Praying for Connecticut

[audrinasmommy88]

They're saying he had a personality disorder. The brother hasn't spoke to him since 2010. I'm so tired of seeing all of these shootings. This is the second largest shooting next to the Virginia Tech shooting. It's just terrible.

 

[daisyandoliver]

I about cried when I read it earlier around 1pm. The details then weren't the greatest though. It is terrible. Can not believe this happened. I don't have children.. I can't imagine the pain those parents are in. I've been thinking about them all day.

 

[whitelop]

Jennifer you were right, his mother was at the house dead. I hadn't turned the tv back on at that point. And for good reason. I'm so disgusted with this whole thing. My nose is raw from crying, my heart is totally broken for these people. I mean what the **** possesses you to go into an elementary school and kill babies? How do you look at that little face and want to hurt it? How do you look into their little eyes and do that to them?

I don't give a rats a$s if he had a personality disorder. His mother should have gotten him help, if she did maybe she would still be alive. If someone knew he was dangerous then they should have locked his a$s up. People don't have a problem putting kids in psych wards, but when you're a semi-adult all of a sudden its wrong? F-that.

Our jobs as parents are to protect our children, help them when they fall down, wipe their noses, put their best interests before our own. But our job as parents is also to protect the world from our children if we have to. There is no excuse for not getting your kid help if he/she needs it. I know they always say, its the quiet ones to watch out for but the kid from Colorado who went into the movie theater, he was only a little odd. He lived a pretty normal life until his possible early on set schizophrenia kicked in in his early 20s and he lost his mind. His parents should have realized something was wrong and they should have stepped in. I don't give a damn how old your kids are, they're still your kids. Even as adults, they're still your kids.

This is the most horrific thing I've ever seen and it breaks my heart. My husband and I watched the special on CBS and my husband was actually crying because its so bad. I really feel for the parents of the poor lost children, so close to the holidays. Its amazing how one person can completely shake a nation to its core.

And yes, they said its the second largest school shooting in recent history behind Virginia Tech, but its the youngest children to be lost to a shooting.

 

[audrinasmommy88]

I completely agree with you Morgan. If she knew something was wrong with him and didn't do anything to help, she is just as much at fault as he is. Sad to say that, but it's true. I don't understand how he picked which children to shoot. I mean how do you do that? It's sickening

I hugged audrina a little tighter last night. Makes me not even want to go out in public anymore and risk something happening to my babies. These poor parents today are waking up without their children. I don't even want to fathom that. A parent should never have to bury their child

 

[Imbrium]

No, his mom was killed in the school. The person at the house was someone else.

the news this morning is still telling me she was killed at the home, then he took three guns that were registered to her and drove her car to the school...

 

[whitelop]

In my post above Rachel's I said you were right, Jennifer. lol

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

This is a terrible thing and completely heart breaking. But as someone who works in mental health I can tell you it is very VERY difficult to get help for a family member who is refusing treatment. I have no idea if she tried to get help for him or not but even if she had tried she would have found a lot of doors closed on her. In most states a court order is needed to hold someone longer then a week (72 hours in a lot of cases) and as long as that person cal clearly tell a judge that they are not dangerous then they go free. We have not had a stable mental health system in our country since Reagen and its only getting worse. Ten years ago a guitarist named Darrell Abbott was murdered on stage during a concert by a deranged fan. The killer was then shot to death by a police officer to save a hostage. The killers mother later thanked the officer and told him he did the right thing. She then stated she had tried to get help for her son who she knew was dangerous but was repeatedly turned away cause HE did not want treatment. We have no idea what this family went threw with this guy...However that being said I think its SICK that the mother knew he was mental and still allowed him to live at home with her gun collection....That is just wrong. When I am doing an evaluation with someones parents I always ask if there is a gun in the home. If I feel the teen is dangerous then I alert the police to the situation....

 

[agnesthelion]

I do agree it's hard to get someone help for mental health. We don't know what his mother did/didn't do and she isnt alive to tell her story. I think it's pretty harsh to blame her without having more information. The only person responsible for this is the shooter, IMO. Obviously, as more information comes out there could be other aspects but as of now I don't think she is just as responsible. Let's even say she was a "crappy" mother. THAT doesn't even make her responsible!
This whole thing is exhausting to watch because of how emotional it is. I woke up thinking of all the families waking up today hoping it was just a nightmare, but it isn't......

 

[whitelop]

The guy took his mothers guns to the school and did this with HER guns. He was too young to legally buy a hand gun, much less those two high powered hand guns. The police said they were hers. She knew he was mentally ill and she allowed him to live in the house with her guns. Its an unfortunate thing that her guns were turned on her and then on her class, but she should have gotten rid of her guns.
Now, I'm pro gun. I love guns. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Do I think gun laws should be more strict, hell yes. Do I think that the age limit on guns should be raised, hell yes. Do I think that parents should teach their kids how to respect a gun, hell yes. But I think that even a child with the most respect for a gun, will still use it if mentally deranged. He was obviously ill and she probably knew, but she isn't hear to ask. I wasn't blaming her, but I was saying that if there is a chance that your kid will harm someone, you should tell SOMEONE! Anyone! There are things that everyone could differently in every aspect of life, hindsight is 20/20. She should have taken the guns out of the house. Thats the only thing I know that she should have done! Getting someone help when they don't want it, is almost impossible. I know that all to well. x

 

[Imbrium]

In my post above Rachel's I said you were right, Jennifer. lol

whoops... totally posted my response without realizing there was another page of new posts to read! sorry, lol.

what I don't get is what the **** the mother was doing owning not just two hand guns, but a freaking ASSAULT weapon. no civilian needs an assault weapon! there's NO purpose in having them other than to kill people... and to not only keep those guns in a house with a mentally unstable adult child, but to keep them in a way where he had ACCESS to them?

someone in my guild in an online game I play commented "this is why i think every adult with no record should have the right to carry, with or without permit in there own state. if you have permit u should be able to carry in any state." *facepalm* WTF.

maybe less kids would've died if someone had been able to whip out a gun and take out the shooter early in the rampage... but a good solution to this sort of thing can't *possibly* be to have elementary school teachers carrying concealed weapons at work, which is a DAILY risk to have around little kids. personally, I don't like guns but see no reason why sane, non-criminal adults can't own non-assault weapons for hunting or protection or whatever... that said, I could never get on board with it being ok for teachers to have guns at work.

 

[agnesthelion]

No I totally see what you are saying. All I meant was that we dont know what she did. Maybe she did tell someone. Maybe she tried. OR maybe she didn't have any idea!! Supposedly this kid had mild autism and was always a " weird" kid. That doesn't mean he's gonna go shoot 26 people!!
The guns were registered to her. Maybe she always had them. Maybe shes had them for years. Who knows. Now, if she bought them 2 weeks ago and was like "here son, take my guns to go on your shooting spree" then obviously it would be her fault. But I just don't think we have enough info to blame the mom at all yet. Having a weird, autistic kid and having guns doesn't automatically equal a bad decision. Maybe the guns were locked up and he somehow broke into the case. I mean, there are a million different scenarios.

Now, why any civilian had an assault weapon i don't get either. But that's a whole other topic. Lol.

I guess my main point is I'm sure as time goes on we will here more info about the shooter and his family. We may find out that the mother failed miserably in some way. But we may find out that she tried too. We just don't know. But this tragedy is so huge and so horrible that it's human nature to want to blame someone and it's not fair yet for her to be the person to blame. She's dead so she's a victim in this too.

 

[irishbunny]

Absolutely horrific, those poor babies.
The kids were all ages between 6 and 7, the same age as my little sister's class. I can't even bear thinking about something like that happening to them.

 

[Gordon]

There was a piece in my local paper today that said gun sales are up due to the tragedy in Connecticut. The reason was attributed to people's fears that the gov't might make it harder to get a gun. I've never really understood the reason for anyone other than a police officer to have a gun. My town has a nice historical arms museum and I've enjoyed learning about guns, but I don't see the need to own one. What's the point in having a gun? It really would not make me feel any safer to have a gun in my house.

 

[audrinasmommy88]

We have guns in our house that we keep locked up. 2 handguns. One is mine and one is my husbands. The reason we have them is for security. If someone was to break into our house, we have them for protection. Not just for us but also for my kids. We also have a convicted armed robber living across the street. Thats when I decided I wanted my own gun. The guy used to sit on the back of my SUV at night when he knew my husband was at work. I dont know how many times I had to call the cops to come check it out. Now he will sit on the sidewalk in front of my house if my husband's truck is gone. My husband used to work 3:30pm-12am. Now he works day shift, so I dont worry as much. But thats why we have ours. Police can't protect citizens. They aren't always around, so I'm going to protect myself and my kids. But this is just my opinion on it. To each their own

 

[Imbrium]

wow, that's seriously creepy ><

 

[audrinasmommy88]

The armed robber? or me having a gun lol?

 

[Imbrium]

the armed robber stalking you, lol

 

[audrinasmommy88]

haha yea, he's weird. Freaks me out when I'm home alone. Especially because i'm pregnant and have audrina. Thankfully I have my neighbors who look out for us when my husband isn't home.

 

[holtzchick]

Regardless of whether or not the mother had guns, why weren't there proper precautions to keep them locked up.
My father used to hunt alot when I was growing up and he had numerous guns and crossbows! He had a lock on every single weapon, which he kept in a LOCKED safe, in a LOCKED room. Even if he could open the room, there would still be the safe to get through which no one had the code to.

I just think this is a horrible tragedy and hopefully does not repeat itself again. It's just insane to think things like this happen in the world.

 

[1357bunnylover]

This has been all over the news in the UK too, so so sad
Did you hear about the teacher that locked her students in the cupboard to save them then told the man that her students were at the gym and he then shot her but thankfully her students got away safely, that is so brave. I feel so sorry for the families that have lost so much!