The
recent mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, FL has left parents, teachers, law enforcement, local as
well as federal legislators struggling to find answers to the growing
and alarming rise in these deadly incidents. This
tragedy evokes strong passions, but the reality is somewhere in
America, another troubled, young male is planning the next mass
shooting. You don't need an AR-15 to kill a lot of people; any
automatic or semi-automatic model is just as deadly efficient.
Dallas
sportscaster Dale Hansen said about the FL mass shootings “If it
was a Muslim or a Mexican [non-White] doing the shooting, how many
new laws and how much money would we spend then to stop the madness?”
Is he saying what many people really feel but are afraid to admit it?
Black or Hispanic shootings are usually gang or drug-related
(robbery), gambling debts, and sometimes deadly violence happens due
to arguments and fights over a female.
So,
instead of looking at the problem from the outside in, why not
consider a view from the inside out. On the show “Criminal Minds”
federal agents from the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) profile
perpetrators of the most horrific crimes by establishing a profile of
the unidentified suspect (“unsub”) so that they can understand
the motive and pattern to predict when and where the next attack is
likely to happen. I think the same kind of process can be utilized in
these cases in an attempt to intervene before a series of events
turns into an active shooter situation. The first thing to consider
is what are the most important and powerful influences in a young
persons life. Let's start with the environment where they are
socialized or learn their values, and the second, and in some cases
the most important is, “peer group” pressure.
Has
the person learned empathy or sensitivity to the pain or suffering of
others; or is such a one indifferent to anyone experiencing it? There
are kids who grow up taking pleasure in killing insects, torturing or
enjoying seeing animals undergoing such things. Another indicator is
how a child treats toys, or to put it another way, are the toys
mangled or are dolls heads ripped (twisted) off or hair ripped out,
etc. Does a child beat the stuffings out of a soft toy? This is
different from the normal rough play or wear-and-tear that kids have
with their playthings. Sadistic tendencies develop quite early and
should not have gone unnoticed. Does the person have siblings, and
if so, what is their level of interaction- close or distant? Is he
being raised by a female single- parent and does she work long hours
where he has a lot of time to himself? Does the male have a
relationship or contact with his father? Or are the parents or legal
guardian spending quality time as a family or too busy working?
Now
let's look at school; This is probably a socially isolated male with
very few friends, who is not popular or in the mix. This male is not
playing sports, or is athletic, and it is doubtful that he is dating
or ever had a girlfriend; and if he did, they broke up. He might not
be a total 'nerd' but is probably someone that avoids crowds and
usually talks with 1 or 2 male classmates on occasion. There is a lot
of time spend online posting what might be considered a manifesto
(diary) of what he thinks about or rather what he wants the world to
know; it may not even be what he really believes but what he wants
others to believe he does. The most important question to ask is,
“What triggered this act;”What is the “traumatic event” that
set things in motion where someone planned to kill (murder) innocent
people without a cause? Is this an act of revenge, or why target the
people that he did? Is this person preoccupied with all things pertaining to death or mas shootings?
Former
classmates of the suspect Nicolas Cruz say they weren’t surprised
to discover he was the alleged gunman.“I can’t say I was
shocked,” Joshua Charo “From past experiences, he seemed like the
kind of kid who would do something like this.” “I think everyone
had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be
him,” Dakota Mutchler,“A lot of people were saying it was going
to be him,” Eddie Bonilla, another student, “A lot of kids joked
around like that, saying that he was going to be the one to shoot up
the school. But it turns out everyone predicted it.” “All he
would talk about is guns, knives and hunting,” Charo said. “He
used to tell me he would shoot rats with his BB gun and he wanted
this kind of gun, and how he liked to always shoot for practice.”
Mutchler said Cruz often boasted on Instagram about killing animals
and that “he started progressively getting a little more weird.”
“He was that weird kid that you see,” Daniel Huerfano, another
former classmate, told the AP. “Like a loner.” The question is,
why didn't these students contact law enforcement because these were
serious concerns?
Continuing
further: Broward
County Commissioner Beam Furr told CNN that Cruz had been receiving
treatment at a mental health clinic, but stopped going about a year
ago. Broward County Schools
Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters on Wednesday afternoon
that he did not know of any threats posed by Cruz to the school- But
Jim Gard, a math teacher at the school, told the Miami Herald that
administrators had identified Cruz as a potential threat Gard
remembered that the school administration had previously sent out an
email warning teachers about Cruz.“We were told last year that he
wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” Gard said.
“There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I
guess he was asked to leave campus.” Did
school administrators contact the parent or guardian about the
reason for the expulsion and was the sheriff's department notified
about the threats? Was the parent or legal guardian aware that
Nicolas was not taking his medication or receiving treatment at the
clinic?
BuzzFeed reports that in September, a YouTube user Ben Bennight alerted the FBI
that a commenter posted an alarming remark on one of his videos.“I’m
going to be a professional school shooter,” wrote the commenter
named Nikolas Cruz. According to Bennight, FBI agents conducted an
in-person interview with him the following day. “They came to my
office the next morning and asked me if I knew anything about the
person,” Bennight said. “I didn’t. They took a copy of the
screenshot and that was the last I heard from them.” Protocols
were not followed on information received by Public Access Line (PAL)
tip line regarding Nicolas Cruz. The staff and supervisor associated
with that department should be severely reprimanded and terminated
because this is a failure of epic proportions.
What
purpose does it serve or satisfy to take someone's life; to shed
innocent blood? Is it merely or simply to become “famous?” I
think “Columbine” is like a pole vault event of school mass
shootings where the bar is set so high and like an athletic
completion, these sociopath or psychopath entrants want to pass over
the bar; thereby setting a new record. Their legacy and purpose in
life is to go down in the annals of history as one of the biggest
mass murders in America; what a legacy. Sounds far-fetched??
EVERETT,
Wash. - An Everett teen is under arrest Wednesday after police found
evidence that he was in the advanced stages of plotting a shooting at
his high school, writing in his journal that "I can't wait to
... to blow all those (expletive) away," court documents state.
The
investigation into the 18-year-old ACES Alternative High School
student began when his grandmother called 911 on Tuesday to report
what she believed were credible threats by her grandson to shoot
other students at the school, according to the court file.
Excerpts
from the teen's journal that said, in part, "I'm preparing
myself for the school shooting. I can't wait. My aim has gotten much
more accurate. ... I can't wait to walk into that class and blow all
those (expletive) away," police reports say.
The
teen continued by writing, "I
need to make this shooting/bombing ... infamous.
I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to
make this count. … I'm
learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes,
so I don't make the same ones," according to the case file.
Everett
police said. Detectives served a search warrant at the grandmother’s
house and seized the grandson's journal, semiautomatic rifle,
military-styled inert grenades and other items.
This
is not a political issue, nor does it have to do with mental health,
but if our children are acting this way it is an indictment against
our entire American society and values. The American Dream is turning
into a waking nightmare as teenagers, especially males, are in pain,
crying out for help, and because “WE” have failed them, they see
no way of escape but to end their lives and murder others along the
way. When will we as adults finally hear the terrifying screams and
wake up from our self-induced coma to bring healing to our kids and
ourselves before it is too late and there is nothing left to save.
Robert
Randle
776
Commerce St Apt 701
Tacoma,
WA98402
February
14, 2018
