28 Dead CT School Shooting

[Rudolph Quin]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/...icut-school-shooting-20121214,0,3154787.story

The toll in the Connecticut shooting stands at 28 dead, including 20 children and the gunman, Connecticut State Police said Friday.

Speaking at a televised news conference from Newtown, Conn., State Police spokesman Paul Vance confirmed the death toll, making this the deadliest shooting since the Virginia Tech rampage in 2007.

This happened at an ELEMENTARY school. How senseless can the violence get? These children were at such an innocent age, what could they possibly have done wrong to provoke this? Why do these things keep happening and why do they continue to get worse? Your thoughts, Blue Moon?

I can only imagine the pain these parents and families must be going through at this time and my heart really goes out to them during this tragedy.

 

[darkangel76]

I honestly do not know if I can speak here without getting emotional. As a mother of 2 small children, one of which is practically the same age as those killed in this horrendous act of violence........ truly, there are no words and I cannot help but personalize it. I can't. I'm outraged, saddened, terrified. There are so many emotions that go through me here. I'm sickened by the act, I feel such pain for the families dealing with the aftermath of what occurred not to mention the surviving children traumatized by either witnessing and/or having heard the gunshots/screams and/or having had to deal with what occurred in some way just by being present at that school. All of it. All of it bothers me on so many levels and frightens me as far as the safety and security of my children are concerned in anything they might do. Of course, we can't live in fear or bury our head in the sand and hole up forever. But, it definitely makes me more cautious and wary and probably a bit paranoid if I'm truly honest with myself. I just hope that something is done to make the schools safer and the freaky loons have a more difficult time obtaining firearms.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

From what reports I've seen, the school was one of those that locked down during class hours, where you have to be identified by a monitor outside the gated entrance. The shooter's mother was the kindergarten teacher of one of the classrooms he went into and she was one of those who died. I know that fear. I have younger siblings and this kinda thing haunts me, especially when it's no longer just "misguided highschool kids who don't know how to deal with pain" anymore but a completely guiltless age group that was targeted. All I can say is I'm glad he offed himself so we don't have to deal with him anymore.

 

[Mitsu]

This sort of thing has been happening for thousands of years. I don't understand how we can keep doing this. We, as a race, like to think of ourselves as civilized, but we constantly commit the stupidest crimes against each other. At one point, a warlord would command that every enemy man, woman, and child to be killed. There was a practical purpose for this, as any child could grow up to be the one to put a knife in your back. However, that doesn't make it any less wrong, or any less stupid-- Sun Tzu says that casualties should be limited, as a living person is more valuable than a dead one. Now we have people that do it for no reason at all. Just shoot up a school full of kids. We're no better than we were, despite all of the knowledge we've accumulated. Sure, we do great things to aid those in need, but we still harm each other constantly.

These lyrics come to mind:

Room Without a Window - Operation Ivy

The position being taken is not to be mistaken
For attempted education or righteous accusation
Only a description just an observation of the pitiful
Condition of our degeneration

Walls made of opinions through which we speak and never listen
Ceiling made of pride vicious and self satisfied
Door thats made of rage hard and slowly aged
Always closing tighter with every war that's waged

Room without a window can't see out
Room without a window can't see out, can't see out

Floor is made of lives wed gladly end to stay inside
Corners made of borders, borders made of law and order
Painted with the words of politicians and religion
Plastered with the wreckage of our cultural division

Room without a window can't see out
Room without a window can't see out, can't see out

[Spoken]
Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! oh... we're so stupid!
Killing each other, don't we learn nothing?!

Gotta room inside our mind, yeah we gotta
We can't see out because we're blind, but it goes to show
We've gotta make ourselves dream, alright
From the room without a window to a different way to see

Gotta room inside our mind, yeah we gotta
We can't see out because we're blind, but it goes to show
We've gotta make ourselves dream, alright
From the room without a window to a different way to see

The position being taken is not to be mistaken
For attempted education or righteous accusation
Only a description just an observation of the pitiful
Condition of our degeneration

Room without a window can't see out
Room without a window can't see out, can't see out
Room without a window can't see out
Room without a window can't see out, can't see out

 

[Defiant.Anjeru]

I honestly can't speak too much about this without getting emotional. When I saw the news reports this morning, at work no less, I broke down and started crying. When I picked up my two kids - both under the age of 5 - from daycare, I hugged them so tightly and clung to them, almost started crying again. It's sickening what this stupid little shit did and I can't believe he would do this to such innocent, beautiful, precious little children. They did nothing to deserve what he did, and they say he only did it because his mother loved those children. Probably did it just to stick it to her, though he had already killed her by that point. I say he got off too easy. I would have tortured him for a life time before I let him die, so he could feel a SLIVER of the pain he's caused these families, especially this time of the year. Most those families most likely already had presents under their trees for those kids. They'll never grow up, never graduate, get married, have kids - if hell is real, I truly do hope he is burning in it.

I get a bit upset when I think about this, sorry. As a parent, I am overwhelmed with so many emotions. I can't even begin to imagine the pain he has caused. :<

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Saw this this morning and started to choke up a little. At least there were some heroes in all of this.

The woman in the top photo is Carlee Soto, waiting to hear news about her sister, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary.

The woman in the second photo is Victoria Soto, Carlees sister. Soto was apparently pushing the children into a closet when she was confronted by Lanza. She put herself between the gunman and the children and that’s when she was tragically shot and killed. When she became aware there was a gunman in the school, she hid her first-graders in closets and cabinets, then told the shooter they were in the gym. He turned the gun on Soto, killing her, but none of her students were harmed.

 

[Ms_Muffintops]

Some people's reactions to this is really beginning to bug me. Of course there's the whole gun debate. But there's also articles blaming the fact that he was a nerd and played a lot of violent video games. I just hate it when people use tragic incidents as a way to fuel such debate topics and arguments.

On my Facebook, there's been this link trending to a list of contact information of the Westboro Baptist Church member's contact information, and because they plan on protesting at some of the funerals, people want to lash back with more harassment, and likely death threats since this is coming from Anonymous. This is a whole other issue on its own, and I'm sure there will be police there for the funerals and won't let them near the families. But it's just adding fuel to drama of the situation.

I've also seen non-Americans use this as a time to criticize us for various reasons, from us using guns period, to how we live in our own little world and expect the world to stop and mourn with us.

It's not a frickin' competition! And its so insensitive to the issue at hand. I just wish the media and everyone would just leave the whole topic alone aside from showing condolences to the family members they lost that day. It's all over the media, and they don't need us to twist the knife.

And I mean no offense, but I find pictures like the one of Carlee to be a massive invasion of privacy. She was just at that moment probably finding out that her sister was dead. That moment will probably forever haunt her. And now it is immortalized.

 

[Ruphhausin]

This is a tragedy of epic proportions, but what will be lost is the truth.

It will be blamed on gun control laws (or lack there of), home schooling, lack of mental health care for the person who did it, and such. It will be marred by people in the media wanting to paint the killer, who cowardly committed suicide rather than face the consequences of his actions, as a victim. The school will be somehow made to be responsible.. and this crap goes on and on.

The truth is, not to sound cold but to get to the guts of it, that human beings were killed. Children were murdered, and that is because no one taught that man that every person in the end is responsible and accountable for their actions. We hide it by trying to sweep it away as archaic or tied to a certain belief system, but the truth is that everything in our culture that convinces anyone that there is no right and wrong.. that there is no morality.. that no one has a higher responsibility or accountability... that is what did this.

The weapon is intent without morals, plain and simple.

 

[Trygon]

I know the shooter, so to speak.

He used the impending 'apocalypse' as an excuse for this, but not in the way people think. He had dreamed of slaughtering innocence for some time before this - He just used the 'apocalypse' as justification to enact those fantasies.

Some people deserve death. Call it mental illness, maladjustment, what have you, I count myself lucky he only took 20.

 

[Tawny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHZ79InLGRY

 

[Seargent Pepper]

This is a tragedy and my heart and prayers go out to the families of those killed but I still can't help but wonder...what if Ms. Soto had a gun of her own? All the mass shooters over the past years I've seen have one thing in common. As soon as they're resisted, they give up or blow their brains out. The Virginia Tech shooter surrendered as soon as the cops showed up, Adam Lanza committed suicide as soon as the police arrived, James Eagan Holmes surrendered as soon as police showed up, the Oslo shooter gave up when the police showed up, when Wade Michael Page (the Wisconsin Sihk Temple shooter) was shot by police, he committed suicide.

All these people have one thing in common. They prey on the weak and defenseless. Toddlers and Teachers can't protect themselves, no guns are allowed in movie theaters (which are fertile killing grounds if you have the right vantage point as it is) teens in fairly anti-gun nation won't be fighting back, Sihks are peaceful as it is and on top of that they were at a temple which is also a fertile killing ground if you know how to use it. The V Tech shooter knew no one on campus would have a gun so that meant no resistance from them either.

In the end, all these people were cowards with pathetic and sad lives as well as (usually) mental issues that weren't entirely their fault. It is my opinion that if they were resisted by the first person they encountered (a teacher for instance) they would either be killed by that person OR surrender/leave/kill themselves.

Israel is a decent example. Their school teachers carry guns fairly regularly and have all likely served in the IDF (so they DEFINATELY know how to use them) and the number of students they've had killed in shootings over the last 10 or so years? about 8. 8 people. We've lost around 300. Israel is literally a war zone that terrorist groups make their private playgrounds and on top of that almost the entire population are war veterans.

In the end, all of this could've been prevented. Virginia Tech could've been stopped, Oslo could've been stopped, the Sihk Temple and Aurora shootings could've been stopped. It all could've been stopped if someone that owned and trained with a gun was present. I, my brothers and a few friends are big into self defense (especially for "active shooter situations") and frankly, the Virginia Tech shooter would've been a laughable risk to any one of them (assuming they were armed) the Oslo shooter had an advantage thanks to open terrain and a rifle (which we also have, we just CARRY handguns) the Sandy Hook shooting wouldn't have been too hard for my oldest brother to end (he's SWAT trained anyway, and rifles like Lanza had are cumbersome in confined spaces like classrooms and hallways so the shooter would've been easily outmaneuvered by someone like my brother with a semi-auto handgun)
the Aurora shooting, eh, that likely wouldn't have ended well for us. I mean, my oldest brother might have been able to take the dude out but that would've been dependant on his location in the theater. By in large though, if just my oldest brother had been at any of these shootings at the right time and place, I'm confident he could've stopped them right there.

Sorry about the monolouge. In conclusion, this is a horrible, horrible tragedy that could have been easily prevented but wasn't and won't be until people stop spinning this for their political agenda (be it gun control, mental health, violent video games or etc.)


The victims will always be in our thoughts and prayers. May their souls rest in peace.

 

[Ruphhausin]

Well said, Seargent Pepper. That is my point as well. You may have said it better, but we are on the same page.

 

[Seargent Pepper]

Thank you Ruphhausin, I was worried people might take my post as too insensitive. I'm continually amazed by the number of people on BMR that agree with me. It's a very pleasant surprise.