How to respond to the news of the shooting tragedy?

Question

As most people will be aware, a student in a US university decided to kill lots of people.

Many people have been talking about gun control or I am sure others will talk about finding and locking up the crazies.

But I want you to imagine, if you knew the guy, or if you know someone like him. What would you have done, what could have done. Imagine you were his classmate and he told you he was thinking about committing mass murder. Could you, with a few kind words prevented it?

What attitude will you take into your normal every day life that may prevent such a tragedy happenning again?

By the way, there are huge numbers of people who write strange and violent things, or have fantasies about violent acts. Some of those people now make huge amount of money in Hollywood.

Answer 1

When I was in the Navy I did have someone in my one of classes that was like that he nutted off during a class break. After the corpsman took him away in the love me jacket.
We stood around and wonder why we didn't talk to him. After he got out we talk to him before he was transfer. He just didn't know how to communicate or express himself. Sometimes we do have to reach out to people that are bit odd. Laws won't solve these things but people who care will.

Answer 2

Don't believe there is a prevention. Unless you KNOW the
individual truly needs help and is serious, you aren't going to
interfer with his life. In order to know anyone that clear it's
quite possible that you'll be too close to the forest to see
the trees.

In some cases, there's the lack of compassion for our fellows,
or just not giving a damn. If it were that easy to determiine
who the "crazies" are, at times that term could possibly fit
any one of us. How long does this crazyness last, and what
warning does even the individual have ?

These incidents have happened in the past, and although
I'm not a quitter, I believe it very remote that the situations
will present themselves to prevent future happenings (how-
ever rare)

By same due respects, have other potential tragedies been
prevented in the past by one word of encouragement or
friendship being offered at the right time ?? Perhaps if we
all were to take a little more interests in our fellow members
of the human race -- needs, and cares --- who knows ?

Answer 3

Maybe we should figure out why when the teacher reported his disturbing writings and his unusual behaviors did the police not follow up on this. Why when other students reported his odd behaviors did noone investigate. I understand he wasn't doing anything wrong and unless he was doing something illegal the police wouldn't get involved but why didn't they tell someone who could possibly help him? a counselor or something. SOMEONE needed to do something when no one did anything to reports of this kid snapping picture of unsuspecting classmates, students stopped showing up to class because of this guy... Why didn't someone do anything before it was to late?

To answer your question. I am in college myself and i am deathly scared to go to classes. With all the mean people in the world and all the evil you never know what is going to happen. I try to do mostly on line classes so i don't have to be put in the situation to be shot at. My parents were opposed to it for so long even but when all this happened my dad was supporting my decision 100%.

Answer 4

I don't think you can make a difference anyway. When a person loses control mentally like that they seem to just snap. The ensuing rampage is impossible to stop beforehand. You can try and be nice to everyone and offer help to everyone and lend everyone a listening ear but in the end it all boils down to someone just going off the deep end. It will continue time and time again. I suppose society nowadays has put pressure on folks in different ways and it could be partially to blame.

Answer 5

Just another example of how much violence is accepted in our society. The guy wrote some violent items for his classes and although it raised concern, nothing was really done about it. Why must we use violence to solve our problems? Hey, lets go to war with those arseholes because they pissed us off. No, lets change how we look at the world and decide on a way to resolve things without more people getting killed...

Answer 6

The cold, hard fact is nobody cares about anybody anymore.