Many people knew about the 16 year old, quiet, introverted and smart kid that they never suspected to turn violent. The boy is a boy scout and studies advanced placement European history. A junior in his normal physics class stated that he seemed like “one of those normal kids”. The boys next door neighbor who grew up with him said that he was never threatening and was nice. The boy had shot at five students and made contact with all of his shots. He then shot himself in the head. Two of the students had died and the gunman was ‘gravely’ wounded. This happened at around 7:30 am, Thursday, November 14th, his 16th birthday.
This kid did have some minor life issues. The boy lives with his mother in a modest home in Santa Clarita, a Los Angeles suburb known for good schools, safe streets, and affordable housing. His father died two year ago and two year before that his father had been arrested amid a domestic dispute with the boy’s mother. His father had worked for a health care company for 33 years as a field service engineer and he loved to hunt. This might be his motive, in my opinion, but police have stated that they haven’t found a motive or any relationship between the gunman and the victims and they also have no indication that the boy was acting on behalf of any group or ideology.
Brooke Risley, a current junior at Saugus High, stated that she knew the boy since elementary school and she couldn’t recall anything indicating that he might be violent. The only thing that she could think of was the fact that he had a hollow bullet in his keychain. She also described the boy as somewhat introverted and ‘naturally smart’. According to her he hadn't been bullied and had a girlfriend. The boy was an exceptional student and an unexceptional middle and long distance runner. Based on school records his GPA had landed him on the honor roll in the fall of his 8th grade.
Primarily I wonder:
1). Why would someone just spontaneously commit this act of violence?
2). How might this change the way people look for School Shooters? If at all?
3). Do you still trust you colleagues / classmates after this type of incident?
This comment might get me put on an FBI watchlist, but it was honestly really, really scary how similar I was to this inhuman shooter. An honor roll Boy Scout who takes AP, physics, and engineering courses who is also a mediocre mid and long distance runner? If I hadn't known better, I could almost have assumed that the article was talking about ME. However, there's one important factor that I think probably caused the shooter to go astray--his parents. People ignore this so often when discussing the factors that make a school shooter. They keep looking for a history of violence on the shooter's part, but never seem to watch the behavior of the parents. Children need BOTH their parents as good role models for an emotionally stable upbringing. Studies have proven this time and time again, and I believe poor relations with their parents, stacked on top of the stress of school and college, are one of the biggest contributing factors to the mental health crisis America is going through now. Even if the kid loves their parents, like this shooter did, past abusive behavior on part of the father likely damaged his upbringing, and caused him to lash out with violence when he couldn't handle the stress of school and/or his relationships. I see no reason why not to trust my classmates after this (after all, innocent until proven guilty), but I feel that some may have reason to not trust me after this blog comment.
ReplyDeleteI think that the young shooter may have been depressed and never opened up about his feelings. He could have been feeling alone since his father had died, and maybe he was remembering all of the times that he lived with both of his parents, but they were always arguing. Since there was no relationship between the shooter and the victims, I cannot come to a clear conclusion as to why he shot, other than that he could have been mentally ill and never came out about his feelings, so he just exploded and didn’t know what to do, which resulted in the school shooting. It is really sad and scary that this sort of situation happens because we are in high school, and it is frightening to think that we could have been in that school, and been victims of the shooting.
ReplyDeleteDespite his seemingly normal appearance and actions prior to this incident, this boy was clearly battling some serious mental health issues. I do feel it is very sad that he lost his father recently, but that alone can not explain his decision to massacre his school. I believe there are people in this world who have different mental compositions. People who choose to hurt others and himself in this manner may have some sort of underlying psychiatric disorder triggered by his fathers death or any other event in his life. Truthfully, it is hard to understand what people are really thinking and feeling because obviously things are not always as they appear to be. After this particular shooting, I think people will begin to question everyone they are around, and more socially withdrawn individuals will be seen as more of a threat than before. I don't intend live my life fearful of everyone I encounter, and I continue to trust my classmates. However, the amount of school shootings that have occurred will change the way I approach people, as I may be more conscientious of what others are suffering through.
ReplyDeleteIt’s likely he did have something which pushed him to commit this act and that he just never opened up about, it given the stigma surrounding mental illness. It could also have been that he did not have anyone he felt could support him. However, I find it important to point out that the reason he did this is not the fact that he might have had a mental illness but that if he did, he did not get the support he needs. If we attribute everything to mental illness, that does nothing to address how he got a gun in the first place which is ultimately this tragedy occurred. I think because he does not fit any stereotype for school shooters is going to cause some people to be more paranoid because anyone could be a school shooter if they’re put in the right circumstance. Worrying about if my classmates will become a school shooter or not won’t do me any good as most of the time there is little I can do to help them, so I do not consider if my classmates are “dangerous” or not at all.
ReplyDeleteWe can come up with so many theories about his reasoning behind committing such a horrendous act but we'll never know what his true motivation was. The shooter passed away yesterday, November 15th, so his case will move to the many shootings without clear motivation. When it comes to if we're going to look for school shooters the same way as before, I think we won't. As time moves forward, we start seeing more diversity in the characteristics of a school shooter. Back then, we used to think that only the quiet, yet violent, kid was the most likely to shoot the school, but now, we have moved to the mentality that anyone can shoot a school up, which is honestly very tragic.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that any one thing caused the boy to "spontaneously" commit this crime. While I do think his father's death contributed to his willingness to commit this crime, I think that his father's influence played a bigger role. The article states that his father was arrested for a domestic dispute, so growing up in a violent household could have been detrimental to his mental health and instilled a mindset that violence is a good solution. This may change who people believe school shooters are. Most people look for people they think have mental health issues, but this shows that even people everyone perceives as "normal" could be a school shooter. I feel like even though it may not look like someone would do something like this, anyone can surprise everyone and be a school shooter; however I don't think that living in fear of everyone around you is going to help anything, and I trust the people around me.
ReplyDeleteIt is my personal belief that as a country we should focus less on what causes an individual to commit a terrible act of violence, and focus more on making it much more difficult to obtain firearms as a minor. I still trust my classmates. I believe it is essential to pass better gun control legislation to combat school shootings like this, when we talk about the individual school shooter we miss talking about the systematic problem of gun violence in America that is largely due to how easy it is to obtain a firearm.
ReplyDeleteContrary to what other classmates believe, I think a focus on mental health is extremely important. I truly believe that people are good, and sometimes struggle, and this struggle is what causes acts of terror. I feel that this applies to all people, not just students. Yes, there needs to be more regulation on firearms, I frankly believe that guns shouldn't be allowed for any private citizen because they have proven to cause harm.
ReplyDelete