OR - Nine killed in Umpqua Community College shooting, Roseburg, 1 Oct 2015 - #1

[K_Z]

After his parents divorced when he was about 16, he lived with his mother, Laurel Harper, a nurse who fiercely protected him from, among other things, the neighborhood sounds of loud children and barking dogs.
.....
neighbors said, she went door to door with a petition to get the landlord to exterminate cockroaches in her apartment, saying they bothered her son. _( very typical with some of the learning disabled - had one pt that the only thing the mom could feed him was pizza - peroid - he lost it when anything else was presented)

“She said, ‘My son is dealing with some mental issues, and the roaches are really irritating him...... “She said they were going to go stay in a motel.

He was listed as a 2009 graduate of the Switzer Learning Center in Torrance, a private school for students with learning disabilities, emotional issues and other special-education needs.


His parents struggled financially over the years, filing for bankruptcy in 1992, and his father, Ian Mercer, filed again in 2002. California records show that Ms. Harper had been a licensed vocational nurse.

She apparently contributed to online forums dealing with health issues. In one exchange, a writer who appeared to be Ms. Harper offered assistance to the mother of a child with Asperger’s syndrome, saying, “I’m a nurse and also have an Aspergers kid.” s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/us/chris-harper-mercer-umpqua-community-college-shooting.html?_r=1

Snipped by me.

If the shooter did have an Asperger's diagnosis (and he had a serious diagnosis of some sort, or wouldn't have been at Switzer), that explains why it would be suppressed by the mainstream media, as they decide "how" to (spin) present that piece of information.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "mental illness" , they risk offending a large swath of the disability advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "disability", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "not responsible for his actions", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as someone with "hidden violent tendencies", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "normal", and to be held to all of society's norms and laws, they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If this young man had a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, there is just no way to affirmatively disclose that to the general public without it being a huge social issue. There was a concerted effort that went to astronomic efforts to avoid "naming" the mental and emotional issues of Adam Lanza, that are so glaringly obvious in hindsight.

All of the above IMO, of course.

 

[CARIIS]

I am sorry , but I cant remeber "which" mass shooting this was---but kept hearing "lock down" and I realized I dont really know what it means. So I went to You TUbe.

I teared up after a few minutes in,my parents were ducking from Russian nuclear bombs, we did fire drills (Loved em!) and now this generation is doing this stuff

they are suppossed to b studing not breaking windows training how to attack an armed intruder, hide in the dark killing the lights playing dead, running around with their hands up , afraid to speak, listening to screaming, guns it truly is a sad state of affairs ...

it also gave me a real notion of how scary thses are , and in this one they watched another human being, sorry, get shot in the brain right in front of them

that is a life scarring event ........both personally and professionially have some issues with this notion of closure- its a fantasy does a cut hurt as much the day after compared to 2 weeks............ no......... but there are scars...........

it is haunting.............

[video=youtube;NgKsxMgHMt4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgKsxMgHMt4[/video]

PS for those of you who have children do they come home and tell you they had a active shooter "practice"? Do they desribe feeling scared? Do they think about it happening often? Is it discussed?

 

[Jabarn]

At my son's college (a community college) they had a shooter a couple years ago. The guard had no gun. The guy walks in and shoots two women off the bat. He goes from room to room and people are hiding. One was a friend of my son's. She and another student heard what was going on and they hid. The guy comes in the room and says "I know you are in here, I can hear you" at that point she was scared out of her mind as can be understood. The guy walks out and then comes back in and said "Come out I know you are in here". Luckily they didn't come out. My son didn't have class that day.

My son's friend was tramatized and he said she told him she was having trouble sleeping and everytime he tried to talk to her she would be crying terribly. He did what he could to try to help her. She refused. She was a lovely girl and I could tell this was really bothering him.

Imagine the horror I felt when I was reading the paper months later and seen where she had died. I found out she had taken her own life. I had to tell my son and that was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. We had just seen her a week before this happened at her place of work. Irontically I heard she had used a gun. My son has been hurt deeply by all this. He just mentioned her yesterday. She was special to him. I know this is not directly related but the same type story. Mentally ill person. The shooter got a sentence of 38 years.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/us/virginia-community-college-shooting/

I can tell this really hit home for you and I am so sorry. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[human]

likewise my dear , you would not believe the madness with passwords and usernames and logins not just here but oh ny lord ---just not my thing --details! it was like a sigh --oh god I am in !!!

exhausting!! caps no caps must have capitial letter must have dash mich have numbers cant be in order can be in order must be in orrder cant be same as username must be your email must not be your email can use !@#$ must use @@#$$ i dont remember allthat from each site is that not what computers are for !!

It is also very creepy i dont know if any of you have ever done remote repair on your computer, I did to get this new one with less junk. When they respond to you you hear a sound like hitting the space bar to let you know they responded---

well guys the next morning i heard space bar taps coming from speakers.....I went in and deleted theri remote contol program but truly gave me the cjreeps

it was like a" boogey man"

lost the few marbles i had left and now I cant find them ha!

O/t. I listened to a report on remote access of your computer. It could be a real problem so hope who you have is reputable. Think ID theft. Access all your accounts. Access your keystrokes. It was on public radio but I bet info is online

 

[CARIIS]

Snipped by me.

If the shooter did have an Asperger's diagnosis (and he had a serious diagnosis of some sort, or wouldn't have been at Switzer), that explains why it would be suppressed by the mainstream media, as they decide "how" to (spin) present that piece of information.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "mental illness" , they risk offending a large swath of the disability advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "disability", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "not responsible for his actions", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as someone with "hidden violent tendencies", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "normal", and to be held to all of society's norms and laws, they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If this young man had a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, there is just no way to affirmatively disclose that to the general public without it being a huge social issue. There was a concerted effort that went to astronomic efforts to avoid "naming" the mental and emotional issues of Adam Lanza, that are so glaringly obvious in hindsight.

All of the above IMO, of course.

So agree- he was in a school for troubled youth - where does the media get so lost ----there hard to get into- funding -- but , blows my mind, just like Lanza mom is going to he shooting range with al child, hey a balanced adult likes shooting at stuff, not my place to judge- obvioously they knew he had issues - he was placed-

honey wanna go play with some guns............................it is numbing

also this may have been posted, but when I found it I saved it for you guys.....at the time I wondered why it had not been taken down

https://myspace.com/344765151/photos

 

[KaaBoom]

Please tell me what "mood" would inspire this mother of a disturbed man to walk around in public with the guns she listed? I can understand the Glock or other handguns in a holster maybe, but not the rifles. Is she doing this just because she "can"? Is she trying to scare people? Or is she almost as disturbed as her son? She's worse than Adam Lanza's mother IMO. Totally irresponsible. I'm sure that responsible gun owners are appalled.
JMO

And I will say this...even though open carry of those weapons may be legal, if I see someone walking around my town carrying one, I'm calling the police to check on it. It might be a waste of their time...or it might save some lives. But you don't have the "right" to scare the cr** out of me with an AR just because you can! I have rights too!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...open-carries-assault-rifles-mood-strikes.html

Well, there is the cause. Another gun nut mother raising a gun nut son. And everyone is all shocked when the kid goes and shoots up his school. Who could have foreseen that. How can this keep happening in America? It's simple. Americans are training their kids to be homicidal maniacs. The only thing that will stop this type of thing is to get rid of the gun culture. Better mental health will not stop it. More security in schools will not stop it. The only thing that will stop it is to get rid of the guns. Stop turning kid

 

[ILOKAL]

Snipped by me.

If the shooter did have an Asperger's diagnosis (and he had a serious diagnosis of some sort, or wouldn't have been at Switzer), that explains why it would be suppressed by the mainstream media, as they decide "how" to (spin) present that piece of information.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "mental illness" , they risk offending a large swath of the disability advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "disability", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "not responsible for his actions", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as someone with "hidden violent tendencies", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "normal", and to be held to all of society's norms and laws, they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If this young man had a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, there is just no way to affirmatively disclose that to the general public without it being a huge social issue. There was a concerted effort that went to astronomic efforts to avoid "naming" the mental and emotional issues of Adam Lanza, that are so glaringly obvious in hindsight.

All of the above IMO, of course.

I appreciate your insight. I came across this article on webMD and with the little we know of Mercer thus far, this could describe him to a tee.

 

[CARIIS]

One of the Columbine shooters asked a similar question in the library- do you believe in God? Not exactly the same as asking a potential victim whether he/she is a Christian but there is somewhat of commonality, especially since the perp studied past mass killers.

What struvk me when this came out , I thought like dont say your Christian especially as it kept going on I dont know maybe some did lie but I sure would have tried does that make sense?

 

[Sasquatch]

A video honoring the fallen victims of UCC.
[video]https://youtu.be/y6M2abgXRNw[/video]

 

[Jabarn]

Snipped by me.

If the shooter did have an Asperger's diagnosis (and he had a serious diagnosis of some sort, or wouldn't have been at Switzer), that explains why it would be suppressed by the mainstream media, as they decide "how" to (spin) present that piece of information.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "mental illness" , they risk offending a large swath of the disability advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "disability", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "not responsible for his actions", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as someone with "hidden violent tendencies", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "normal", and to be held to all of society's norms and laws, they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If this young man had a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, there is just no way to affirmatively disclose that to the general public without it being a huge social issue. There was a concerted effort that went to astronomic efforts to avoid "naming" the mental and emotional issues of Adam Lanza, that are so glaringly obvious in hindsight.

All of the above IMO, of course.

I have to agree, in some parts. The problem is most of the focus on autism spectrum disorders involves children and not what happens to the kids when they grow up, where services stop. I do think the autism community is starting to embrace this and press for services for adults with autism spectrum disorders too. In order to that, they need to include these stories in their message. It is a tough situation all around.

 

[K_Z]

I have kids in public school who do the lock down drills.My kids do lock down drills twice a year-- now they are 5th and 9th grades. They cluster lock down drills in the same week with tornado and fire drills, so the emphasis is on "safety", not fear and panic.

Many euphemisms are used with lock down drills.

In elementary school, they focus on rather benign euphemistic scenarios, like "a mean dog is loose in the school building". Or, a "robber" from a local store is hiding from police in the school building. Or someone "on drugs" is running and hiding from police.

In middle and high school, teachers in my area are told not to answer or discuss or focus on discussions or questions from students about "shooters". They are to deflect those questions and focus on emphasizing the need to follow the teacher's instructions, and to remain quiet. In my area, (the Midwest), they never, never discuss or mention the possibility of a shooter inside the school.

I haven't decided yet (after years of the letters coming home) whether this is a good thing, or not. We talk about the realities of shooters, in age appropriate ways, at home, but they both know that they can't talk about that at school. They have both tried, and have been (politely) shut down by teachers.

Like I said, I don't know if this is a good thing, for the school to shield all kids from reality in this area, or confront it in an age appropriate manner.

It's a miserable, hard, awful, nightmarish thing to discuss with your kids, no matter how old or young they are.

 

[Jabarn]

What struvk me when this came out , I thought like dont say your Christian especially as it kept going on I dont know maybe some did lie but I sure would have tried does that make sense?

Being on the spot, from what I read, those who didn't respond, or responded to the negative, probably shell-shocked, were shot in the legs instead of the head.

 

[CARIIS]

OK, so who is going to pay? UCC had already rejected the idea of having armed security guards, because they couldn't afford it. So how are they going to pay all of this equipment, plus numerous officers to check the students?

Ugh my first thought was "it would probably be cheaper than all the medical bills and first responder costs" isnt that awful

Aurora cost 100 million


accordiung to Forbes cost of gun violence $229 Billion

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/04/aurora-mass-shooting-cost-more-than-100-million

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/true-cost-of-gun-violence-in-america

 

[ILOKAL]

Snipped by me.

If the shooter did have an Asperger's diagnosis (and he had a serious diagnosis of some sort, or wouldn't have been at Switzer), that explains why it would be suppressed by the mainstream media, as they decide "how" to (spin) present that piece of information.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "mental illness" , they risk offending a large swath of the disability advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as a "disability", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and advocates and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "not responsible for his actions", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as someone with "hidden violent tendencies", they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If they present a shooter with Asperger's syndrome as "normal", and to be held to all of society's norms and laws, they risk offending a large swath of the disability and autism advocates.

If this young man had a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, there is just no way to affirmatively disclose that to the general public without it being a huge social issue. There was a concerted effort that went to astronomic efforts to avoid "naming" the mental and emotional issues of Adam Lanza, that are so glaringly obvious in hindsight.

All of the above IMO, of course.

Although we're far from having the answers, from the little we know (through media) of C. Mercer, this article could describe him to a tee.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20121218/aspergers-violence?page=2

 

[KaaBoom]

I have to wonder if their sudden move to Oregon had anything to do with more restrictive gun possession and open carry laws in CA vs OR. I don't have time today to research the laws for each state on the guns the killer's irresponsible mother listed, but if someone else feels like it, we might gain some insight. TIA.

Yes, that is the reason she has given for moving to Oregon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...open-carries-assault-rifles-mood-strikes.html

 

[ElleElle]

Yes, that is the reason she has given for moving to Oregon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...open-carries-assault-rifles-mood-strikes.html

I guess the apple never falls far from the tree, regardless of a pre-existing disorder.

 

[Foxfire]

Yes, that is the reason she has given for moving to Oregon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...open-carries-assault-rifles-mood-strikes.html

KaaBoom, I do not interpret the shooter's mother's reply to mean that open carry is the reason for the move from CA to OR. The post was about understanding how some people would be apprehensive about open carry and that it would not work in some states like CA.

 

[CARIIS]

Cost of violence :
55 billion more than Apple' net worth.

more than obesity

almost as much as medicaid

A single murder:
441000 per murder hospital court prison

we pay for 32 murders a day

indirect costs:

49 billion lost wages

169 b lost quality of life

cost every single person in America is 700 per american a year

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/true-cost-of-gun-violence-in-america

I just learned this- Windows if you hold down ctrl and hit the + button text gets bigger- delightful! same for - key !!

O/T kinda

 

[Mrs G Norris]

She slung an assault weapon over her shoulder and walked out the door? Surely that would have impeded her handbag carrying ability? What a complete <modsnip>

 

[human]

I am sorry , but I cant remeber "which" mass shooting this was---but kept hearing "lock down" and I realized I dont really know what it means. So I went to You TUbe.

I teared up after a few minutes in,my parents were ducking from Russian nuclear bombs, we did fire drills (Loved em!) and now this generation is doing this stuff

they are suppossed to b studing not breaking windows training how to attack an armed intruder, hide in the dark killing the lights playing dead, running around with their hands up , afraid to speak, listening to screaming, guns it truly is a sad state of affairs ...

it also gave me a real notion of how scary thses are , and in this one they watched another human being, sorry, get shot in the brain right in front of them

that is a life scarring event ........both personally and professionially have some issues with this notion of closure- its a fantasy does a cut hurt as much the day after compared to 2 weeks............ no......... but there are scars...........

it is haunting.............

[video=youtube;NgKsxMgHMt4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgKsxMgHMt4[/video]

PS for those of you who have children do they come home and tell you they had a active shooter "practice"? Do they desribe feeling scared? Do they think about it happening often? Is it discussed?

As a retired teacher in an elementary school, here is how it was. I remember Columbine. We had guest readers in the room reading to the kids and they came and told me the info,

After that, the principal met with the staff as there was a new law that all schools had to have lock down drills at least six times a year.

We were to examine our classrooms and look for a place to put the children where bullet trajectories could not reach the children through a window. We were to not bunch the kids together as bullets can go through them like butter. We were to try to find a wall that bullets could not penetrate, My windows were up above the radiators so I had to climb up and pull the shades .

I do not recall what I told the children as absolute silence had to be expected as well.

We had windows in the doors of our classrooms, but they were all covered now so no one could look in.

We got new schools built and they were all built to the National Standards for school buildings designed to deal with school shooters. Isn't that special!

I retired before the new school I would have worked in was completed so I do not know what the design entails except controlled access.

I was in the generation of kids who hid under their desks for nuclear attacks. We have a sister city with a city in Russia. The people there said they were terrified of us because they learned how horrible we were.

The days I was out on the playground and the lockdown was announced were always fun. No place to hide when out there, The teachers at Sandy Hook had just had a lock down practice, I believe.