School shooting in Connecticut (3 Viewers)

[marco55]

They have changed it to 20 children and 6 adults killled.There is something very wrong in this country.I don't what it is but it's there.A very sad day.
Mark

 

[Scott]

Crazy is one thing...evil is another!

"ABC News reports that Ryan Lanza “told authorities that his younger brother is autistic, or has Asperger syndrome and a ‘personality disorder.’"

 

[Njja]

No words. Worst thing I have heard in my lifetime.

 

[jazzeum]

Some of you seem to assume that having Asperger syndrome or autism is mental illness or that it would lead to what happened yesterday. I'm surprised to see a comment like that; they are birth defects. I've met and known a few people who have Aspergers and they are incredibly smart and well adjusted individuals.

 

[Combat]

There was obviously something very wrong with the person who committed this crime. It will be interesting to see if there were any signs or attempts to get him help and where that failed. I can never understand how people like the recent Colorado shooter can function in society with their obvious mental condition. And this is not autism we are talking about but some extreme psychiatric condition. A psychopath or schizophrenia. The media will carry this story non-stop for days or weeks. I understand why that is the case, but you also have to wonder if others who contemplate these acts are motivated, at least in part, by the media coverage they receive. A sad story from beginning to end. And the legacy of these events is to further a culture of fear where parents are afraid to send their kids to schools, kids are afraid to be there and schools become armed fortress like our airports became after 9/11. We have to live in that environment forever after these events even when the odds are one in a million that any particular school will experience a similar situation.

 

[Scott]

Some of you seem to assume that having Asperger syndrome or autism is mental illness or that it would lead to what happened yesterday. I'm surprised to see a comment like that; they are birth defects. I've met and known a few people who have Aspergers and they are incredibly smart and well adjusted individuals.

Thank you Jazz,

My daughter has mild Aspergers and does very well. I quoted the man's brother earlier but more may be revealed on this story.

 

[Firebat]

In my 33 years as a firefighter I saw horrible tragedies, up close and personal, too many involving children, some with entire families wiped out. I would always look at the immediate relatives present at the scene who survived and I could never comprehend what could be going on inside them.

When we got back to the firehouse we all had our own way to cope with what we saw, but we didnt have to live with it.

How does one deal with an event like this...I never inderstood

 

[PanzerAce1944]

At what point do we as a country say enough is enough and take action to prevent another mass shooting ? The war on terror is here in the streets of America, not in some far away foreign country.
To prevent this from happening again we need armed security at schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, and all places where large groups of people are gathered. Use controlled access points of entry/exit
for these type of facilities to keep armed killers out. It would not prevent everything but it would be a good start ! At least kids can go to school, people could go to see a movie or visit their shopping mall
without fear of being shot by the next lone nut !!! Trying to implement some type of gun control at this point would be very difficult as there are currently way too many assault weapons and guns with high
capacity magazines out in the hands of the public right now.

 

[Combat]

At what point do we as a country say enough is enough and take action to prevent another mass shooting ? The war on terror is here in the streets of America, not in some far away foreign country.
To prevent this from happening again we need armed security at schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, and all places where large groups of people are gathered. Use controlled access points of entry/exit
for these type of facilities to keep armed killers out. It would not prevent everything but it would be a good start ! At least kids can go to school, people could go to see a movie or visit their shopping mall
without fear of being shot by the next lone nut !!! Trying to implement some type of gun control at this point would be very difficult as there are currently way too many assault weapons and guns with high
capacity magazines out in the hands of the public right now.

Unfortunately, this approach just cultivates more fear with little result. A shooter will simply move to another soft target and it's impossible to fortify every public place. I agree gun control is not a viable option at this point. Too many guns in circulation and too much political clout from those who oppose and it would have no impact on a situation like this one where the guy gets his guns from a relative. Somehow there needs to better screening and treatment of those who suffer from mental illness.

 

[PanzerAce1944]

Unfortunately, this approach just cultivates more fear with little result. A shooter will simply move to another soft target and it's impossible to fortify every public place. I agree gun control is not a viable option at this point. Too many guns in circulation and too much political clout from those who oppose and it would have no impact on a situation like this one where the guy gets his guns from a relative. Somehow there needs to better screening and treatment of those who suffer from mental illness.

It is better to have the knowledge that going to school, a movie or a shopping mall is safe guarded from shooters entering these facilities by security measures in place.At first it may take getting used to but Positive steps have to be taken....now.The city I live in there are already armed school police at the schools and armed city police at the local movie theater and shopping malls. These measures have been in place for years now and show a sign of security.
The longer we wait..........the next event will eventually occur. The most evil of the mentally ill live undetected until the moment they strike out without warning.

 

[MarkeytMaker]

I dis-agree with having armed security gaurds or police officer's at the schools. These killer's would simply walk up to the gaurd, or police officer and quick draw to kill.

 

[jazzeum]

The school had a controlled access point. However, the principal recognized the shooter and let him in, an act which sadly cost her her life. She was considered a fine educator.

 

[TomNT]

This is a huge tragedy and being a father of a 6 and a half year old boy, i can only imagine the grief the parents of the murdered children are going through. These tragic events are becoming more common in the U.S. and even in other parts of the world and i think that there is no one solution to prevent these tragedies from happening. The family unit in many cases has broken down over the years and many children are not getting good guidance (or any guidance or being abused) from their parents during their formative years. Common courtesy, good manners and firm control of children (and that doesn’t mean physical control either) seems to be disappearing from the family unit and in some instances you have children completely out of control and misbehaving all the time.

Gun control, especially in the U.S. which is already awash with guns is not going to work and you cannot have armies of police and armed guards posted in every school, cinemas, shops, street corners etc. Mental health should be addressed and funded accordingly but the violence on our TV, certain types of movies and the worst offenders, the internet and violent video games certainly should be looked at as they can have a major influence on some people's behaviour.

Tom

 

[Warrior]

The school had a controlled access point. However, the principal recognized the shooter and let him in, an act which sadly cost her her life. She was considered a fine educator.

She didn't let him in, he shot his way in.

The 5 guns he had were his mothers guns, he tried to buy a gun last week but was denied.

Her ex sister in law told reporters she was concerned over the economy in this country and what might happen in the future, she was a survivalist.

I don't know how any of the victims parents can cope with this or go on with their lives, we're talking about 6 and 7 year old babies here.

An entire community is shattered, our country is broken and I don't know how you can possibly fix it.

 

[lancer]

I read an age breakdown on the children who were shot; 16 were 6 years old and 4 were 7 years old. I am just at a loss for words and this seems to hurt more and more. Babies, for lord's sake. And the coward committed suicide. What trash. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Yes, I was wrong about that. The mother didn't work at the school.

This one is particularly bad because these could be our children. We see ourselves in the parents. No parent is immune frm that, not even the President.

 

[Warrior]

Initally there was a lot of misinformation out there about this; as the true story starts to come out, it gets worse by the minute.

He shot his way in, the principal and another staff member literally threw themselves at the shooter to try to stop him.

Pictures are now out there of some of the children who were the victims, this is nothing short of horrific.

Since Columbine, there have been over 40 shootings at schools.

This past November, two million guns were purchased in this country.

This country needs to evaluate it's mental heath care system, it's a train wreck and needs to be fixed.

A local tv reporter today asked "What sort of demons were in this persons head?", then he got choked up, couldn't continue and the camera panned out.

 

[Napoleon1er]

I dis-agree with having armed security gaurds or police officer's at the schools. These killer's would simply walk up to the gaurd, or police officer and quick draw to kill.

This is a good point, but my mother (who is a school administrator) pointed out that most urban schools already have guards, and urban schools are rarely attacked. Could this be cause and effect? It is unlikely we will ever know, but I don't see it hurting to have an officer on school grounds.

 

[Grognard]

Coming from Europe where such tragedies while happening from time to time are less frequent, I do think that a stricter gun control law would help. Saying it's too late because there is too many guns out there doesn't make much sense to me since you have to start somewhere. This would at least possibly prevent anyone who doesn't have a gun in the first place to get one. How many times have we heard that the killers just bought their weapons before they acted? In Europe it's quasy impossible for anyone to get a AK47 or equivalent or any non hunting gun for that matter. I do agree that providing help to mentally ill people is needed too and this is taking us to another big issue in the US which is medical coverage that is substandard to any other developed nation in the world. Therefore another big problem to solve at home but starting with a stricter gun law would not arm anyone.

 

[Combat]

This is a good point, but my mother (who is a school administrator) pointed out that most urban schools already have guards, and urban schools are rarely attacked. Could this be cause and effect? It is unlikely we will ever know, but I don't see it hurting to have an officer on school grounds.

For whatever reason, most of these rampage shooters are historically white males in their teens or 20's. I read somewhere that schizophrenia begins to manifest itself and become most dangerous in that age group. These are really one-in-a-million events though. Anomalies that play out endlessly on TV until everyone is afraid for their kids. It's much more likely your kid will be harmed in an auto or bus accident on the way to school than the victim of a school shooting. Having armed guards at every school in the country is like frisking old ladies at the airport. It's a waste of time and money and cultivates fear. You can't play defense and win this game. Put several armed guards in the school and the shooter will just wait for school to end and shoot the buses up. Or go to a public park. You also have to screen and treat the mentally ill to make any progress. The sad reality is that some of these events are going to occur no matter what is done.