OR - Nine killed in Umpqua Community College shooting, Roseburg, 1 Oct 2015 - #2

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bluesneakers said:
Diagnosed with which mental illness? Does he still have it? Is it being treated? How did his mental illness play a role in what happened? Just because someone who has a mental illness does something it's not always due to the illness.

People can quit their jobs, drink too much, not pay their rent, beat up their spouses, and it's not always their illnesses fault. I don't see how this shooter's mystery illness had anything to do with what happened. Sometimes people who don't have mental illnesses do those things too.
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He shot a young lady in a wheelchair. He was out of his mind, imo.
 
bluesneakers said:
Do you think his father should still have been living at home with him, driving him to school every day?
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No. But I do think that it is sad that his father had not seen him in 2 years and had no idea that his son was in a crazy dysfunctional one bedroom apartment with his looney tunes mama and 14 automatic weapons.
 
human said:
And if he had a car, he could drive, and he was literate enuff to be on the net and he was literate enuff to leave a note,

He was working out,

He was capable of lving.
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None of that makes someone 'capable' of taking care of themselves. Obviously, since he shot 20 people and then himself in the head.
 
katydid23 said:
No. But I do think that it is sad that his father had not seen him in 2 years and had no idea that his son was in a crazy dysfunctional one bedroom apartment with his looney tunes mama and 14 automatic weapons.
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And I am sure his father knew that "mom" was a bit off upstairs.

If his dad had spent any real time with him, or even talked to him on a regular basis he likely would have known about the gun fetish.
 
katydid23 said:
Are you saying that he was 'normal' and had no mental health issues?
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I'm saying if you're insisting mental illness played a role in what he did that day please tell me what his illness was, how he was being treated or not treated, and how it related to him taking his guns to school and shooting people.

That's what I'm saying.
 
bluesneakers said:
I'm not so sure.

What illness was he diagnosed with? Was he being treated? How long had he been diagnosed?
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In the video of the dad being interviewed, that was posted here earlier, he was quick to talk about gun control, but dodged questions about his son's mental condition; in regards to that particular point, he asked for time so that the investigators could do their investigation (regarding any diagnosis Harper-Mercer had, is what I took from it). I thought it was strange, the whole interview was odd, but that's what he said. There may be some confidentiality laws so he isn't able to comment.
 
katydid23 said:
He shot a young lady in a wheelchair. He was out of his mind, imo.
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All of the Victims accounts have ripped me to shreds. This one left me beyond words........
 
Jabarn said:
In the video of the dad being interviewed, that was posted here earlier, he was quick to talk about gun control, but dodged questions about his son's mental condition; in regards to that particular point, he asked for time so that the investigators could do their investigation (regarding any diagnosis Harper-Mercer had, is what I took from it). I thought it was strange, the whole interview was odd, but that's what he said. There may be some confidentiality laws so he isn't able to comment.
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Confidentially laws regarding a dead person? Interesting. I would have thought once your dead people (non-professionals) can say whatever they want. Or do you mean maybe he'd given a statement to LE and he had to keep quiet about some of it?
 
bluesneakers said:
Confidentially laws regarding a dead person? Interesting. I would have thought once your dead people (non-professionals) can say whatever they want. Or do you mean maybe he'd given a statement to LE and he had to keep quiet about some of it?
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Maybe that too. I don't know. But that dad definitely was mute on questions regarding the mental health state of Harper-Mercer and did seem to focus more on his distaste for guns and how his son could have ever been around so many- maybe a jab a the mom? I don't know.
 
bluesneakers said:
I'm saying if you're insisting mental illness played a role in what he did that day please tell me what his illness was, how he was being treated or not treated, and how it related to him taking his guns to school and shooting people.

That's what I'm saying.
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from the NYTimes:

The U.S. Army discharged him just five weeks into basic training in 2008. Records indicate he graduated in 2009 from a high school catering to There are a number of indications that Harper-Mercer had mental health or behavioral issues. His screen name on some social media sites was "lithium love." Lithium is used as a psychiatric medication. Multiple media sources reported Friday he left behind an angry note that is now in the hands of investigators.

The Los Angeles Times said Harper-Mercer's note was several pages long and talked about his anger and depression.


A neighbor told The New York Times that Harper-Mercer's mother had told a neighbor, "My son is dealing with some mental issues....


http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...f/2015/10/new_details_emerge_on_umpqua_c.html

Also, there are reports of the mom's posts on social media in which she states that her son was on the autism spectrum.
 
katydid23 said:
You said it is up to the individual to 'grow up' and take care of themselves. And I said is that true also in the case of people with mental health issues? I know that my brother cannot fully care for himself. if my mother had not been so proactive he would have been dead or in prison, most likely.

I believe that a parent has a lifelong responsibility to their children if that child has mental/emotional disabilities. You cannot just wash your hands of them and walk away when they turn 18. JMO

ETA:
" ...but once you hit adulthood its on you to take care of yourself. "
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Not everyone with mental health issues requires care like your brother. I think it's unfair to lump everyone with mental health issues together like that. Just because Mercer went to a special needs school and had a diagnosis of Aspergers, and some neighbours said he was odd, doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't look after himself.
 
katydid23 said:
we have a lot of copycat killings going on here. Americans seem to be obsessed with 'celebrities.' Many want to be 'famous' no matter if it is for good or evil. Lots of kids seek notoriety on the net and becoming a mass killer brings some dark glory these days.
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The net is available all over the world.
 
bluesneakers said:
This kid was an adult. He was well beyond doing what his father told him to do or not do. I can see saying the dad is responsible in some ways for how his son was raised, but once you hit adulthood its on you to take care of yourself. The dad didn't drive him to UCC and hold a gun to his head.
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"The Dad not being there" card does not work for me.

He was living with his mother, and just because he was 26, does not mean he does not have the cognitive abilities of a 26 YO.
 
Sonya610 said:
Wow...talk about scewing statistics. They use stats for ALL gun related deaths not mass shootings! Why does the headline include "mass shootings" when the data isn't about mass shooters?

When it comes to gun related murders we know that most are not "mentally ill" in the usual sense, gang banger types account for the largest single group.
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That study is a disjointed mess. The thesis of the paper sets out to debunk mental illness as a causative factor in mass shootings, but then the body of the publication discussed other types of gun violence (completely unrelated to mass shootings) in support of the thesis.

In addition, the paper cites statistics that have nothing to do with gun violence whatsoever when it states: "only about 4% of violence in the United States can be attributed to people diagnosed with mental illness".

This paper is, IMO, very misleading. If it had focused solely on mass shootings in the U.S. and the possible correlation with diagnosed mental illness, it may have been a much more informative paper.

As it is, it's a rambling hodgepodge of information cobbled together in an effort to try to support the authors' thesis, IMO.

Link to study cited upthread:

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302242
 
Brightbird said:
Not everyone with mental health issues requires care like your brother. I think it's unfair to lump everyone with mental health issues together like that. Just because Mercer went to a special needs school and had a diagnosis of Aspergers, and some neighbours said he was odd, doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't look after himself.
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I am looking at his past history AND his recent 'crazy' violent actions. It is hard to think that he could 'take care of himself' if he went to campus and blew his professors head off.
 
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