Major law enforcement response after reports of shooting at a school in Texas

[jamil]

Upon further review, does anyone else think he was a paid-plant? Edit: I'm back to not a plant. The video and still picture don't come close to matching, WTH?

When I put the quotes together with the photo, I thought it was too over the top to be real. But then putting the real person with the words, it’s pretty obviously real. It was disingenuous to use that fake photo. That’s not news.

 

[KellyinAvon]

There are plenty of idiots that there are no need of plants.

Amen. Not that it doesn't happen (the Dem organizer talking about planting mentally ill people at Trump rallies for instance) but our side can't gather without having a few of our own make the news (Confederate Flag guy on 14 April). The antis bring plenty of idiots with them, but they never get follow-up questions such as, "Where in the actual **** is that in the Constitution?"

 

[KellyinAvon]

When I put the quotes together with the photo, I thought it was too over the top to be real. But then putting the real person with the words, it’s pretty obviously real. It was disingenuous to use that fake photo. That’s not news.

I hadn't clicked on the video yet when I posted about the possible plant. Having the flag/cape guy picture was worse than the $1,200 Desert Eagle and Police tape as the background in the intro to a shooting story.

 

[Route 45]

 

[churchmouse]

Bingo.

 

[KMaC]

Surprisingly, David Brooks (NY Times columnist) said the same on today's Meet the Press. Other panelists were throwing out the standard blame but he blamed the media for sensationalizing, noting that there are far fewer school shootings in 2018 than in the 1990s. He noted that social media is so important to kids that they will risk their life for a good Youtube video. They will certainly be willing to die for the kind of notoriety that the media gives school shooters. Just stop making them famous.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Surprisingly, David Brooks (NY Times columnist) said the same on today's Meet the Press. Other panelists were throwing out the standard blame but he blamed the media for sensationalizing, noting that there are far fewer school shootings in 2018 than in the 1990s. He noted that social media is so important to kids that they will risk their life for a good Youtube video. They will certainly be willing to die for the kind of notoriety that the media gives school shooters. Just stop making them famous.

But in this case I dont think that is at issue. The recent reports I have seen is that it appears that he couldnt handle being rejected by a love interest. He pestered a girl to go out with him and she refused repeatedly. The final straw was she made a big deal of saying no (for the umpteenth time) in front of the rest of the class and embarrassed him. That seemed to make him snap. From the report I saw today, he pulled out the gun, told everybody not to move, then said something to the effect of "you first" to her before shooting her. Then shot others who teased him and left his friends and everyone else to tell the story.

 

[KMaC]

But in this case I dont think that is at issue. The recent reports I have seen is that it appears that he couldnt handle being rejected by a love interest. He pestered a girl to go out with him and she refused repeatedly. The final straw was she made a big deal of saying no (for the umpteenth time) in front of the rest of the class and embarrassed him. That seemed to make him snap. From the report I saw today, he pulled out the gun, told everybody not to move, then said something to the effect of "you first" to her before shooting her. Then shot others who teased him and left his friends and everyone else to tell the story.

Notoriety doesn't have to be the sole motivator but it can be a pretty sweet side effect. I'm sure that most of the shooters have some kind of mental issues and a variety of motivations based on the slights that the world has committed against them.

 

[churchmouse]

Notoriety doesn't have to be the sole motivator but it can be a pretty sweet side effect. I'm sure that most of the shooters have some kind of mental issues and a variety of motivations based on the slights that the world has committed against them.

If this were a solid reason to shoot up a school I would have been exonerated for this. Multiple times.
Holy crap people, get involved. Raise your kids. Guide them. Nurture them.
Well, if you are not a complete waste of skin. If so stop having kids.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Notoriety doesn't have to be the sole motivator but it can be a pretty sweet side effect. I'm sure that most of the shooters have some kind of mental issues and a variety of motivations based on the slights that the world has committed against them.

Agreed. however I also watched an interview with his lawyers. Granted they could be playing the sympathy card, but they indicated he hasnt processed the whole thing yet. Or at least they have not spoken to him at length to understand yet because so far the conversation has been "just to tell him what he needs to do for himself over the next several days." But they implied that he is possibly confused and not totally comprehending the gravity of the situation. Could be planting the seeds for mental issues to lessen the impact of the sentence?

 

[churchmouse]

Agreed. however I also watched an interview with his lawyers. Granted they could be playing the sympathy card, but they indicated he hasnt processed the whole thing yet. Or at least they have not spoken to him at length to understand yet because so far the conversation has been "just to tell him what he needs to do for himself over the next several days." But they implied that he is possibly confused and not totally comprehending the gravity of the situation. Could be planting the seeds for mental issues to lessen the impact of the sentence?

OK......if he did this for the reasons we are discussing I would say he already has mental issues and grounds for same.

 

[KMaC]

If this were a solid reason to shoot up a school I would have been exonerated for this. Multiple times.
Holy crap people, get involved. Raise your kids. Guide them. Nurture them.
Well, if you are not a complete waste of skin. If so stop having kids.

I didn't mean that the world's slights and insults were any justification to kill people but that it is a rationalization in a mentally disturbed teenagers mind. Teens don't think right even if they aren't mentally ill, that's why they aren't treated as adults in the justice system. They tend to over react to perceived insults like a girl refusing to go on a date. But you have to be mentally ill to think that killing everyone in the room is a valid reaction to being embarrassed.

 

[Cameramonkey]

OK......if he did this for the reasons we are discussing I would say he already has mental issues and grounds for same.

Agreed. But is it to the point of skating, institutionalized, or charged as an adult where he could see the death penalty (if allowed since he is 17).

Based on his behavior during the event, he's a sociopath. Kids are locked in a supply closet and he is firing into the closet, and when phones are going off in the room, he's taunting them "Hey, your phones are ringing. Dont you want to come out and answer them and check your texts? Come on out and answer your phones!" Or he just said "F-it. I'm done being bullied, time to turn the tables and bully them for a while." and either didnt comprehend the ramifications of his actions, or just didnt care. The latter is a big problem.

Sick, sick, sick, sick.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I didn't mean that the world's slights and insults were any justification to kill people but that it is a rationalization in a mentally disturbed teenagers mind. Teens don't think right even if they aren't mentally ill, that's why they aren't treated as adults in the justice system. They tend to over react to perceived insults like a girl refusing to go on a date. But you have to be mentally ill to think that killing everyone in the room is a valid reaction to being embarrassed.

Or just so fed up with life you just dont care anymore. But that would be a different branch on the same crazy tree.

 

[Cameramonkey]

And like the other CM, I too was bullied. Incessantly actually. And I had access to guns. And understood chemistry and that you could buy quantities of Potassium Nitrate/permanganate over the counter easily. Yet I never even considered doing anything that final and drastic. Granted I had a few ideas I'm not proud of today, but none that would have landed me in jail on federal charges. (edit: if I had acted on any of those ideas, which I did not.)

(and as a side note its been fun to run into those that peaked in HS 20+ years on and see how far they have fallen now that they are not the golden boys/girls in life)

 

[jamil]

The long version of that.

[video=youtube_share;gA-4QNVkH2g]http://youtu.be/gA-4QNVkH2g[/video]

 

[jamil]

Or just so fed up with life you just dont care anymore. But that would be a different branch on the same crazy tree.

It’s more than just being fed up with life. People whonare just fed up with life just take themselves out. You have also to be fed up with people. Or at least certain people.

We all get rejected by the opposite sex. We all don’t kill people to get even. Most of us don’t even see it as a thing to get even for. Yer up to bat. You strike out. You move on. But rare individuals make it into a much more existential personal and problem than it is.

Try reading the Columbine shooters’ writings. Yeah. They wanted out. And they blamed humanity for all their problems real and perceived. Kliebold wrote something to the effect that humans deserve to die. That the world would be better off without us, just give it back to the animals. You don’t get to that place without 1) blaming everyone else; 2) having utter contempt for those you blame, bad enough that you want them dead, and you’re willing to make that happen.

 

[cbhausen]

So is the guy who posted the above saying he agrees with the first 3 points? Obviously lots of INGO folks don't, so the logic being that if the first 3 didn't exist, and something like this happened those would be the first "reasonable restrictions" people would call for. It's a catch 22.

It’s not about whether he agrees with them or not. It’s about being a nation of laws rather than a nation of men. I’m sure we both agree criminals don’t follow laws and gun control laws simply disarm the law-abiding to the advantage of the criminals who keep their guns.

 

[KellyinAvon]

There are a terrible number of things that come together to create a serious problem we must confront. I was last a K-12 student 36 years ago, I can't imagine having drills in school where you stay below the windows to avoid being spotted by an active shooter.

From a purely OPSEC perspective we're putting our deployment and operations plans in the newspaper. I also keep wondering how many murderers show up at the rejecting girl's/bully's house instead of the school. I think if that happened we'd know.

15 minutes of fame (or infamy) lives forever on the Internet. Would-be mass murderers being confronted and stopped by a good guy with a gun barely makes the news. Some things we can't stop. Putting doubt in the mind of the would-be murderer that they will be confronted with deadly force. Put it in their minds that no one will remember them.

 

[MCgrease08]

Two books I would recommend that help explain the type of mind-set it takes to get to the point of committing mass murder like this:

"The Gift of Fear" - Gavin Debecker
"12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos" - Jordan Peterson

Both delve into the topic fairly extensively from a psychological perspective. And no, it's not as simple as just "mental illness."