What bothers me is that someone almost had to have seen/heard something, but people are scared of litigation, and then there is political correctness. These kinds of things just don't "happen." there is always pathology in the individual, and in any specific persons that "interacted" with him, causing or helping him cross this very huge line. The easier it appears for someone to commit an act of this type, the more troubled they are. People in a "normal" state do not do these things. Human beings are subject to all kinds of forces that they have limmited ability to control, and when the wrong combination of these "forces" occurs, and is unrelenting, something is going to happen, and often it is bad news, and then it's way to late. Have you noticed this person's demeaner sitting in court? He looks almost sedate does he not? That may be because he has experienced a huge release of stress, which happened when he shot these individuals. I did a study of these school shootings back not long after the Columbine mess. What stood out when I began to put several of these things side by side was that virtually all of them happened in middle class or above socioeconomic level schools. Looking at columbine, I could easily suggest some school districts where someone who presented themselves the way these 2 did would not have gotten very far with there black costumes and attitudes. But these kids were allowed to just go on with little real consequence, either from the school authorities or the student body. There were MANNY adults in that community who saw this thing unfold, first and formost the parents. When I was a kid, we had one asst vice principle whose job was discipline, and he watched for trouble signs, and was constantly "keeping tabs" on potential trouble makers. The other depressing thing, especially about columbine, was the local police. No one went in until HRT had flown in and made sure everyone was dead, including the coach or teacher who laid there and bled to death for 45 minutes. We will never be privy to the long history that lead to this mess, or the others, because there will be efforts to cut it off, but what needs to be done in all of these cases, in my view, is shine a very bright light on all of this in each of these ocurances. But that isn't likely to happen because it would make someone "uncomfortable." Independant investigators, lead by mental health and law enforcement investigators should look at these things and then publish what their findings show where mistakes were made, and what could have been done, naming names. Change would come then, but that won't happen, at least not in the public way needed for change. Let's just do the same things over and over the same way, expecting different results. We can just ignore the obvious signs of trouble ahead, crossing our fingers while we "whistle past the grave yard" wishing it would all just go away. Flapjack.
