Ernie S.
Diamond Member
I refuse to vote in this poll because the options don't fit my opinion.
"Nutcase" comes closest, but looking at the YT channel and other information this kid (to me he's nothing but a kid anyway) left behind I almost feel sorry for him too. He was obviously troubled and for a long time, why was this ignored? Or was it not ignored, and the treatment given for whatever reason was simply not enough?
Some kids just get lost. They get lost in drugs, in gangs, in sex and violence and acts of what feels to them like "empowerment". Some of them get lost in the cyber pseudo-political fringes that feed and validate their delusions and sense of alienation.
This kid was seemingly obsessed with lucid dreaming, I doubt he felt much in control of his waking life or even his own thoughts if he wanted so badly to sleep all the time and control his dreams. It seems natural to that bizarre way of thinking that he would do something he might consider "powerful". Sounds a lot like others who have gone on rampages, doesn't it?
So yeah, while nutcase comes close I have to ask myself....do I really want to just write this kid and all the others like him out there off as "nutcase" and scream for blood? It's certainly a normal, human response and I'm not insensitive to the fact that in destroying his own life he's caused the loss and destruction of others. Yes, there must be a penalty for that. But should it end there, with a pejorative and a punishment and life goes on?
Maybe, just maybe, it can be a starting point for looking at resolving the underlying problems and doing something about all these kids and adults too who just....get lost. What, I don't know. But defusing a time bomb if you can is better than ignoring it.
Excellent thoughtful post. I have one point of possible disagreement. The evidence is not in that the shooter was "lost"; the possibility that he was lead to act in the way he did and against those he attacked, cannot be dismissed.
So he was lost or led, huh? Nice job, both of you, of absolving him of personal responsibility.
Maybe he was lost, but not until he made a conscious decision to head down the path he chose.
Bat shit crazy? Yup, but blaming his actions on any outside influence is just as bat shit crazy.