’s life, that sort of thing.
bootney farnsworth
December 14th, 2012
10:46 pm
to all of you who are using this tragedy, today, to shill your stupid assed political points
GROW THE HELL UP. WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?
there are grieving families trying to figure out how they will have the strength to go on tomorrow, and you trolls are playing political ping pong? in a whole lot of ways you are sicker than the animal who did this. in theory, you are supposed to know better. obviously not.
there is a time and place for the discussion you vultures want to have. but its not today.
Kevin
December 14th, 2012
11:02 pm
Dave, specifically, what gun control laws would you propose?
Because CT already has some pretty strict laws.
It’s easy to say therevsould be more laws. It’s harder to say what you would actually do.
Too bad that doesn’t stop morons like you from thinking before you post.
Forrest Gump
December 14th, 2012
11:40 pm
Our society can partially be blamed for this. This coward had no conscience. You don’t develop a conscience if you live a life with no consequences. We live in a society where parents don’t won’t their kids disciplined. We preach that we must be positive all the time and that kids must succeed in everything they do. Guess what that isn’t possible and then when a kid is faced with failure he can’t handle it.
Life is not alway fair and easy. Then when we raise kids making them believe it is and they find out it isn’t they can’t handle it. I hope the ACLU and the liberals that have pretty musch taken the ten commandments out of everything are happy. You may have played a big role in what happened today. The old school way is a hell of alot better than the new school way, no pun intended. We didn’t have idiots like this out there then.
O'Hanion
December 15th, 2012
12:08 am
It is with great sadness that our country hears of the tragedy that befalls our nation. Where we are all inclined to get on our political soap box regarding the pros & cons of the 2nd Amendment ,I think it is more important to come together as a nation and pray for the victims of this senseless slaughter.Satan is walking amongst and testing our faith. Shall we not bend to anger and blame but trust in Jesus our savior. Let satan the jaded angel not win by weakening our faith but wipe out evil with love , hope and faith. Remember what is written “Peace on earth and goodwill toward men”
Middle school teacher
December 15th, 2012
12:54 am
This is so heartbreaking and I cannot fathom the loss these parents are feeling. As a teacher, I have to admit that I have some concerns about several of my students. There are a few who we know are capable of “losing it” at any moment. I don’t think about my safety very often, but this tragedy is forcing me to reflect on the safety of my students and myself. I have to wonder if our administrators will be more diligent in addressing the actions of the students who are clearly dangerous and not just give them a warning and send them back to class? I know I am thankful every day for our resource officer. She is very visible around our campus…and yes, she has guns that are also visible.
Ask the Lord Back
December 15th, 2012
2:17 am
Hosea 4:6
New King James Version (NKJV)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
Kujohn
December 15th, 2012
2:22 am
I don’t understand why is this a big story
This is a small price to pay for our right to bear arms the 2nd amendment
What’s the big deal its the new normal
Please don’t say prayers for the victims
Please support the NRA
GOD BLESS AMERICA
BANG BANG
true sorrow
December 15th, 2012
4:58 am
@dave
CT has done that; very strict gun control, but from what I understand the shooter took legal firearms from his mother; so not even placing a more strigent age policy on firearms would not have worked; there was a fire station near the school it was “around the bend” why didnt he go in there?
The sorrow I feel for the families and the anguish I have for the shooter has lead me to voice my concerns that something must be done, because we all know it will happen again even if there is gun control; the next time it may be bombs like in the Bath school incident or homemade carnage similar to the Cologne school massacre
Can school security be improved, YES. there has to be a better plan than to huddle in a corner
Andy
December 15th, 2012
6:17 am
Parents who bring a mentally ill child into this world are responsible for that child’s well-being for the rest of his life. Guns and security are not the issue here. Bad parents are. His father had not seen him since June? Unbelievable!
Tanner G
December 15th, 2012
6:23 am
Shame on our legislators for their pork barrel spending – driving our nation into bankruptcy – while failing to protect the youngest and most defenseless among us! Shame on our legislators and community leaders for prohibiting prayer in schools and pandering so pathetically to special interests with no sense of courage whatsoever. Shame on us as a society – as we fail on a daily basis to draw a line in the sand clearly defining right from wrong. A simple metal detector with a school resource officer assigned to it could have prevented all of this, plain and simple. But, as our federal government spends it way into an abyss from which we cannot return – tens of millions being spent to get elected into a high political office, and as we have witnessed prior mass killings in schools – we do nothing to prevent future incidents other than passing zero tolerance rules for students that have gotten a few 10 year olds busted for bringing pocket knives and BB guns to school. It is disgusting and it reflects our lack of moral integrity as a society. What’s more – it takes a mass homicide of small school children to finally get the Connecticut Governor to call for us to pray for those families. NOW it’s okay to pray! Unbelievable! We need only look into the mirror as a nation of people to see who is ultimately responsible for this – and we must admit that to ourselves prior to enacting new ways to prevent these tragedies.
Tanner G
December 15th, 2012
6:40 am
bootney-
Our political beliefs, views, and values reflect who we are as a society. Like it or not, it is politics that creates the governing framework for our communities across our country. So, when you say we are pigs for taking this moment to express our “politics” – in essence, you are saying that we shouldn’t express our beliefs, views, and values. You are the reason we have this gargantuan mess in front of us. My friend, if we cannot express ourselves during such a tragic moment as this – when is the time? We need to face reality and make some changes soon to slow the occurrence of these events way down. I know I have asked our Lord (I will admit here that I am a Christian) to be with those who have experienced a loss here. I think it is okay in the same forum for people to express their frustration with the fact that only vote buying lip service has been offered as a solution for this up to this point. Our judges and lawyers are worth protecting with metal detectors, but our school children are not? That’s preposterous!
Fun Size
December 15th, 2012
7:08 am
This story made me cry and still does as I wake this morning. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. The fact that so many are young children makes it even more heart breaking. I hope that God will comfort those directly impacted and watch over the rest of us.
Let others here discuss the cause and effect, laws, etc, In one interview I heard yesterday, a person was asked “How can God let this happen?” and the answer made me think :For many many years now, the USA has been focused on keeping God out of our schools. He did not load that gun or drive to the school to shoot innocent children (and adults). But I pray to Him for understanding and to protect us from our selves.
Pride and Joy
December 15th, 2012
7:27 am
Kevin, you say CT already has some strict gun laws…but CT is a tiny state. Anyone can drive over the border to the next state and buy a gun. And look at the guns that were purchased by the shooter’s own mother — huge firepower.
The simple truth is GUNS KILL PEOPLE FASTER than other weapons.
A crazed man in China went and did the same thing only guns are illegal in China. So the crazed man used only a knife.
Well, guess what?
22 children were WOUNDED, not killed. NO ONE DIED.
That answers your gun control question and theories right there.
How many of the parents of the 20 murdered little children would trade the lives of their own children for a different law banning guns?
Pride and Joy
December 15th, 2012
7:35 am
True Sorrow, you are flat out wrong.
Other countries that ban guns do not have the mass murders that we do.
China is the case in point. A crazed man went into an elementary school with a knife because guns were illegal. He stabbed 22 children and THEY ALL LIVED!
All wounded, not dead.
There is your proof. No theoriese to speculate upon.
When a crazed man is armed only with a knife, the outcomes are much, much better.
I’ll bet any one of those parents in CT would trade a gun law to again have their child living and breathing today.
DLink
December 15th, 2012
7:49 am
Loner, shunned? Went to the school and was an honors student, past tense. Uber wealthy neighborhood. Facebook. Goth. Killed his mother first.
Once had a friend who could have turned out like that. Wrote down lyrics for the band suicidal tendencies and got put on a suicide watch for it: military. I helped him make fun of the over-reaction and make lite of it. Sometimes, you just need a friend to stand by you in the rough spots to help you survive them, and Facebook isn’t the place to stand. The nurse in England? Facebook, twitter, social media, smart phones….
Support your friends in their time of need, try not to be hard on others – you don’t know their life circumstances; and don’t do it for Christmas. Do it all the time.
Good will to all, because, this sounds like a kid that could have used some.
Mary Sue
December 15th, 2012
7:56 am
Early reports of the shooter’s mother being a teacher at the school are false. She was not. There are some reports that she may have volunteered there or substitute taught, but none have been confirmed. The fact is, we will probably never know why this individual did what he did.
Jack ®
December 15th, 2012
8:15 am
The entertainment industry would go broke if they couldn’t sell violence and sex to our children. Instead of gun control, put an end to the garbage presented as entertainment that so impresses young minds.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
8:26 am
I’m going to say something that some people will not like, but my interest is in what is going on, that this might be a case of bitter autism -> turned delusional. Which if this is the case, means there needs to be treatment / resources / and removing stigma from mental illness, so people can get help like any other ailment. Except in the US “treatment for help for any ailment” has turned in a game of jingo with big power. Anyway, someone online said the person was autistic. If this is the case, reminds of a student I had who was autistic – bitter version. I was not scared of the student, but I could see the concern as the student was “scary.” Anyway, one teacher in the team declared the student was capable of doing some great violence, said as much as an active concern. Now, this tragedy in Connecticut, person is 20 years old. In other words, now does not have the social / professional network of the school environment to support them. Living at home rich suburb, mom and community are clueless as to the struggle and discomfort the severe autistic is dealing with, mom and community do not relate, provide no support of any kind to 20 year old autistic. This is like in the movie Rebel Without a Cause (1955), the parents are well-to-do and provide zero relating to their kids, every time the young adult kid asks for help, the parents shut them down or give them a bridge party (card game) type answer. Severe stress, untreated condition = going into condition of delusion = acting out. It sort of like an untreated cut on the hand or foot turns into blood poisoning, striations (red lines) appear up the swollen connected limp. Untreated, can lead to amputation or death from a simple cut or abrasion. Any physician knows this basic mechanism.
crankee-yankee
December 15th, 2012
8:43 am
Everyone needs to grieve and then just take a breath. As noted earlier by another poster, bad law comes from rapid responses (I’m paraphrasing). The cut-back in public mental health services in the last century is part of it and needs to be looked at, gun control only works if you can identify those who would wield them against the innocent, good luck with that. However, semi- and automatic weapon’s place is on the battlefield, not in the streets, that is a starting point for discussion.
Unfortunately, I have no confidence in the current crop of lawmakers (local nor national) to address the issues this tragedy invokes in a measured and reasonable debate. It will rapidly degenerate into political talking points, one-liners, name-calling and twisted factoids. Mark my words.
independent thinker
December 15th, 2012
9:08 am
Inane discussion about root causes of our daily parade of gun violence. We live in an NRA controlled state which has a history of wholesale gun sales to criminals and we wonder why there were 31,347 gun deaths in the US in 2009 versus 35 in England?
For you enlightened and horrified educators let me ask this:
1. Why does a Kindergarten teacher with a disturbed 20 year old living at home need two assault type weapons and a pistol to defend herself and should the principal have screened her for the possible event that unfolded?
2. As a teacher what have you done to discourage kids and parents from giving their little darlings violent video games??
3. As a high school teacher what have you done to ensure the odd kids who are not popular and appear dysfunctional get proper counseling and treatment?
4. What you done to ensure there is proper security at your school to keep anyone who is disturbed out of the schoo l(particularly close relatives of staff) and to have police readily on call?
God Bless the Teacher!
December 15th, 2012
9:19 am
God bless the children…
elementary teahcer
December 15th, 2012
9:26 am
Assessing security at schools is certainly wise in the wake of an event like this, but the fact is, the shooter will probably turn out to be someone who was known to the staff and would have been buzzed in anyway. The sad fact is, it could just have easily been a parent or brother to a student in the school. No matter how secure the school is, family members will be allowed in, and sometimes family members do horrible things! Many of the people in the next few weeks who will blame the school are the same ones who huff at teachers who ask them to return to the office to get a sticker before walking our halls, not that that would have made a difference in this case. How do you balance school safety while keeping it a warm and welcoming place? There is no answer to this kind of senseless violence! Well, perhaps there is at the larger societal level. I weep for those babies, teachers, staff and families!
Ga Tech Rules
December 15th, 2012
10:10 am
The weapons used were reportedly registered to the mother. Why a household with a known mentally unstable member would have even on firearm present is beyond me. If your household has an unstable member, please remove all firearms, don’t just lock them up. Remember, social isolation contributes to abnormal thoughts, if your child spends days alone playing video games, they are at risk. Get the child out doors to play with other children. It takes 20 years to grow monsters like the most recent mass murderer, so we need to change our child rearing habits now.
Just A Teacher
December 15th, 2012
10:21 am
I am sickened by the Atlanta Journal Constitution for reporting that the gunman was a teacher’s son. It is still posted as the headline of an article. If she was a teacher, why isn’t she listed on the faculty list. I will never trust the AJC again. They make up the “facts” and publish them. Shame on you, Maureen Downey and the AJC, for publishing this lie!
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
10:46 am
AJC going to do an article on “school security?” More “security” marketing, huh?
Maureen Downey
December 15th, 2012
11:05 am
@Just, As I noted, the details in this story are changing hourly. Yesterday, it was being reported that the mother taught at the school. Now, it is being reported that she did not. I have changed my blog to reflect the most current information, but I can assure you that the information on this crime will continue to change as the chaos subsides and the facts are considered in the cold light of day. All media reported that she worked at the school as that was apparently told to them by a source.
Maureen
(At 11:12 Saturday: I just read the local paper in Newtown and one of its stories still called the mom a teacher. So, the misinformation is not just a factor of distance; there apparently is real confusion around the mother’s connection to the school. It appears to be true that the guns belonged to the mother, raising the question that others have raised: With a son whose mental problems were apparently known — based on the older brother’s comments — why have so many guns? )
Just A Teacher
December 15th, 2012
11:29 am
@Ms. Downey . . . There really should be a printed retraction by the editorial department. As with most crimes like this, there will never be a satisfactory understanding of what happened. The faculty and staff acted professionally and heroically according to all reports. This is a very sad and mortifying event, and I mourn for all involved. God bless the Sandyhook Elementary community and my fellow educators everywhere.
Mikey D.
December 15th, 2012
11:31 am
How about a word of recognition for the heroism of the teachers who sprang into action and kept their students as safe and calm as reasonably possible? If they had lost their wits and allowed the situation to devolve even further into chaos, imagine how much worse it could have been…
God bless the families and the community, and keep and hold the little ones who were lost. Such a senseless tragedy.
Just A Teacher
December 15th, 2012
11:38 am
Thank you, Mikey!
Maureen Downey
December 15th, 2012
11:39 am
Mikey, I am certain that many stories of heroism will be told. We can talk about some of them once we know more about what happened. I have already read of some amazing responses by teachers, although, as the misinformation about the shooter’s mother suggests, we are not clear yet on what happened.
At this point, my thoughts are with everyone in that school building. They have faced the unthinkable. I am not sure what we can say to the families who lost children, mothers, aunts, friends, spouses, brothers, sisters. Their sorrow seems unbearable.
Maureen
Maureen Downey
December 15th, 2012
11:43 am
@To all, As new information emerges, it becomes even harder to make sense of why this young man did this:
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
11:58 am
bitter autism went off the rails, 20 years old, away from former school environment, not related to and likely not receiving treatment. no one recognised the condition. absent father, distanced brother. I’ve had at least two friends drift off in a similar manner, no one relating to or keeping an eye on them when crisis develops or is developing over several months, find the news later, “Why didn’t I keep in touch with them?” etc.
Go Blue
December 15th, 2012
12:16 pm
Yes, we will pray for the Conn. town and school, but all kinds of arguments must cease starting with the federal government.
When negativity get hold, it permeats everthing and everyone.
Maureen Downey
December 15th, 2012
12:17 pm
@To all, One of the stories emerging is of a 27-year-old teacher who hid her first graders in the closet and cabinets and told Lanza that they were all in the gym. He then shot and killed her. Also, there are stories about the principal confronting the gunman and dying as a result.
I expect we will hear more and more of such heroics.
Maureen
Pride and Joy
December 15th, 2012
12:29 pm
I don’t want heroics. I don’t want teachers to have to die to save the students. Heroes couldn’t prevent 26 people from being murdered.
We need gun control today. Now.
The news reports that the gunman killed everyone WITHIN MINUTES…certainly it is only possible to kill that many people within minutes with guns. Knives aren’t as lethal.
We don’t need teachers to sacrifice their own lives and leave their own children orphans. We need to make it impossible for a lunatic to get a gun and kill.
Pride and Joy
December 15th, 2012
12:34 pm
Private Citizen, you’re wrong. The father wasnt absent. The parents divorced when the gunman was 17 years old. This was an affluent, intact, educated family. This wasn’t the typical single mother bringing up boys without Daddy as is so prevalent here in Georgia.
The truth is, this heinous crime could easily have been prevented by outlawing all guns.
The 20 year old was an intelligent kid. He wasn’t obviously mentally ill.
Easy access to guns is what killed those innocent 20 children.
WITHIN MINUTES they were all dead. Just minutes. Knives aren’t as efficient at murdering as are guns.
Dave
December 15th, 2012
12:42 pm
Kevin, last night at 11:02 p.m. “Too bad that doesn’t stop morons like you from thinking before you post.”
I don’t lay out a plan for gun control and I’m a moron?
I have actually thought about gun control a lot. How’s this for starters. Treat guns like we treat cars and driver’s licenses. Mandatory safety classes and meaningful testing prior to getting a license which screens some of the crazies, I know you won’t get them all. Registration each year and only if a meaningful check shows you aren’t now a felon, do you get to keep the gun(s). Don’t come in to register? Bench warrant. Some sort of insurance program or product liability law funded by registration fees and manufacturer taxes that pays the social cost of firearms and perhaps keeps them out of the hands of the young people that seem to be attracted to the idea of going out in a blaze of glory. Perfect ideas that will solve all of the problems that guns bring to us, of course not, but a start.
Your turn Kevin, lets actually talk, or I get to call you a moron.
Prof
December 15th, 2012
1:06 pm
@ Bootney Farnsworth, Dec. 14, 10:46 pm. My gut-reaction to this blog was exactly yours. Too sickened to write much here.
Jerry Eads
December 15th, 2012
1:09 pm
I can’t even listen to the news, for all I can think of is how I would feel if my now 30-year old kid would have been one of those, and how I might have had to go through life without him – AND having lost him this way. I give my heart to the parents of those kids now gone. They are the ones who will go on with holes in their hearts forever.
I have a permit. I am very – very – well trained. I carry. And I think the NRA is irresponsible. It is inconceivable to me that that organization espouses the positions it does.
I do not know where we start. It MUST include better societal control of weapons far beyond what the NRA and others have suppressed it to, yet it must also include, as Tavis noted on Jay’s show last night, attention to mental health issues in this country – which we do indeed try to ignore. Like the terrorists we try to guard against, the killer had no qualms whatsoever about taking innocent life. A terrorist in our own midst.
Perhaps this will finally force the conversation we need to have here. But I don’t expect much help from Republican elected officials – they’re as terrified of the NRA as they are of Norquist.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
1:12 pm
Go Blue, there is no negativity in giving attention to the condition of things. Quite the opposite.
Pride and Joy, Certainly we will become more informed re: cause. I think you make a good point about the nature of automatic weapons. Someone commented somewhere that they belong on the battlefield, not in the public. Same reason people can’t own bazookas and such, armaments. You say the person was bright, not mentally ill, and came from good family. Makes me wonder if you have know many people. One of those people, Anders in Norway, or Charles Whitman, had IQ of 170 when they were a child. Anyway, more will be known about cause. I wonder why, in your imagination you see “rosy life / hard shell exterior.” I contend rich kids often have more difficult environment sometimes than poor people with available family. But this is just banter.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
1:22 pm
Jerry Eads, good post. when an ill person goes delusional, there’s just a cartoon in the head, like the “Batman movie” theater tragedy in Colorado. Guy acts out movie like a comic book. Probably made a lot of sense to him. He even sought help, gave a notebook to a professional, no meaningful response. Reading online about ill people, personality disorder, etc. traumatic divorce doesn’t exactly help them out. Who knows what conditions are / were for this person. News say the local authority has developed / found cause, is in process of making written statement to public.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
1:26 pm
In the depression era, movies showed person jumps out of window with umbrella, floats to ground. Some people jumped out of window with umbrella and fell straight down and broke legs. I think this really happened. Happens today, rarely, when adolescents copy the wrestling on tv and “body slam” their peer. It happened in a classroom at a school I was at, kid grabbed another kid, turned him upside down to do “pile driver” head first toward floor. Pardon if this is a little graphic, but that is what happened. Maybe adolescents should be formally taught / told not to replicate tv theatrical wrestling. Some of them don’t know.