So here's another question: When we see someone who is heading down "The Psycho Path" what can we do? Because there have been a number of individuals in my life experience, I've met and been able to spot it a mile away. One kid in particular who went on to shoot several people before killing himself. I had a bad feeling and tried to tell someone about his suicidal talk but nothing was done. He ended up obtaining his license, bought his own gun and went out shooting. How could that have been prevented? He was 19 with no record or known history. Of course we know different, there were most likely signs that people overlooked in this kids past. But my own gut said "this is going to be trouble" and I couldn't stop it.
Remember this ......Theres ALWAYS SIGNS, its all whether or not you know how to or dare to read them.
The only way to prevent personal cause violence from happening is to get as many eyes on it as early as possible, when it comes to the human psyche, bad things grow in dark places , as my grandmother used to say about injuries you "gotta let the air get at it"
Parents and immediate family are the first line of defense against tragedy.
They have to be involved enough in their children's lives that they can spot things that are out of sorts if you will . But some are either unaware of what they are looking at as a potential disaster, they may feel they have the situation in hand, or they simply turn a blind eye to it , and in even worse cases, they contribute to the mess through their own such as physical, psychological or sexual abuse .
But for a parent to be able to prevent future atrocities , they need to first be able themselves to ADMIT their child has a problem ... Not at all as common as it sounds, and from there actually TAKE ACTION to get the child the help they need, and then SEE IT THROUGH!!
This may mean invasion of their privacy, it may mean spying on your kids, it may mean involving psychiatric care, it may mean getting Law Enforcement involved, but this is how you derail fledgling offenders .
A parent needs to be able to guide a child through all types family dynamics,for ex in cases,of divorce, it befalls BOTH parents to help guide their child or children through the process, and transition into the new family dynamic .
In many cases, children are left to figure things out themselves, and they almost always get it wrong.
Identifying behavioral red flags can be tough, but in most of the cases, ive seen after talking with parents of these offenders, there is ALWAYS something they "Shouldve listened to my gut" about, or acted upon when they discovered something their child was involved in .
Sue Kliebold, mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Kliebold , actually hosted a Ted talk where she explains how she had no idea what her son was doing, yet goes on to talk about how she saw bomb making, components, and caught her son with a duffel bag with the a rifle barrel sticking out of it .... and said she thought nothing of it until hindsight.
15 people died and 24 more were injured because NO questions were asked about glaring red flags.
Lionel never thought anything of his sons fascination with the bones of the dead mice he had caught in the mouse traps in his home, nor did he think much of his sons glaring lack of friends , his drinking beginning at age 13, or bringing home and dissecting road kill, because to Lionel and his wife it all had to do with their sons fascination with science, primarily, anatomy and physiology.
When the family decided to move , their son protested, and despite several red flags, such as his drinking that began as an adolescent , his lack of friends, his almost constant social isolation, and his growing obsession with dissection his son they decided to leave the 15 yer old to stay in their old house to live by himself .... His son Jeffrey (Dahmer) would go on to murder , dismember, and cannibalize, 17 young males . He committed his first murder just a week after graduation from HS.
Dispite his repeated refusals, William Kinkel finally caved, to his son Kip , had kept at his parents relentlessly until they bought him a 9mm handgun he had wanted so badly. The important part to note here is that Kinkel was already suspended from his HS for bringing a loaded handgun into his school at age 15.
William Kinkel admitted he was "afraid" of his son
Kinkel would go on to thank his parents by murdering them both , then setting his sights upon Thurston HS where he gunned down 2 more people wounding an additional 25
While in custody, Kinkel was able to retrieve a knife he had taped to his leg , he then tried to stab a police officer begging the officer to kill him.
and thats just a few. cases.....
The next line of defense is peers and teachers, children will often reveal their true colors around peers, the opinion of their peers of the individual also speaks into the type of relationships they have with others
In all of the above cases, their peers knew of the individuals violent remarks, and in some cases, intent . They in most cases, would describe the individual as odd.
Dahmer had few if any friends and drank scotch from his jacket pocket right in class
the Columbine shooters, also had few if any friends, referred to themselves as the "trench coat mafia" and spoke of violence and weapons often, to many of the other kids in their school, as a matter of fact in a Class photo of their class both Kilebold and Harris can be seen in the Photo pointing their fingers at the camera in a fashion of holding a gun.. yet no questions were asked
Kinkel was described, by his peers as "strange and morbid" , boasted about joining the army after graduation just to "see what it was like to kill someone" . During a class project once, he gave a how to on how to make a bomb....yet no questions were asked.
Teachers, are an adult eye to see how these interactions play out on a daily basis , and should report anything out of the ordinary , they will know intimately the struggles their students have with learning, which is an indicator of possible future, trouble .
They key is to identify, then actually DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT .
My Prime Minister has set an intention to ban assault rifles and certain types of hand guns but we're still in the wild west, aren't we?
). Thank you very much for your interesting replies. I really think it's an asset to have you "on board". I can't remember seeing you around a lot on WS. Maybe we are in different threads? Are you especially interested in this case? If so, may I ask why?
). Not to mention what is legal! Why we were ever *legally*selling semi automatic weapons and assault rifles is beyond me.
