School Shooting at CT Elementary School

[AJ Dual]

Assuming the facebook page is correct, seems like an urban bohemian/hipster type, the likes seem to revolve around community theater and indie music. The only remotely "militant" or "violent" thing on the page was a like for the Mass Effect sci-fi shooting/combat game.

[AmbulanceDriver]

Thought they are both despicable in different ways, I would have to give the edge to the killer. I am sure there will be no shortage of groups and politicians that will exploit this in a huge variety of ways.

Within the next few days I am sure we will hear about any kind of treatment he underwent, books he read, violent movies he watched, music he listened to, guns he owned, and all sorts of other aspects of his life that 'experts' can pick apart.

 

don't forget the "violent video games"...

That one is already being bandied about in our neck of the woods from the mall shooting a few days ago...  By that halfwit Jack Thompson.

[AZRedhawk44]

The guy the media dug up on facebook as the shooter... is posting right now on facebook... that he isn't the shooter.

Crack (whore) media work, once again.

[AJ Dual]

FB Page is gone too.

[AmbulanceDriver]

It's times like this I begin to think that there can't possibly be a loving God in this universe

I don't want to start a big religious discussion in this thread, but while I understand the sentiment, the existence of evil in this world does not negate the existence of a loving God...

If you really want a better explanation, I'd point you here:  http://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2012/07/why-does-god-allow-tragedy-and-suffering/

This is a blog post written shortly after the Aurora shooting, but I feel it applies equally well to this situation

[lee n. field]

I don't want to start a big religious discussion in this thread, but while I understand the sentiment, the existence of evil in this world does not negate the existence of a loving God...

Because it's a fundamental in Christianity, that the world as you see it now is broken.

[AZRedhawk44]

 

http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2012/12/14/school-shooting-leaves-multiple-injured/

Melissa Makris, 43, said her 10-year-old son, Philip, was in the school gym.

“He said he heard a lot of loud noises and then screaming. Then the gym teachers immediately gathered the children in a corner and kept them safe in a corner,” Makris said.

"Safe in a corner?"

Corners are safe for tornadoes and earthquakes.

There's a colloquialism out there... "Getting cornered."  Schools still teach what the word "colloquialism" means, right?

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/corner

back oneself into a corner
Fig. to manage to get oneself into a position where there is limited escape. (Ranging from literal to figurative.) He tells different stories to different people. Finally he backed himself into a corner and had to admit his lies.

have someone or something cornered
1. Lit. to have someone or something trapped as in a corner. We had the wild cat cornered, but it jumped over the wall and got away.
2. Fig. to have someone or something located and under control. I think I have the part you need cornered in a warehouse in Indiana. We'll order it.
See also: have

This above, is the psychology that allows this to happen, again and again.

The shooter is a natural force to their perception, like a tornado or earthquake or hurricane.  Something to "weather."  Duck and shelter.  Not something to combat and overcome and dominate, or hide from if the courage to fight is not present.

Rather than bunched in a corner in the gym, the students would have been far safer, immediately fleeing or dispersed throughout the room, or huddled in the center and prepared to scatter at the first sign of a threat.  Cornered, it's like another colloquialism:  Fish in a barrel.

[brimic]

This above, is the psychology that allows this to happen, again and again.

The interesting thing is that a 10 year old has all of the mental capacity and physical ability (speed agility)to survive such a situation on their own even if an adult's mind is muddled up to the point it vapor locks. 10 year olds don't have decades of society pounding false morals and programming into their heads to impede their survival in the jungle.
Turn them loose, tell them to run for an exit. A bunch of running, screaming kids (or even sneaking kids) are going to be hard targets to hit, and they have a lot better chance than huddled in a fatal funnel with a closed end.

[zahc]

This is why I have never understood lockdowns. I have heard that even other schools in the area went into lockdown. What is it about lock down that makes people think it's a reasonable response to this sort of thing? The better approach would be to throw all the doors open and let people run about.

[lupinus]

Because it's not about resolving the situation. It's about "getting control" of the situation.

[geronimotwo]

while i am at a loss for words regarding the mental state of someone who would commit this crime, it came as a further surprise to read the following ..

.

President Obama was briefed on the shooting by FBI Director Robert Mueller.

does the president now direct the local law enforcement response?

[lupinus]

Police on the tube now giving an update-

20 kids, 18 at the scene 2 more made it to the hospital before being pronounced dead.
6 adults, all at the scene. 1 at secondary scene. Plus the shooter, so 28 total.
One section of the school, two school rooms.

[AZRedhawk44]

Striking defenseless kids is all about striking at control mechanisms.  Teachers, administrators and teh nooz are the intended audiences.

Massacring kids in a classroom fits an objective in one of these people's minds... massacring kids actively fleeing and shooting them in the back transcends the mental boundaries these people have constructed.  They have power in a classroom, they have leverage, they have an audience.  When the kids are fleeing, they aren't paying any heed to the shooter other than being immediately revolted by his presence and trying to get away.  The shooter loses his enforced "charisma" as a hostage keeper, and has no means to maintain control over his audience.

The kids are FAR safer running through the hallways, running away from an active shooter situation, IMO, than cooped up in classrooms.

The huddle-in-a-corner-with-the-lights-out response sickens and revolts me.  It's herd mentality practiced by prey societies.  And it's a sick accounting of all the bodies in our litigious world, even if the bodies are room temperature... rather than possibly having kids escape campus and be unaccounted for, for a brief period for the rest of the day as they seek safety elsewhere than on campus.

Gotta have CONTROL above defense and safety.

[Fitz]

while i am at a loss for words regarding the mental state of someone who would commit this crime, it came as a further surprise to read the following ..

.

does the president now direct the local law enforcement response?

He does when it's time to push for a gun ban

[brimic]

The huddle-in-a-corner-with-the-lights-out response sickens and revolts me.  It's herd mentality practiced by prey societies.  And it's a sick accounting of all the bodies in our litigious world, even if the bodies are room temperature... rather than possibly having kids escape campus and be unaccounted for, for a brief period for the rest of the day as they seek safety elsewhere than on campus.

I have a feeling that it also factors in law enforcement response.
Having the kids herded into corners makes them less likely to be shot by the SWAT team if by some remote chance they show up in time to do any good.
Having kids murdered by a 'gunman' fits the correct idiom that society wants, having a kid shot by accident by a cop or SWAT team doesn't.
Prey societies indeed.

[Sergeant Bob]

He does when it's time to push for a gun ban

I heard him speaking and he said "We need to take some kind of meaningful action, regardless of politics".

Here it comes.

[41magsnub]

I heard him speaking and he said "We need to take some kind of meaningful action, regardless of politics".

Here it comes.

Yeah, I caught that too.  Here it comes indeed.

[kgbsquirrel]

He does when it's time to push for a gun ban

Can't be bothered for an Ambassador being murdered half a world away, but when it's something in our backyard that can be exploited....  

[AZRedhawk44]

I heard him speaking and he said "We need to take some kind of meaningful action, regardless of politics".

Here it comes.

Hmm.  Obama's gonna push for armed teachers.  Despite his party's stance on the issue.

Maybe he is interested in meaningful action, regardless of politics.

[Perd Hapley]

This is why I have never understood lockdowns. I have heard that even other schools in the area went into lockdown. What is it about lock down that makes people think it's a reasonable response to this sort of thing? The better approach would be to throw all the doors open and let people run about.

I think the point is that the hallways are about to be full of police, with weapons out.

[AZRedhawk44]

I think the point is that the hallways are about to be full of police, with weapons out.

In maybe 3-5 minutes, yeah.

Remember the timed fire drills they used to do in elementary school?  Everyone was out of the building in 3-5 minutes.  And that's calm and orderly, once the bell starts ringing.



Now, what happens when the bad guy comes into the office first, and kills the people supposed to call 911?  Then goes through the rest of the campus, while everyone else is assuming the office called 911?

A 500 student school could be evacuated in 90 seconds or less, if the kids were taught that the sound of gunfire means GTFO, now.

[ArfinGreebly]

And then, for the "ERMAHGERD, teh gunnnz!" crowd, there's always this gem . . . from China.

Twenty-two students stabbed.  And, yes, it's current news.

Any way that we could outlaw government schooling?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

In maybe 3-5 minutes, yeah.

Remember the timed fire drills they used to do in elementary school?  Everyone was out of the building in 3-5 minutes.  And that's calm and orderly, once the bell starts ringing.



Now, what happens when the bad guy comes into the office first, and kills the people supposed to call 911?  Then goes through the rest of the campus, while everyone else is assuming the office called 911?

A 500 student school could be evacuated in 90 seconds or less, if the kids were taught that the sound of gunfire means GTFO, now.

the sound of gunfire? to quote one of the kids." it sounded like cans falling over"  evac everytime you hear a loud noise might get awkward

its also about inventory and liability. you let the kids scatter and one gets blasted its the schools fault. and they are all about keeping track of the lil heathens .get to highschool and its hard to tell shooters from students.
scatter at loud noises is a non starter

[ArfinGreebly]

Also, don't discount efficiency.

If you herd the kids into corners, it's much easier to count the bodies later.

[brimic]

you let the kids scatter and one gets blasted its the schools fault.

Excellent point!
OTOH, if a school huddles all of the kids into a kill zone, they can claim they followed procedures and did everything could to keep the kids safe.