Connecticut school district on lockdown after shooting report at a Newtown elemen #9

[Marina2]

A poster gave an excellent FBI link yesterday called "The School Shooter:
A THREAT ASSESSMENT PERSPECTIVE". I read it and it contains multi-tier analyses of assessing threats, and also discusses a 4-prong approach to evaluate how likely a person (generally a student) becomes an actual school shooter.

It addresses the individual's personality, the family, school, and social dynamics. It's a worthy read! Highly recommend It can help enlighten some of motive behind AL's shooting.

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/school-shooter/

According to this retired FBI agent AL does not fit the profile of a school shooter.

"Retired FBI agent Charlie Dorsey said that shooter Adam Lanza doesn't fit the profile of a typical school shooter. Instead, he fits the profile of a mass murderer or spree killer."

"This guy is not a school shooter, he's a mass murderer who did what he did at a school.”

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20121220/news/121219759

 

[Donjeta]

According to this retired FBI agent AL does not fit the profile of a school shooter.

"Retired FBI agent Charlie Dorsey said that shooter Adam Lanza doesn't fit the profile of a typical school shooter. Instead, he fits the profile of a mass murderer or spree killer."

"This guy is not a school shooter, he's a mass murderer who did what he did at a school.”

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20121220/news/121219759

“Sandy Hook Elementary had a brand-new security system. All of the exterior doors were locked. He put six or eight rounds through the front door and walked through it. He shot the first two victims right there and moved to the first classroom. It's not like he was searching out someone in particular,” Dorsey said. “It's not like he went to school there for an extended period of time or had any notable bad experiences there. Plus, it was more than 10 years ago.”

Which years did AL go to Sandy Hook again? I thought it was first to fourth grades and part of fifth.

How would Mr. Dorsey know whether AL had bad experiences at the school?

 

[Marina2]

Which years did AL go to Sandy Hook again? I thought it was first to fourth grades and part of fifth.

How would Mr. Dorsey know whether AL had bad experiences at the school?

I think he was saying that a typical school shooter, as profiled by the FBI, is a current student who is having problems at the school. He notes that it had been at least ten years since AL attended this school.

To me and likely all those affected by the killings, there's no difference between a mass killer and a school shooter, but the FBI, apparently, makes a distinction between the two. I brought this up since the post I quoted gave a link to the FBI's article "The School Shooter: A THREAT ASSESSMENT PERSPECTIVE".as a way to possibly understand AL's actions.

 

[Donjeta]

Yeah, I get that, but I still don't think anyone has any way of knowing AL had no bad experiences at school. He shot the person who might have been the most likely to know and remember his troubles after more than ten years, and since he was not exactly the most communicative person on earth he could have had lots going on inside his head that no one was aware of, not even his mother.

 

[Marina2]

True, we really don't know anything about this man and why he did what he did. Hopefully, in time, those with insight and/or investigative powers will enlighten us. All the armchair psychiatric assessment is senseless without intimate knowledge of AL and all that was his life.

 

[iSleuth]

Who bought the body armor though?

Adam Lanza went into the Sandy Hook Elementary School wearing a utility vest, not a bullet proof vest, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Thursday.

http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2012/12/27/news/doc50dce5623367a804732633.txt

 

[cityslick]

People who play violent games don't shoot bread....they pretend to violently shoot , bloody, assault and murder HUMANS.

They also pretend to do a whole lot of other things in video games like flying airplanes or driving tanks but yet we don't see a whole lot of kids trying to steal airplanes or tanks.

Ratings on the boxes, just like ratings on movies, are there for a reason. Perhaps parents should, I don't know, be a parent and make the decision if their child should be playing certain games or watching violent movies based off those ratings.

 

[iSleuth]

Yeah, I get that, but I still don't think anyone has any way of knowing AL had no bad experiences at school. He shot the person who might have been the most likely to know and remember his troubles after more than ten years, and since he was not exactly the most communicative person on earth he could have had lots going on inside his head that no one was aware of, not even his mother.

I agree with you Donjeta....we may not all know - yet. But i do believe people LE -do know and his school and psych diagnostic files ( most will maybe be sealed) will show, that he did not have a stellar school career.

I don't see two ways around this.

If you look at what we do know, the fact that he was taken out of schools- often, and had all so much social, and emotional modifications and mediations we can assume he had "issues" and "struggles" for which there would be ample records. IEPs individualized educational plans. as well as PPT's ( planning and placement team - meetings) These would all be on record - at every school he attended and doctor- he sought help from.

People do not jump schools all the time around here if everything is great. In fact it is the driving force for moving to and staying in the communities through HS graduation- in good towns and systems like Newtown.

JMOO:truce:

 

[BrownRice]

They also pretend to do a whole lot of other things in video games like flying airplanes or driving tanks but yet we don't see a whole lot of kids trying to steal airplanes or tanks.

Ratings on the boxes, just like ratings on movies, are there for a reason. Perhaps parents should, I don't know, be a parent and make the decision if their child should be playing certain games or watching violent movies based off those ratings.

I agree. My kids are elementary aged and it's amazing how many of their classmates play T rated games (so my kids say anyways - why can't I do it since Johnny does it, blah blah blah). But in this case, AL was an adult, so he could play M, T or anything he wanted. I guess his mom could have said not under my roof, but that seems a bit of a stretch.

 

[Elley Mae]

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/connecticut-shooter-adam-lanza/story?id=17975673#.UMvaN0bDVSI

A Sig Sauer handgun and a Glock handgun were used in the slayings and .223 shell casings – a round used in a semi-automatic military-style rifle -- were also found at the scene. Nancy Lanza had numerous weapons registered to her, including a Glock and a Sig Sauer. She also owned a Bushmaster rifle -- a semi-automatic carbine chambered for a .223 caliber round. However, federal authorities cannot confirm that the handguns or the rifle were the weapons recovered at the school.

bbm

 

[cityslick]

I agree. My kids are elementary aged and it's amazing how many of their classmates play T rated games (so my kids say anyways - why can't I do it since Johnny does it, blah blah blah). But in this case, AL was an adult, so he could play M, T or anything he wanted. I guess his mom could have said not under my roof, but that seems a bit of a stretch.

It's a easy thing to blame but yet in this particular situation the argument shouldn't even apply due to his age. If the point is that he had mental instability and shouldn't of been playing those games to begin with, then again it goes back to the parent and what she allowed her son to play and didn't play.

The funniest thing I ever read about this was an interview with a game designer back when Columbine happened and one of the questions was 'had DOOM ever made you kill anyone' (yes, people were blaming DOOM, a game where you shoot pixelated monsters). The game designer said something like when he was a kid, he lived in a small apartment with no air conditioning and it was like 100 degrees outside and stifling in the apartment. In those days, playing DOOM took his mind off the heat and conditions and probably prevented him from raging against his devoted mother.

 

[Donjeta]

The one time I attempted to play Doom I got motion sickness. Something about the choppy first person perspective didn't agree with me.

It may be a hard choice to make for the parents if the game play is something that keeps the child seemingly happy and occupied and out of trouble for the short term. The possible long term damages of excessive game playing are not immediately obvious and not every child gets them.

I think gaming is like an addiction to some teens I know. I swear they get withdrawals if they can't play for some reason or another.

 

[Gardenlady]

I think it's the old excess or extremes of anything isn't good.

I used to play MMOs back in the 90s and early 00s and therre werer certainly people I'd classify as - if not addicted, then spending way too much time playing.

Then there is my MIL, who as soon as she sits down, has to play Farmwhatever and some Bejeweled type game. Every idle moment she is playing them. :crazy:

My four kids (ok, and DH and I too) love minecraft - probably because they are all Lego freaks as well, love to build stuff. We've been playing since early beta, and I swear if I didn't put my foot down they'd play it all the time.

Moderation is always the key. And being sensible! My oldest son, who is 16, likes Assassins Creed, bu he knows he can't play it until the younger kids are in bed. He also likes the much-maligned train simulator, lol....prolly cuz he when he was little he was a Thomas the Tank engine nut, building elaborate railways all over the house!

Anyway... I also loved Doom back in college, and we would have early LAN parties playing that, Rise of the Triad, gosh, I forget what else. Except I had to quit when I got pregnant, as yes, the motion sickness thing started bothering me. That, and I got too emotional and started crying when the guys would spawn camp me. :laughcry:

 

[jellybeanz]

They also pretend to do a whole lot of other things in video games like flying airplanes or driving tanks but yet we don't see a whole lot of kids trying to steal airplanes or tanks.

Ratings on the boxes, just like ratings on movies, are there for a reason. Perhaps parents should, I don't know, be a parent and make the decision if their child should be playing certain games or watching violent movies based off those ratings.

I know its only one example, but The Barefoot Bandit: Colton Harris-Moore managed to steal 4 planes before he was 20. He learned on simulators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiozSM9e0dU

 

[italianWSfan]

People who play violent games don't shoot bread....they pretend to violently shoot , bloody, assault and murder HUMANS.

They dont shoot bread, but that was not my point.
AL did not kill those poor victims using videogames!
He killed them using guns!
I dont get it.
How can so many people blame the videogames when there is something very obvious to blame:
The guns.
The access to the guns.
And the type of guns.

Just my opinion, as a non-american.

 

[justwannahelp]

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've been on WS. I hope you all are doing well and had a Merry Christmas.

Like you, I've been so disturbed by this massacre
In Newtown.
<modsnip> Of course I hold him responsible, but I do think video games definitely played a role and I wonder about an Internet cult or group influencing him- hence the smashed PC. Then there's the whole uncertainty about which guns he had and which guns were used??? That's a little fishy.

 

[justwannahelp]

Also, as to his neurological state- his computer tech teacher was interviewed and said that nancy had several therapists and aids working with AL in and out of school. So according to this teacher, Adam's condition was not being left untreated. It sounded as though nancy was providing him with the best professionals during his highschool years at least. She dropped the ball, however, by teaching him to shoot and allowing call of duty or world of Warcraft etc into her home. Call of duty is EXTREMELY disturbing, and no developing mind or unstable mind or not developed normally mind should be exposed to it.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I agree. My kids are elementary aged and it's amazing how many of their classmates play T rated games (so my kids say anyways - why can't I do it since Johnny does it, blah blah blah). But in this case, AL was an adult, so he could play M, T or anything he wanted. I guess his mom could have said not under my roof, but that seems a bit of a stretch.

I agree!

Some are acting like he was a 10 year old.

JMO

 

[FragileSugar]

School shooting survivor tells her story

The school's intercom was on, and Thornberg next heard "more shots, screaming, crying and whimpering." She heard the janitor yell at the gunman, "'Put the gun down! Put the gun down.'"

...

Thornberg says police arrived at the school and, unaware of who was doing the shooting, apprehended the janitor and another man outside the school.

...

I wish someone would find this janitor! How did he manage to survive? It seems he is the only person that came face to face with AL, confronted him, and was not shot at. Did AL miss or just not shoot at all? :waitasec:

 

[Donjeta]

They dont shoot bread, but that was not my point.
AL did not kill those poor victims using videogames!
He killed them using guns!
I dont get it.
How can so many people blame the videogames when there is something very obvious to blame:
The guns.
The access to the guns.
And the type of guns.

Just my opinion, as a non-american.

JMO, I think if we knew everything there is to know about AL and why he did what he did we might find that there is not any one thing to blame, there are a lot of things in combination to blame, some perhaps more obvious than others. Obviously guns gave him the means to inflict maximum suffering on a large number of people and if he hadn't had access to guns he might not have been able to kill as many people but access to guns probably wasn't what made him want to kill in the first place. Maybe videogames weren't either but it may have been a factor in what kind of attitude he had to violence. There are some scientific findings that indicate that exposure to violent games and television/ film violence may e.g. increase hostile expectations and desensitize us so that our brain responses to violent stimuli change.