This is getting scary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMS2uMUQNnQ"]Jackie DeShannon - What The World Needs Now (1965) - YouTube

 

There is no rhyme nor reason to this kind of horrific action.

Unstable people and those with emotional problems have a history of "problems" at holiday seasons. Christmas season has had more suicides and murders than other times of the year - for as long as this type of information has been noted and recorded.

However, this is such a heinous act it goes way beyond the "time of the year" and "overpopulation" reasons. I think a person who is capable of doing such a thing as this is hard-wired differently than the rest of us.

 

When you say 'mass shootings' - what do you mean by that? 2-3? 4-6? 10-20? Any shooting in a school?

 

I was wondering the same thing, Odon.

 

(from yahoo news)

"Following are some of the worst such incidents in the United States in 2012:

April 2 - A gunman kills seven people and wounds three in a shooting rampage at a Christian college in Oakland.

July 20 - A masked gunman kills 12 people and wounds 58 when he opens fire on moviegoers at a showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

August 5 - A gunman kills six people during Sunday services at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, before he is shot dead by a police officer.

August 24 - Two people are killed and eight wounded in a shooting outside the landmark Empire State Building in New York City at the height of the tourist season.

September 27 - A disgruntled former employee kills five people and takes his own life in a shooting rampage at a Minneapolis sign company from which he had been fired.

October 21 - Three people are killed in a Milwaukee area spa including the estranged wife of the suspected gunman, who then killed himself.

December 14 - A shooter opens fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing several people including children."

 

does anyone else feel sort of desensitized to this phenomenon by now? thats the real scary thing. at some point all the outrage,sadness, and debate these occurrences create seems routine. somethings gotta give

 

The highest number of victims for any US school mass murder and third deadliest mass murder in American history occurred in 1927, in which most of the victims were under 10 years old, and there also were numerous school shootings between the decades you've listed.

 

Where did you find that?

 

I can only speak for myself. But NO! I am not desensitized. This just sickens me. The constant media on this (and I'm not complaining) indicate they are not viewing this as "business as usual" either.

Judging by the people (thus far) that have responded to this thread and the other one on this horrific event, I am not alone.

 

I've known about it since at least VA Tech Massacre, and possibly before that; the last time there was a major school mass murder like this I came across it just from reading the news. It is known as the Bath School Disaster, you can read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster


As for my referring to numerous school shootings occurring between 1940 - 1970, I do not have the time to seek out a bunch of cases and post them here as I'm about to run, but they can be found simply by using google. School shootings are nothing new, especially those seeking vengeance due to bullying.

 

I was quite curious about the Bath School disaster. Definitely it was a disaster...however, it was a BOMB! It was not a man shooting individual CHILDREN at what must have been point blank range.

He also started his day by beating his wife to death.

 

Thank you. I had never heard of that. It seemed mostly so peacefull when I was growing up. Until -In Cold Blood came out ,this stuff must not have been seen fit to print. Then Charlie Starkweather and Carol Fugate went on a killing spree in the mid west. Seems to have gone down hill and reported more than before.

 

Holy shit--one involved a flamethrower!!! I guess I stand corrected also. I never heard of any of this stuff. Credit the internet,for sure.

 

The Bath massacre has some similarities to today's shooting. The person who did it was related to the school and he killed a relative before bombing the school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_bombing

 

It's truly horrific. I don't believe in evil, and things like this make me question that belief. It's either insanity or evil.

Violence and murder in the US are on the decline, and have been for two decades. But mass killings like this are on the rise. Nobody really knows why. What I suspect today is that it's actually a consequence of violent media, especially 24 hour news focus on violent crimes. It creates a zeitgeist of fear which gets caught in the imaginations of people like this and replicated. So in my best guess, Americas obsession with this kind of thing actually perpetuates these horrific things. The truly dark side of human mass psychology.

 

This brings me to a point I promised myself I would not get into.

Is some of this violence inspired by us (the media and need-to-know-everything-asses) broadcasting it?

Actually I think not. I think that there will always be people that are hard-wired/prone to horrific violence. The world today is supposed to let us know when something of this magnitude has happened.

Whether the potential murderer (massacarer?) has a good influence or are somehow stopped is a gamble. There are just more people now, and therefore more people that may have that (bad) hard-wiring.

There have even been sci-fi books which have addressed what happens to those that may have a predisposition to violence or criminal behavior...but I digress. (Thank God)

 

Lode--the axiom with news organizations is "if it bleeds,it leads."

 

of course it is. its a fast track to infamy, a way to make a statement. the virginia tech shooter sent a packet of pictures and writings to a local news station. The Batman movie premier shooter knew he would make headlines. Every shooting that occurs and is covered thoroughly only fuels and inspires future like minded individuals.