It is tragic. I believe the authorities should of taken action much quicker.

It is a shocking tragedy, but I do agree with Ghoulishfright that it makes you think about fate and free will, though not just regarding the victims, but also the shooter. I myself have certainly been pondering a lot lately over the idea of free will, and just how much, if any, we all have. Like the idea that our genes and life experiences shape who we are, determining the major decisions we make in our lives and who we ultimately become. I'd be careful about casting the shooter as a vile and evil demon or the like, at least until more specifics on the circumstances of this tragedy are figured out. We just don't know yet whether this guy had a very traumatic and violent childhood himself, or whether or not he had any mental disorders. As much as any of us may hate to admit it, he may have been a victim himself.

Atleast the media has stopped talking about Don fucking Imus!

Ignatz Kaspir
We just don't know yet whether this guy had a very traumatic and violent childhood himself, or whether or not he had any mental disorders. As much as any of us may hate to admit it, he may have been a victim himself.

Maybe, but I don't think it can really exonerate him of guilt either… you hear a lot of incidents where people have been horribly treated, or had violent childhoods but they don't appear to go on and commit crimes of this nature.

StayinPuft
Atleast the media has stopped talking about Don fucking Imus!

I rather have them talk about Imus for a full year then have those 32 students dead..and i say 32 not 33 because the killer deserves to be dead

Kingpin
Maybe, but I don't think it can really exonerate him of guilt either… you hear a lot of incidents where people have been horribly treated, or had violent childhoods but they don't appear to go on and commit crimes of this nature.

Still, we just don't know many of the details of this incident yet. It's true that many have went through traumatic experiences growing up and yet have never gone on to commit acts of this nature, but very little is still known about exactly what led this man to do what he did. Does an ordinary person just wake up one day, and decide they're going to go on a shooting rampage? Obviously not, and this obviously was not an ordinary person. We have to ask just what horrendous circumstances could've led to this man making such a horrendous decision. Maybe we can claim this man was evil during and leading up to the incident, but I hope we're not going to claim he was born evil.

Ignatz Kaspir
Does an ordinary person just wake up one day, and decide they're going to go on a shooting rampage? Obviously not, and this obviously was not an ordinary person. We have to ask just what horrendous circumstances could've led to this man making such a horrendous decision. Maybe we can claim this man was evil during and leading up to the incident, but I hope we're not going to claim he was born evil.

I believe he likely started out like everyone else… but if these plays he wrote, and some of the things classmates and lecturers say happened then something turned him into a very bitter, and extremely twisted man. He may not have been born evil, but I personally believe what he did on Monday was evil.

Kingpin
I believe he likely started out like everyone else… but if these plays he wrote, and some of the things classmates and lecturers say happened then something turned him into a very bitter, and extremely twisted man. He may not have been born evil, but I personally believe what he did on Monday was evil.

Actually, it seems to me that the guy was very ill - clinically depressed and psychotic, possibly schizophrenic. With the correct psychiatric treatment and anti-psychotic drugs, this probably never would have happened. The warning signs were most definitely there, it's just a shame that they weren't taken seriously enough at the time. It's very easy to demonise him and call him evil and twisted, but as difficult as it is to say it, he was probably just as much a victim as those he killed.

XTremeLurker
but as difficult as it is to say it, he was probably just as much a victim as those he killed.

I don't personally believe so… but I won't pursue that line… I doubt it'd really help anything in the long run.

Kingpin

XTremeLurker
but as difficult as it is to say it, he was probably just as much a victim as those he killed.

I don't personally believe so… but I won't pursue that line… I doubt it'd really help anything in the long run.

I completely understand your point of view. It is extremely difficult to think of him as a victim after what he did.

I was just thinking more from a mental health perspective, that's all.