NV - Active Shooter, University of Nevada LV

[x_files]

You won't prevent these shootings with voluntary or forced mental healthcare imo. I think you're fixing the wrong problem.

It's part of the problem. I think we need to look to the roots of what is causing people to feel disgruntled and to act on that impulse versus something more productive.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

It's part of the problem. I think we need to look to the roots of what is causing people to feel disgruntled and to act on that impulse versus something more productive.

That's not mental illness.

 

[StephanieH]

What do you think about lack of impulse control, coupled with entitled thinking? Would Narcissistic Personality Disorder fit here?

Edit: Conspiracy belief is associated with narcissism--an inflated view of oneself that requires external validation and is linked to paranoid ideation (Cichocka, Marchlewska, & Golec de Zavala, 2016)

Unfortunately, personality disorders are really tough to "fix" and they require intensive therapy by a therapist skilled in personality disorders AND the person REALLY needs to want to change. So yes, a better health care system would be great, but it takes someone to want to change. Unfortunately, most narcissists have no desire to work that hard to change.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

UNLV gunman resigned as tenured professor after making sexual comment in class, former student says

He blamed East Carolina University for costing him his career and destroying his reputation, his previously posted online ramblings show.

www.nbcnews.com

The man who fatally shot three people last week at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, had resigned from another school, despite having tenure, after a female student accused him of making a sexual comment about her appearance.

Kristin Marshburn said she was sitting in the front row of Anthony Polito's business course at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, in 2016 when he walked in and made the remark.

"He said to me that if I wore a shirt that low cut for the rest of the semester, I’d be sure to get an A," Marshburn, now 28, told NBC News.

Marshburn, of Wilmington, North Carolina, said she was shocked by the "bold comment," as were some of the roughly 35 other students, mostly men, in Polito's supply chain management course that fall...

 

[Inthedetails]

UNLV gunman resigned as tenured professor after making sexual comment in class, former student says

He blamed East Carolina University for costing him his career and destroying his reputation, his previously posted online ramblings show.

www.nbcnews.com

From the link, there are at least three college women whom he inappropriately treated.

He told one student if she continued to wear low-cut shirts to class, she would get an A.

Another student claims, "Polito pursued her for nearly an entire semester, contacting her almost every day through email and texts and buying her gifts."

Yet another student "said she viewed Polito as a mentor until he crossed the line by inviting her to Las Vegas during her senior year in 2012."

I'm honestly surprised he resigned rather than try to bully his way against the accusations from the first student (the comments about getting an A)...which makes me think there were skeletons in his closet he was protecting and that perhaps administrators knew about. That's a hunch only, not fact.

Source: link in quoted post.

 

[summergirl1]

He also sent a letter to Geico..

UNLV gunman takes down 'content of envelopes' published on website before shooting

news3lv-com.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[summergirl1]

Apparently, he was subscribed to channels on YouTube about poker as well as Las Vegas, and followed an adult film star's YouTube channel according to the article. Interesting.

I wonder if he had gambling issues, or just financial issues? He was 67, he could have just retired. If his retirement wasn't a lot because of his job issues in recent years (he did technically work at a Nevada university part time until a program was discontinued in 2022, although he only taught two classes since 2020 or something), he could have moved to affordable housing for seniors, that would charge him 30 percent of his income, etc. He could have taken on some part time work outside of academia, as well. Nobody would have thought it odd at his age, they would have just thought he was retired and supplementing his income, as some do.

There were answers to his financial woes at his age. Also, if he had gambling issues, get help and declare bankruptcy or something like that. But of course, his issues went beyond that, if he had issues like that, and he is now in the news for this. His career obsession at his age is odd, and it obviously went beyond the financial, although the eviction notice may have been the last straw. His career was obviously a major part of his identity as "Dr.160IQ" and being slighted on any level with regards to that in his opinion was not acceptable. Still, this crime seems odd for a 67 year old, not that it's usually professors that do school shootings.

 

[summergirl1]

Those letters..yikes..

'Cry for help': Forensic psychologists weigh in on UNLV shooter's behavior

“This is someone who’s extremely angry and he has some grievances,” said Dr. John Matthias, a Las Vegas forensic psychologist and UNLV professor. “This is someone with a lot of rage...and insecurity."

www.ktnv.com

 

[summergirl1]

Apparently the white powder in the letters was talcum powder. And he claimed on his website that he didn't gamble much. He appears to have had an obsessive personality, like being obsessed with Las Vegas, but not for conventional reasons like enjoying gambling. 13 Investigates: UNLV gunman's website paints bizarre picture. What Anthony Polito posted for readers

 

[x_files]

That's not mental illness.

well, it's not normal behavior either...

 

[housewife]

Those letters..yikes..

'Cry for help': Forensic psychologists weigh in on UNLV shooter's behavior

“This is someone who’s extremely angry and he has some grievances,” said Dr. John Matthias, a Las Vegas forensic psychologist and UNLV professor. “This is someone with a lot of rage...and insecurity."

www.ktnv.com

From the article I caught these quotes:

"Desperate and punitive"

“You can tell his world is getting smaller and smaller,” said Dr. Anderson. “He’s very obsessive, clearly, and compulsive. There’s a theme of revenge or retaliation and just blaming everyone else for everything that’s happening all around him. Sadly, these letters definitely were a cry for help.”

He was an injustice collector. He felt entitled to things like a job or a girlfriend. He was mad. I think there are many people with this mentality, actually.

But then impulse control fails and he lashes out. Or did he have control in the first place? Was he always thinking punitively?

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

well, it's not normal behavior either...

There are all kinds of things that are not stereotypical mainstream behavior that are not mental illness. For example, some people speed. Going 100 mph down a highway isn't "normal" behavior, but most of the time, it isn't mental illness either. One incident of shoplifting isn't "normal" behavior, but most of the time, it isn't mental illness. Sometimes, criminality is just criminality.

There's a lot of complexity to human behavior and while some abnormal behavior can be caused by mental illness, what people fail to recognize is that some NORMAL behavior can also be due to mental illness. You can't label anything that's a deviation from mainstream as mental illness. That's how we end up with homosexuality being considered a mental illness, which thank goodness, we no longer are. Our personalities, impulses, wants, needs, and actions are all formed and maintained by a number of factors and mental illness doesn't always play a role in it. In fact, I'd say most of the time, it doesn't, IME.

 

[x_files]

There are all kinds of things that are not stereotypical mainstream behavior that are not mental illness. For example, some people speed. Going 100 mph down a highway isn't "normal" behavior, but most of the time, it isn't mental illness either. One incident of shoplifting isn't "normal" behavior, but most of the time, it isn't mental illness. Sometimes, criminality is just criminality.

There's a lot of complexity to human behavior and while some abnormal behavior can be caused by mental illness, what people fail to recognize is that some NORMAL behavior can also be due to mental illness. You can't label anything that's a deviation from mainstream as mental illness. That's how we end up with homosexuality being considered a mental illness, which thank goodness, we no longer are. Our personalities, impulses, wants, needs, and actions are all formed and maintained by a number of factors and mental illness doesn't always play a role in it. In fact, I'd say most of the time, it doesn't, IME.

I agree just frustrated about how to prevent the next mass shooting.
Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas!

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I agree just frustrated about how to prevent the next mass shooting.
Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you too! I'm frustrated too. I'm focusing my energy on one particular aspect of mass shootings that can be easily controlled in ALL of these cases, but I'll save that for the gun-control thread per TOS.