After reading Chris Mintz's account of the UCC shooting, it brings back memories of a similar situation that I had experienced. It is difficult to define that eerie silence that occurs right before walking into a shooter situation and the confusion that follows. Twenty years ago, I stood four feet from a gunman with an AK-47 in the Portland, Oregon KOIN Center. Luckily I heard a shout by a janitor and was warned not to open the door where the shooter was standing behind. The only thing separating me and the shooter, was a sheet of glass. That warning shout probably prevented me from getting shot or being taken hostage. A few of us were able to back away, as the gunman's rifle jammed, and we were able to direct the police and FBI to where the shooter was located. Waves of people started running out the side of the building, as the shooter was taking hostages. A couple of us made our way back and we proceeded to stop people from walking toward the building, until a perimeter was set up by LE. Now twenty years later, someone about the same age with similar red flags, does the same thing. The difference between these two scenarios is that the UCC shooter succeeded at taking innocent lives. 1996 was still the time period when they negotiated with the shooters. I remember the long 4 hour standoff and not being able to retrieve my car until late in the night. I am thankful that policies have changed over the years and LE decided to rush the UCC shooter and save lives. For future studies, we definitely need to take a look at these attempted mass murder incidents along with the mass murder incidents.
Here is the article about the 1996 Portland, Oregon KOIN Center shooting.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gEAvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3t8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1393%2C249423
You can see the similarities that the KOIN Center shooter(attempted mass murderer) had with the UCC shooter(mass murderer):
1. His mother stated that he had "a long history of mental problems"and she believed that "he had a death wish" and was "an angry young man". Even with these red flags he was able to purchase rifles and guns.
2. He wore military style fatigues.
3. He came to the crime scene with an overstock on rifles, guns, knives and ammo in a bag. - AK-47, shotgun, 9mm and another rifle in his car.
4. He had a frustration with the government and institutions that control everything.
5. He idolized militia organizations.
6. One person described him as depressed, sometimes sexist and didn't know what to expect out of life.
7. He was in his middle twenties
8. His former employer said that they had no reason to believe that Rincker " had anything in his past that would prompt him to do anything of this nature". He passed a drug test and a background check.
9. Roommate described him as "distant and far away"
10. A coworker recalled Rincker having "Temper Tantrums"!
So if these mass shooters are staying under the radar before the shooting, without raising any major red flags, then at what point can they be stopped at? It appears that in both cases that the mothers witnessed some mental health issues with their sons long before their attacks. The KOIN Center shooter's mom mentioned that her son had a "Death Wish". The UCC shooter had already once attempted suicide. Both shooters should have raised high level red flags, yet both were still able to have free access to and the ability to purchase guns and rifles that were used in the shootings.
A basic definition of mass murder:
Dr. Scott Bonn a professor of sociology and criminology at Drew University states :
"A mass murder sometimes occurs when the perpetrator, who may be deeply troubled, suffers a psychotic break from reality and strikes out at his/her perceived tormentors in a blitz-like attack"...."From a social-psychological perspective, mass murder is an act of vengeance against society by a desperate and fatalistic individual who has no intention of going away quietly or returning to kill another day. "
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201502/how-mass-murder-and-serial-murder-differ
It is obvious that the shooter had some sort of previous psychotic break if he had attempted suicide, during basic training. One study revealed that 31 percent of soldiers attempting suicide had mental disorders even before they entered the military. There were probably warning signs long before he had even enlisted.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Depression/44586
Basic training is made to test a recruit's physical and mental capabilities. If stress can induce psychosis, then basic training would most likely bring that out in a person. Between 1977 and 2001, 28 out of the 46 suicides in basic training were from the US Army. The army statistics seem higher than other branches, because it consists of the reserves and national guard members that go through basic training. Most suicide attempts in basic training did not result in death.
https://books.google.com/books?id=b...icide rates among army basic training&f=false
I went through basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina many decades ago, when I was 17. I remember the high humidity and lots of cockroaches in the old WW2 Barracks on Tank Hill. A persons identity is lost with a shaved head, being issued the same BDU's as everyone else and being called only by a person's last name. I remember getting homesick from being thousands of miles away from home. The change from civilian to military life does cause a lot of stress during that first month. There was a suicide in a different squad where one young lady had taken her life at the rifle range. I believe that she had gotten the round from target practice, and went into to the restroom where she took her life. This incident was the exception. Most recruits are monitored and filtered out before they reach that point. They usually get swept out of the system with what is called a "Trainee Discharge". This discharge is looked at as "for the good of the Army". It is also good for the safety of all of the recruits, because toward the end of basic training, everyone has to handle high caliber weapons, including throwing live grenades. A Trainee Discharge is not the same as a Dishonorable Discharge, and it will not affect an individuals ability to purchase weapons at a later date. Maybe this is a loophole that needs to be fixed. A Trainee Discharge, based on a suicide attempt, does not cause a red flag, preventing future weapons purchases. If he would have received a Dishonorable Discharge, that is like a felony conviction, and can block a person from being able to purchase a firearm. I think that there should be some sort of red flag given to high risk Trainee Discharges. Having a system where a mental health evaluation is administered before they can have access to a weapon, protects them and might prevent future killings.
I am sure that everyone deals with stress differently. I do believe that this type of stress can be bring out the signs of a pre-existing mental illness. The problems is, to what level do these symptoms have to appear, to be considered a red flag? And if they are discharged due to a suicide attempt, what kind of mental health services do they have when they go back home? The mental illness is no longer a problem for the military once a person is discharged, so then it now becomes an issue for society. What services are available to follow up and take responsibility for the treatment once the military is no longer in the picture? The stress of basic training could have contributed to a Psychotic episode, which he might have suffered for a short time, then after he was discharged he might have went back under the radar in civilian life. There are studies that show that people with pre-existing mental health disorders and PTSD are more more susceptible to diagnosis of a new mental disorder after a traumatic event. For some the traumatic event might be a natural disaster, for others it might be military basic training.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23364127
Here is a link to a legal ruling of an individual who suffered PTSD in the 1960's from The Marines Boot Camp. He also received a Trainee Discharge (discharge for reason of unsuitability-inaptitude):
http://www.va.gov/vetapp13/Files1/1309291.txt
By not accurately diagnosing an existing disorder, we might be increasing future mental health issues on individuals. Someone with an already pre-existing mental illness might actually obtain PTSD after being at basic training for over a month, if he did not already have the coping skills upon entering.
There is a stress induced psychotic break called " Brief Reactive Psychosis(DSM 4)/Brief Psychotic Disorder (DSM 5)" also known as Time-Limited Schizophrenia. Often diagnosed in people in their late 20's early 30's. This is where the person has a stressful event as a catalyst followed by possible delusions. These symptoms go away in under a months time. Maybe this person has a history of short term problems, but when the psychosis goes away, they can continue to appear normal enough to still stay under the radar.
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/brief-psychotic-disorder-symptoms/
The media is quick to broadcast the headlines that the shooters were on the autism spectrum. In many of the cases, we do not even know if they have even been officially diagnosed by a professional. The media doesn't seem to realize, that by running the autism and mass murder headlines, that they are branding thousands of innocent people with a dangerous label. Understand that Chris Mintz, one of the UCC heroes and victims, is a proud father of a child who has ASD. So when the media is trying to create headlines blaming ASD, they are probably causing further damage to some of the victims involved.
https://www.myautism.org/oregon-school-shooting-hero-is-also-an-autism-father/
After Sandy Hook there were studies/hypotheses regarding Autism and Psychosis, and their relationship to violence. This does not mean that if people have Autism (ASD), that they are on a path to become the next mass shooter. We have to remember that Correlation does not imply causation. Just because the shooter might have had ASD, and also carried out a mass murder, that it does not mean that the ASD was the primary factor causing him to kill. I think that it is far more complex, and many variables are involved. In fact, the study is only speculating that the mass murderers even fall under that ASD diagnosis. They are saying that with a combination of ASD and Psychosis, that it might create a "one-two punch" and increase the risk of violent acts.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23786904
In one discussion about the study, they summed it up best with this paragraph:
"The answer, were told (in the study), is a combination of autism, and psychosis. Autism is not associated with violence per se, but psychosis is and rates of psychosis are higher in autistics. Whats worse, in such cases, psychotic symptoms may go undiagnosed and untreated because theyre written off as just part of the autism."
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2013/06/27/autism-psychosis-mass-murder/
I think that the above quote about misdiagnosed psychosis, sums up why we might have a problem trying to find red flags on mass killers, before they act. Psychosis symptoms can be misdiagnosed and thought of as part of the existing ASD or other mental health issues. As many professionals have pointed out, that mass killers and even serial killers many times, do not fall under one specific diagnosis. Many times they have a combination of many disorders, where the symptoms overlap.
The Treatment Advocacy Center believes that there is an increase in mass killings and that at least half of those individuals exhibited behavior of suggestive of psychosis:
"Even though the 30 killings took place over a 50-year period, 21 of them (70 percent) took place in the most recent years, from 1986-1998. This suggests that there has been an increase in the incidence of such killings. Twelve perpetrators had psychotic symptoms at the time of the killings and another 8 individuals exhibited behavior suggestive of psychosis;
thus 20 of the 30 perpetrators (67%) had definite or probable psychosis. "........."Four surveys published between 1999 and 2012 suggest that: 1) mass killings are increasing in incidence; and 2)
individuals with severe mental illness are probably responsible for approximately half of such killings."
Are mass killings associated with untreated mental illness increasing?
http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/about-us/reports-studies-backgrounders/2531
Myths of Mass Murder is an excellent article. Here is a quote regarding mental illness and mass murders. The article is definitely worth the read. The author specifies that most professionals are too simplistic in their diagnosis of mass murderers.
"Most of those we have studied in our research, and I have evaluated for court purposes, are complex in their motivations and psychopathology and cannot be placed in such simple categories. In our language,
they often have both mental disorders and personality disorders. Mental disorders range from chronic psychotic disturbances, such as schizophrenia diagnosed in the Jared Loughner case, to major depression, other depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, and other paranoid disorders, such as persecutory delusional disorder. Fully understanding the range and complexity of these individuals disturbances is critical. Personality disorders also abound in this group of dangerous subjects. We have found that personality disorders in mass murderers are often a mixture of antisocial, paranoid, narcissistic, and schizoid traitssomeone who habitually engages in criminal behavior, is suspicious of others actions, is self-centered and grandiose with little empathy for others, and is chronically indifferent toward others and detached from his emotional life. It takes little imagination to see how such an individual, in the right circumstances, could intentionally kill others."
Seven Myths of Mass Murder Misunderstandings of the publicand many professionalsconcerning massacres. - J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-forensic-files/201404/seven-myths-mass-murder
