Elem. School shooting in Conn.

[TK421]

Let's not go there. This isn't about that. It's just bad. Period.

I couldn't have said it better. It's tragic. Horrific and devastating, period.

My last job being only 2 towns over in Danbury and seeing the parents race to hug their kids the minute they walked through the door hits it home and that's when the reality REALLY sinks in and that's when you decide that you have no idea what fear is until you are a parent wondering if your child is ok. Not one word was spoken in that house. Just mumbles and tears of disbelief. I overheard one of the children try to set his own theory to his mom only to lose thought as she tears up and he just hugs her....two of her friends had children in that school....I just tried to focus on my work...easier said than done. After I completed the work, she handed me a 20.00 tip and said thanks and I just silently handed it back to her and said "Thanks but I think this might be better served if you take them out for some ice cream". I just smirked, wished them a safe holiday and walked away trying not to really tear up over what I saw in there.

I can only sum it up in one way, really. There are no words that will ever remove the pain and grief caused today..what I saw and felt was just a small taste of it. I cannot say this enough, take nothing for granted. Savor every moment. What kills me is imagining gifts under a tree that will not be opened this year. My most heart felt prayers and thoughts to all the children, Parents, Families, Staff and that town. May strength and love be with them always.

[efs1845]

this is more than horrible its proof of evil
now i feel i must say some things people will not like so before the nra and the brady gun campian turn this into a gun thing think of this its going to get worse as wll as guns most of these whakos have played with explosives of some kind how long will it be before one them decides to use one of these devices instead of ore with a gun the death count will be in the hundreds
we have to find out what makes people do this and how to stop it please tell your ellected officals to stop wasting money on on gun debates and new laws that won't stop the next killer and i garrantee they are already out there and making there plans but find a way to identify and stop them before it's to late

[BSink42]

this is more than horrible its proof of evil
now i feel i must say some things people will not like so before the nra and the brady gun campian turn this into a gun thing think of this its going to get worse as wll as guns most of these whakos have played with explosives of some kind how long will it be before one them decides to use one of these devices instead of ore with a gun the death count will be in the hundreds
we have to find out what makes people do this and how to stop it please tell your ellected officals to stop wasting money on on gun debates and new laws that won't stop the next killer and i garrantee they are already out there and making there plans but find a way to identify and stop them before it's to late

I think comprehensive converasations on both gun control and mental health care reform need to take place. It's harder here in the US to get access to bomb making materals post - Oklahoma City (or at the very least researching and buying such components will raise red flags with law enforcement), while it's far too easy to get a gun here. And comphrensive reform on the mental health services may catch somebody before they get to the point where they snap like this.

[efs1845]

bomb making here bin the usa is as easy as a simple internet search a trip to the gas station a hardware store ore aouto parts store and you can make some really nasty things just ask the collubine ore the aroura shooter whitch actually used these devices

[Lomax]

This guy walked into a classroom, leveled a rifle at a class of 5 year olds who never did anything to anybody, and shot them one by one.....why? Seriously that's all I want to know. Fuck the gun control arguement, fuck the school security arguement, we need to take what's left of this....thing.....and put its body in a lab and dissect it in the name of humanity. Either that or stop the planet and let me off because I don't want to live here anymore.

Damned if I can tell you why. We asked ourselves this after Dunblane (google it). We never found an answer.

[mudmaiden]

Don't you wish that sometimes these killers would shoot themselves in the head first, then go on a killing rampage!

[Duncan Edwards]

This guy walked into a classroom, leveled a rifle at a class of 5 year olds who never did anything to anybody, and shot them one by one.....why? Seriously that's all I want to know. Fuck the gun control arguement, fuck the school security arguement, we need to take what's left of this....thing.....and put its body in a lab and dissect it in the name of humanity. Either that or stop the planet and let me off because I don't want to live here anymore.

Damned if I can tell you why. We asked ourselves this after Dunblane (google it). We never found an answer.

Asking "why?" is difficult because we are trying to ascribe rational thought to irrational behavior. I doubt most of the people who do these terrible things could tell you themselves why they really did it. It will certainly never be an answer that makes sense.

This summer was an experience for me with someone like that. I'm a pretty easy neighbor. Been on this same street for over twenty years in a place I regard as just about the best on earth. Barking dogs, occasional parties, tall grass, whatever, I don't care. You do your thing and I'll do mine and we're all good.

Then "Earnest T. Bass" showed up across the street. I'll spare you all the details but rarely does a story begin with "paranoid schizophrenic" and end happily. It's not illegal to be "troubled" (crazy) and "he has rights too" so there wasn't much I could do at first. I didn't care if he wanted to be crazy in his own house but after several episodes of screaming bloody murder in his front yard at midnight and much other weirdness, I'd had enough. When a guy with similar problems murdered a family that had befriended him in a nearby town he had to go. It wasn't easy to do but I got him out of here and he is now away from my family. In the process I learned a lot about how difficult it is to be crazy and especially to be the neighbor of someone like that. In my entire life I don't think I ever lived in a house where guns were kept loaded out of fear of someone nearby. One thing I told my daughter about people like that was that they always kill their mother first. Today I got a text from her at a Girl Scout party "Dad you were right that guy killed his mom!". My daughter saw how we dealt with "Earnest T." across the street and like her old man she doesn't worry too much. I'm grateful for that but until the real problem of dealing with mental health issues is settled there won't be anything we can really do to prevent something like this from happening again.

[Duncan Edwards]

And this just posted elsewhere. People are always ascribing wisdom to Morgan Freeman and this might be just another load of silliness but it does make some sense.

Why?

TURN OFF THE NEWS.......

Morgan Freeman's brilliant take on what happened yesterday :

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

[Fred588]

In response to the post by Duncan I don't think what you described is silly at all. Its dead on. Many people who are disturbed either are or fell they are ignored. They feel invisible. Then, when they see someone suddenly hold the attention of the media for three days, or more, a lightbulb goes off. If I make enough noise, spill enough blood, do something totally spectacular, albeit inhuman, I will be seen. I will be noticed. I will be remembered.

While the media have the right of free speech, we all also have the same. We can speak out in criticism of the media and make them feel like leeches. We also have the right, though I suppose it isn't specified in the Bill of Rights, the right to free deafness. that is, we don't have to listen to the media when they pull this BS.

[BSink42]

That's why I still tune into Anderson Cooper. He started this policy (I believe it wasn't long after the Gabby Gifford shooting) where he downplays the shooter's identity as much as he possibly can and instead tries to focus most of his CNN program on the victims instead.