Shooting at Virginia Tech (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

I'm sure they have a plan for a shooting but there's no way to plan for a situation where some maniac is just shooting anyone he sees (unless the plan is 'Find him and stop him'). Especially when you think you already have the guy in custody or that he fled the area or you just don't know what the hell is happening and you don't want to cause a panic.

 

[Karl_Luph]

Henry Gale is so right right about the volunteer bikers helping to keep the protesters away from the funerals. I think the church group even wanted to protest at the funeral for the Amish schoolchildren that were murdered in the Amish schoolhouse in Pa. I believe I heard where the church group decided not to, that it wasn't such a good idea.

 

[MarkHastings]

If ANYONE ever protested the funeral (heaven forbid) of a tragic loss of one of my family members.....There would then be more funerals to attend because I wouldn't be able to control myself around that kind of unsympathetic/low life/poor excuse of a human being.

That is absolutely horrible and I am totally embarrassed that people have the freedom in this country to act in such unethical and un-humanistic ways. :frowning:

 

[KurtEP]

I'll address it, because these people sicken me:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184623,00.html

As to the shooter, it's all too typical for people to ignore the signs of this sort of thing. I'd imagine because nothing much often comes of them.

I had a situation at an office I worked at a number of years ago that I'll use as an illustration. We had a guy who was recently divorced and who became kind of unhinged. He blew up on me (his manger) in the field a few times, and a lot of other people had trouble with him. I had recently read Garvin de Becker's Gift of Fear, and recognized some warning signs, especially when one of my other colleagues told me she was very afraid he'd shoot the place up. I had the same feeling. He had a lot of the signs of someone who becomes violent (recent traumatic life experience, unusual behavior, strange statements about getting even, bought a gun, etc...).

The firm I worked in had a managing partner and another equal partner who didn't have much say in the operation but was (and remains) a good friend. I brought this up to both of them. Of course, the manager pretty much laughed it off because he made money for the firm and he didn't have to deal with him too much. The other guy was as concerned as I was. We actually went to the length of keeping track of when he was in the office (very rarely) and had some evacuation plans figured out. Thankfully, nothing happened, and he slowly got back to normal, but a few of us were worried. Of course, reporting it did pretty much nothing (officially). I imagine that's often the case, sadly.


Edit: FYI, the Gift of Fear is a book I highly recommend. It's written by a guy who does celebrity security. He talks a lot about how violent incidents such as this are very predictable, but people just ignore all of the signs until it's too late. This looks like a tragic example.

 

[Henry Gale]

Kurt, that is an excellent book, and a concept that I feel has kept me out of some bad situations my whole life (i.e. go with your gut).
But it has nothing to do with what Christ Reynolds and I were addressing.
There is a tiny congregation in Kansas, consisting mostly of one extended family, led by a lunatic, that pickets funerals.
That's what we were on about.

 

[KurtEP]

Ummm. My first two lines referred to those idiots. The rest refer to the VT shooter. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

[Henry Gale]

Sorry, I didn't click on your link.
I'm really not very bright.

 

[MarkHastings]

^^ It's probably due to your RLS.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

if you are right about it not being then war thing, I honestly have no idea what their motive is.

Anyone who gets between people like that and the funerals they wish to picket gets all the support I can give.

CJ

 

[Cees Alons]

Apparently, he used those two ours to create a package containing video and stuff, and send it away.

This explains why he wasn't spotted during that period.

But if he really made those video recordings then and there: did you ever try to video-tape yourself? It's possible, but chances are that your not properly inside the image. This leaves a big question (apart from "Who the hell is he addressing?"): did he have help making it?


Cees

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I don't have anything to add except that I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those killed by that sick asshole.

I'm trying not to think about it because if I dwell on it for too long a period it fucks me up too badly.

 

[SethH]

From what I've heard and read it sounds like this video had been created over a period of time. My understanding is that it was recorded in several (I think 17) different segments and then edited together. Certainly more work than could have been done in that period of time -- especially when you add in all the pictures and the 'manifesto' he included. It looks like this was something that was going on for awhile.

Also, I believe his dorm setup included a private room within a suite. They've interviewed two guys several times referring to them as roommates, but when you listen to them talk they talk about being suitemates. If this is the case, he would have had plenty of privacy to do this over several weeks or months.

 

[bobbyg2]

Only a matter of time before a news reporter asks
"Do you think video games play a role in it?"

Seriously, if your crazy enough to do that, video games are the least of your problems...

 

[Walter C]

I'm going to be extremely pissed if they start blaming video games and movies for the shooting. Just goes to show that the media is desperate to find something to talk about. It goes so much deeper than that, that they would have no understanding of it at all.

 

[BrianB]

Numerous commentators have already asked that question in regards to this incident.

 

[Todd H]

I'm tired of the news speculating on why he committed these acts.

It's simple. The guy was bat-shit insane. The end.

 

[Marvin]

Apparently he was bat-shit sane enough to be allowed to purchase a gun legally under Virginia law:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/19/gun.laws/index.html

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I continue to be appalled at how the media is doing the bidding of this guy by turning him into a celebrity by airing his videos and images for ratings. The only people who should be seeing air time are those whose loved ones were gunned down.

I won't be a bit surprised when the next wanna be celebrity guns down 50 or 100 people to best this guy, or blows up a kindergarten or some other "feat" that will grab headlines for weeks. The media has shown it has absolutely no class whatsoever.

 

[JohnS]

now there's news reports saying there's a meth user in California who is calling in a spree of threats to schools saying that he will make VT look "mild".

I think the city is Yuba, CA

This guy is Jeffory Thomas Carney, driving a red Toyota, and is homeless

Evidentlly, the police know who this guy is and are trying to find him, and are trying to plaster his photo up, so people know who to look out for, in case they can't find him in time.

UPDATE: his picture is now up at Fox news. It's an older picture. But they have it up.

 

[Holadem]

I was hoping this guy's tapes would never see airtime as well. Going by his written ramblings, he has nothing to say I am interested in hearing.

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H