Crime

Is This What Made Sandy Hook Elementary Shooter Adam Lanza Snap?

Sources Say Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza Snapped After Mother Nancy Lanza Planned to Hospitalize Him

This undated photo circulated by law enforcement and provided by NBC News, shows Adam Lanza. Credit: AP

On Friday, Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 innocent children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. before taking his own life. Ever since, police and the rest of the country have been trying to determine what could have driven the 20-year-old to commit such a horrific act of violence.

FoxNews.com, “citing a lifelong resident of the area who was familiar with the killer’s family and several of the victims’ families,” reports that Lanza may have snapped because his mother was planning to involuntarily commit him to a psychiatric facility.

Lanza took aim at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown after killing his mom Friday morning because he believed she loved the school “more than she loved him,” Joshua Flashman, who grew up close to where the shooting occurred, told FoxNews.com.

Flashman, 25, is reportedly a U.S. Marine and the son of a pastor at a local church, which many of the families in the area attend.

“From what I’ve been told, Adam was aware of her petitioning the court for conservatorship and (her) plans to have him committed…Adam was apparently very upset about this. He thought she just wanted to send him away. From what I understand, he was really, really angry. I think this could have been it, what set him off,” Flashman added.

It should be noted, all theories at this point are pure speculation. There is no evidence available that shows Nancy Lanza was seeking to involuntarily commit her son. However, police are investigating Lanza’s anger at his mother over plans for “his future mental health treatment” as a possible motive for the school massacre, according to a senior law enforcement official.

FoxNews.com has the exclusive on this story:

A senior law enforcement official involved in the investigation confirmed that Lanza’s anger at his mother over plans for “his future mental health treatment” is being looked at as a possible motive for the deadly shooting.

Flashman was told Nancy Lanza had begun filing paperwork to get conservatorship over her troubled son, but that could not be confirmed because a court official told FoxNews.com such records are sealed. The move would have been necessary for her to gain the legal right to commit an adult to a hospital or psychiatric facility against his will. A competency hearing had not yet been held.

Adam Lanza attended the Sandy Hook School as a boy, according to Flashman, who said Nancy Lanza had volunteered there for several years. Two law enforcement sources said they believed Nancy Lanza had been volunteering with kindergartners at the school. Most of Lanza’s victims were first graders sources believe Nancy Lanza may have worked with last year.

Flashman said Nancy Lanza was also good friends with the school’s principal and psychologist—both of whom were killed in the shooting rampage.

“Adam Lanza believed she cared more for the children than she did for him, and the reason he probably thought this [was the fact that] she was petitioning for conservatorship and wanted to have him committed,” Flashman told FoxNews.com. “I could understand how he might perceive that—that his mom loved him less than she loved the kids, loved the school. But she did love him. But he was a troubled kid and she probably just couldn’t take care of him by herself anymore.”

Sources Say Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza Snapped After Mother Nancy Lanza Planned to Hospitalize Him

This 2005 photo provided by neighbor Barbara Frey and verified by Richard Novia, shows Adam Lanza. Credit: AP

Sources Say Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza Snapped After Mother Nancy Lanza Planned to Hospitalize Him

NEWTOWN, CT – DECEMBER 18: A sign hangs near a cemetery where shooting victim Jessica Rekos was to be buried on December 18, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Credit: Getty Images

Nancy Lanza was at her limit in dealing with her son, according to Flashman. The Washington Post reported that the concerned mother thought about moving with her son to Washington state where she found a school that she thought could him Adam.

A number of sources also told FoxNews.ocm that Adam Lanza was suffering from Asperger’s syndrome and other psychological and emotional issues. The mother had reportedly realized she could no longer care for Adam full-time with no help, so she planned to have him involuntarily hospitalized, according to another source. The source did not know if Nancy Lanza had taken any steps towards making that happen.

To read FoxNews.com’s full report, click here.

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Comments (198)

  • so3
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:50pm

    “The Washington Post reported that the concerned mother thought about moving with her son to Washington state where she found a school that she thought could him Adam.”

    Ummm, no Wa does not know how to handle the mentally ill…we have had many incidents, several murders and few rapes (just the ones that the news reported) by half-way house mental patients…good grief …

    Report this comment

    so3  
    • drs1969
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:51pm

      This has been a national epidemic since they started closing asylums 20+ yrs. ago. They just never make national news. Another, is all the child abuse, by foster parents, since orphanages were closed.

      Report this comment

      drs1969  
  • valiant1776
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:49pm

    Holmes, the Colorado mass murderer, (stop calling them shooters and gunmen), was on pharmaceutical antidepressant drugs. http://naturalsociety.com/batman-shooter-james-holmes-on-pharmaceutical-drugs/

    The Oregon mall mass murderer was on these pharmaceutical drugs since a teen. The prescribed drug was Paxil, which has a black label by the FDA, which is the highest degree of warming.

    This is pharmaceutical tragedy. The Connecticut shooter Adam Lanza was autistic. Autism is treated with a class of drugs called SSRIs (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). SSRIs have a long history of triggering suicide and violent behavior in patients that take them. The US corporate media does not report these stories for fear of losing lucrative Pharmaceutical advertising deals. The Government looks the other way while our children commit suicide and carry out acts of extreme violence. Many states have closed down institutions that treat people with mental health issues. In my county, two were closed down, and homes built in their place.

    Other mass murderers on these drugs: http://www.ssristories.com/index.php?p=school

    Report this comment

    valiant1776  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:58pm

      Paxil is used to treat major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in adult outpatients… Discontinuance is associated with a high risk of withdrawal syndrome… CHMP also gave a warning to prescribers recommending close monitoring of adult patients at high risk of suicidal behaviour and/or suicidal thoughts. CHMP does not prohibit use of paroxetine with high risk adults but urges extreme caution.

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:20pm

      According to sources in the Army, Page, the Sikh temple mass murderer, enlisted in April 1992 and was a repairmen for the Hawk missile system before switching jobs to become one of the Army’s psychological operations specialists assigned to a battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C.

      According to school officials, Holmes, the mass murderer in Aurora, was enrolled in a neuroscience graduate. program at the University of Colorado-Denver.

      A report from USA Today highlighted the fact that the University of Color. had given Holmes a 26,000 federal grant after he was accepted into an elite neuroscience program that only admits six students per year.

      Students studying under an elite neuroscience program would be learning and on the literal cutting edge of developing military and intelligence applications, basically working and learning about forms of to alternate and direct the mind. Pictures from inside Holme’s apartment show sophisticated devices, and booby-traps that police say it was ‘something they never seen.’ 1 rifle, 2 handguns, a knife, a bullet proof vest, a ballistic helmet, a gas device, a gas mask, military SWAT clothing and unidentified explosives were also found in his car.

      By 1975 it was learned that CIA and DoD had conducted experiments on willing and unwitting subjects as part of an exhaustive program to influence human behavior through psychoactive drugs (including LSD and mescaline) and other chemical, biological and psychological methods.

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:21pm

      @VALIANT1776 – That list is incredible. There are probably more that are not even on the list?

      WHERE IS THE MEDIA ON THIS STORY. No they would rather have us unarmed against all the criminals – without self-defense the criminal government can put us all in fear faster than ever. Why not talk about

      1. mental health / drugged out youth, divorce
      2. gun safety and training
      3. morals and civil society

      They LEFT can’t wait to disarm American citizens. the real problems will not be solved

      Report this comment

      PIGSWILLNEVERFLY  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:25pm

      Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for further limiting the 2nd amendment just hours after the massacre.

      The UN Small Arms Treaty is on its way to restrict and limit civilian gun ownership.

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:26pm

      Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story in his influential Commentaries on the Constitution, said,

      “The importance of this article will scarcely be doubted by any persons, who have duly reflected upon the subject. The militia is the natural defence of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpations of power by rulers. It is against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military establishments and standing armies in time of peace, both from the enormous expenses, with which they are attended, and the facile means, which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers, to subvert the government, or trample upon the rights of the people. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them…”

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:31pm

      “…And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a well regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised, that among the American people there is a growing indifference to any system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of its burthens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to keep the people duly armed without some organization, it is difficult to see. There is certainly no small danger, that indifference may lead to disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the protection intended by this clause of our national bill of rights.”

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • let us prey
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:40pm

      Peter Lanza AND Robert Holmes both to testify Libor scandal

      The father of Newtown Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza is Peter Lanza who is a VP and Tax Director at GE Financial. The father of Aurora Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes is Robert Holmes, the lead scientist for the credit score company FICO. Both men were to testify before the US Sentate in the ongoing LIBOR scandal. The London Interbank Offered Rate, known as Libor, is the average interest rate at which banks can borrow from each other. 16 international banks have been implicated in this ongoing scandal, accused of rigging contracts worth trillions of dollars. HSBC has already been fined $1.9 billion and three of their low level traders arrested.

      Report this comment

      let us prey  
    • JediKnight
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:24pm

      Adam Lanza supposedly had AS (Asperger’s Syndrome). One of the mildest forms of autism. Practically every kid in the country could be diagnosed with it if families started seaking treatment. So you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe for a second that he should have been treated. Maybe he was being treated, but there’s still nothing out about any treatments he was receiving. Even this article on the Blaze is making me mad because they’ve latched onto AS again as a possible reason for how he acted.

      I’ve read the Wiki on AS and I’m pretty sure I could get myself diagnosed based on what it says. It’s a bunch of bs that kids typically either grow out of or learn to cope with. Again, one of the mildest forms of autism and parents are practically begging for it not to be treated the same way as full blown autism.

      Report this comment

      JediKnight  
    • Yogibearwatcher
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:36pm

      You are exactly right. The state of mental health treatment is this country has been lacking for 15 to 20 years. The solution, is to have everyone stop whining and crying and step up and act like adults and help one another.

      Report this comment

      Yogibearwatcher  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:35pm

      @JEDIKNIGHT Well, in that case, if it is a mild contrition, but he received medication as if it were severe, he got treatment that maybe created a worse condition not necessarily related to autism, could have resulted in really bad symptons.

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • drs1969
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:57pm

      SSRI’s are horrible. A relative got a prescript. for one(to help her sleep) last summer. She took one, had terrible thoughts, some that she wouldn’t even repeat, after just one pill. I started to read about them and wondered if her doctor was even competent. She took them, all but one, back to the druggist for a refund. She won’t go back to that doc. again, either. Do your research! Don’t take anything blindly.

      Report this comment

      drs1969  
    • valiant1776
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:08pm

      http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=215059

      Report this comment

      valiant1776  
    • Priscilla King
      Posted on December 19, 2012 at 11:37am

      @Pigswillneverfly: The commercial media used to report which drug was involved in this pattern of mass murder/suicide…up until the early 1990s, when the pharmaceutical industry noticed that more cases were involving SSRIs (more frequently prescribed) than LSD or PCP (less often used). The industry pressured major newspapers to stop asking which drug the shooter was on! The story was discussed in detail in Arianna Huffington’s “How to Overthrow the Government.”

      Report this comment

      Priscilla King  
    • Priscilla King
      Posted on December 19, 2012 at 11:39am

      @Valiant1776: Thank you for sharing these valuable details.

      Report this comment

      Priscilla King  
  • McgarnaglesLunch
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:41pm

    Called it. But the school being added into this doesn’t make sense.

    Report this comment

    McgarnaglesLunch  
  • Frederick_Douglass_Republican
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:41pm

    Your hateful posts reflect on you

    Report this comment

    Frederick_Douglass_Republican  
  • Middle Finger
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:40pm

    Don’t blame the car. Blame the alcoholic, and those who enable them.

    Report this comment

    Middle Finger  
  • MrKnowItAll
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:37pm

    I guess growing up in Detroit it was natural to come across many people like this Nut. You don’t have to look for them. They all look and act about the exact same. One 20 year old back in my day, tells me and my Buddy’s that he was going to blow his own head off. We actually believed him enough to tell his parents and EVERYONE else. His parents did nothing. They didn’t want anyone to think anything was wrong with their family. Well. The guy indeed shot himself dead. I always will remember his parents staying as far from me as they could. They never said one word to me.

    Report this comment

    MrKnowItAll  
  • Diane TX
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:36pm

    “”Flashman was told Nancy Lanza had begun filing paperwork to get conservatorship over her troubled son, but that could not be confirmed because a court official told FoxNews.com such records are sealed.”"
    ———————————————————————————————–
    How amazingly stupid is this bit of news? All the persons involved with this petition are dead. I’m sure the loved ones of the children and women killed would like some explanation of “why” this happened.

    Did the mother know that her son was becoming dangerous?

    Report this comment

    Diane TX  
    • charles116
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:02pm

      And the article itself say EVERYTHING is pure speculation.
      Well I heard he was upset that he might not be able to get Twinkies anymore.

      Report this comment

      charles116  
    • drs1969
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:06pm

      Death certificates aren’t official, yet. If those records don’t eventually come out, then it may be a cover-up.

      Report this comment

      drs1969  
  • Red herring
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:33pm

    This sounds to me a very plausible explanation given experience with family members with mental illness. Some of these comments seem a little shallow to blame it on the parenting abilities of the mother. I can not tell you how frustrating it is when you have a family member you know is not right in his head, but unable to do anything to stop the downward mental spiral because of the legal hoops you have to jump through because you can not get them committed to a hospital so they will be given medication and treatment that will get them better unless they are ‘a danger to themselves or others’. Do you know how bad it has to get for a normal good person to get to the point of being a danger to anyone? Do you know how hard it is to prove that so they can get help in a hospital? This is where the reform needs to be in America. A better understanding of mental illness and better laws could have avoided this disaster This mother was trying to help her son and the process was taking so long that it eventually was too late. When you try to help the person, they almost always blame you for what is going on with them, they never make the connection that all the problems they are percieving might be caused by a mental issue, sometimes even after they have been rehabilitated and medicated. There is no cure, only treatment, to many of these problems, and so they can relapse at any time. The battle with mental illness can last a lifetime.

    Report this comment

    Red herring  
    • Cameron1745
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:30pm

      I disagree that all mental illness is incurable. One of the side effects of an adrenal tumour is scizophrenia. When the tumour is removed the patients recover completely. However there is a ten year gap between the onset of symptoms and the removal of the gland. This is only one of many things which can make people insane. It is unforgivable to not try to heal those who have symptoms insanity.

      Report this comment

      Cameron1745  
    • Cameron1745
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:47pm

      I should add there so many things which can cause insanity(such as scizophrenia). It is easy to understand why cures are so elusive.

      Report this comment

      Cameron1745  
    • ares338
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:46pm

      Charles Whitman had a tumor when he killed those people from the tower……screw him and his tumor!

      Report this comment

      ares338  
  • hwt123
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:21pm

    Both the Aurora shooter & sandy hook shooter’s fathers are both set to testify in the Libor scandal trial .
    Stop distracting the public Glen …
    http://www.examiner.com/article/libor-scandal-grows-as-the-fathers-of-two-mass-murderers-were-to-testify

    Report this comment

    hwt123  
  • MTNative
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:21pm

    While we are at addressing overdue issues let’s ask the question why the Father wasn’t in the picture. With limited knowledge of the case and this hearsay it is hard to make this judgement call, however from people I have grown up with I can say that having a father in the home makes a huge difference when children are mentally stable. When they are mentally unstable and don’t have a complete family life to fall back on I suspect excrement may hit the fan. I read a journal article citing two different kinds of mass shooters. One kind is a psychopath. The other is the traumatized child coming from some form of broken home. Blame the guns if you want, but the selfish parents may need to take some of the blame too.

    Report this comment

    MTNative  
  • Kerstile
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:20pm

    How about news outlets -like “The Blaze”- STOP posting his photo and mentioning his name.

    All references to this person should just be “the killer”. No infamy.

    Report this comment

    Kerstile  
    • Metallicat
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:28pm

      That makes it convenient to just ignore who he was,and why he did this,and only focus on the crime and the tool used. That works well for those with ulterior motives in politics.

      Report this comment

      Metallicat  
    • Metallicat
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:35pm

      They should post his picture with a quotation that says: “Dont be like this guy”. Hiding his name,picture and actions takes all responsibility off of him and lays all blame on the tools involved. maybe that is your intentions though. Would you have wanted Usama Bin Ladins picture hidden away and name stricken from the record to focus on banning airplanes?

      Report this comment

      Metallicat  
    • Frederick_Douglass_Republican
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:47pm

      The only way they should post pictures of one of these evil cowards (there will be more) is if they are killed by someone like one of the lady teachers. I can’t stop thinking about how it would have been if one of those brave women would have had a pistol on hand to stop this.
      Posting his face over and over is one of the factors that gives glory to him in the eyes of other soulless heartless cowards lining up to do the same thing.

      Report this comment

      Frederick_Douglass_Republican  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:20pm

    Right now the only one who could have told exactly why this happened is dead. Anything else is in and of itself speculation unless written by the gunman’s own hands.

    Report this comment

    Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:15pm

    The kid was a nut job and should’ve been committed just like the mother was trying to do. It’s too bad he got the drop on her and she wasn’t able to take him out,would’ve saved a lot of lives.

    Report this comment

    progressiveslayer  
  • DZ-015
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:11pm

    This theory makes sense, but remember how many false facts and baseless speculations have already marked the reporting of this despicable act.

    Report this comment

    DZ-015  
  • countryfirst
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:09pm

    To fight the Obesity problem with America and all the deaths related to it, Lets ban all cutlery. How long will it take for us to figure out we can eat with our fingers.

    Politicians just want the general public to feel safe, what a crock. The next lunatic will just find an easier target can anyone say a nursing home.

    We are still a so called free society we should be free to defend ourselves any way we wish to. You want to depend on a government that is 16 trillion in debt and can’t control its own borders, those people have all the answers? “good luck with that”.

    Report this comment

    countryfirst  
  • KevINtampa
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:08pm

    STOP THE PRESS

    Wait. Wait. Wait.

    So, earlier, before I knew this portion of the story, I argued that people who are deemed sick enough to be on psychotropic drugs should be admitted to a mental health division. The problem was that we already know who is crazy, but we just send them back into society on drugs known to have homicidal effects and that’s the real problem…

    And now you are telling me that this mother had been actively trying to get her son into a mental ward but the state was blocking her attempts???

    Why in the hell are we blaming the gun here? Obviously this wasn’t an issue of guns it was an issue of bureaucracy getting in the way of a mother trying to protect society.

    WOW. Just ummm, WOW.

    Report this comment

    KevINtampa  
    • DougHuffman
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:12pm

      SSRI Stories – Antidepressant Nightmares – Click For Sortable Database of 4,800+ Media Articles Naming Antidepressants

      http://www.ssristories.com/

      Report this comment

      DougHuffman  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:35pm

      And up there a bureaucracy made up entirely of Dem-wits.

      Report this comment

      RJJinGadsden  
    • Dr Vel
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:37pm

      So are the rabid leftists in the media all weekend attacking the dead mother for not doing something about her son now going to go on air and apologize?

      Report this comment

      Dr Vel  
    • Sully9378
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:50pm

      I think people use drugs as a cruch. That so-called medicine is bad news. The side effects alone are reason enough to keep my family and I away from doctors most of the time. It is high time people start to use things other than conventional medications.

      Report this comment

      Sully9378  
  • barber2
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:04pm

    Have never had a crime story with so much contradictory information. Wonder what tomorrow will bring.

    Report this comment

    barber2  
    • Eastinfection
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:11pm

      gotta take this report for what it is BARB…

      somebody reporting on a rumor someone else heard. Add the Blaze & you’ve got a typical game of “telephone”.

      Report this comment

      Eastinfection  
  • sparky239
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:03pm

    I’m tired of hearing excuses and the gun grabbing trash shooting off their sorry mouth’s,time to shut the hell up and lets honor those little children and help the parents grieve.Everybody needs to tell the media to shut the hell up.the bob costas and mayor loser bloomburgs to craw back under their liberal whining rocks..

    Report this comment

    sparky239  
    • Mudd
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:21pm

      Just change the channel, it’s not like they’re coming to you with this stuff.

      Report this comment

      Mudd  
  • barber2
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:03pm

    another one of the endless phony ads to OCCUPY the Blaze…

    Report this comment

    barber2  
  • CanteenBoy
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:01pm

    A well-trained, armed Principal and/or teachers would have stopped him much, much sooner.

    Report this comment

    CanteenBoy  
  • Ch
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 5:59pm

    Start a conversation about violence, however, demand a ‘real’ look at Violence in our culture. The Entertainment Industry immerses their product in Violence. The Entertainment Industry has succeeded in desensitizing and undermining the culture. Where is the outrage? If Congress Believes inanimate objects, Guns, Cause Violence, Then The Entertainment Industry’s Culpability Knows No Bounds. Propose that any new law demanded for gun sales must also be demanded for the Entertainment Industry’s violent movies & games. For instance: All violent games purchases must be registered with the Federal Government. Any person that goes to a violent movie must register their name and address at that movie theater to be given to The Federal Government.

    That will change the conversation to Violence…not just guns. Violence grows in the heart. The Nation must look at what the entertainment industry is feeding into minds…callousness and lack of conscience. A gun does nothing until someone takes it into their hands.

    Report this comment

    Ch  
    • DougHuffman
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:09pm

      Statist tyranny. Move to CH

      Report this comment

      DougHuffman  
    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:01pm

      We could make a good start by more stringently regulating access to weapons that make it possible to kill large numbers of people in a few minutes without even troubling to take aim. I wouldn’t go so far as to register everyone who goes to see a Batman movie, and I certainly wouldn’t want to limit the entertainment industry to Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcakes.

      I do think, though, that the broader culture can be changed. “Firearms fetishism” needs to be deglamorized, much like smoking. I see it here all the time, in the use of terms like “9 mil,” “double tap,” and “lock and load.” (Just a query: shouldn’t you load before you lock?) People who wear camo when they’re out grocery shopping or dropping the kids off at school, or who boast overmuch about their gun collections, should be ridiculed and pitied, not allowed to stew in their silly affectations.

      A gun is just a gun. It is not the essence of your manhood, or your Americanism. Consider yourself “nudged.”

      Report this comment

      Lloyd Drako  
  • surf0766
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 5:54pm

    Slow down and fix the typo’s please.

    Report this comment

    surf0766  
  • sizzlinsexybeckster
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 5:53pm

    The Mother couldn’t take care of one child – her son, but she could take care of an entire classroom?

    Report this comment

    sizzlinsexybeckster  
    • qpwillie
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:03pm

      I think you’re a bit behind on your information. His mother was not a teacher.

      Report this comment

      qpwillie  
    • Eastinfection
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:09pm

      One ADULT 20 yr old mentally unstable man- possibly with autism.

      ..verses being a volunteer in a kindergarten full of 5 yr olds where there are other volunteers, paid assistants and a main teacher… all in one classroom.

      Report this comment

      Eastinfection  
    • Red herring
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:28pm

      I have to comment here. This sounds to me a very plausible explanation given experience with family members with mental illness. Your comment to me seems a little shallow to blame it on the parenting abilities of the mother. I can not tell you how frustrating it is when you have a family member you know is not right in his head, but unable to do anything to stop the downward mental spiral because of the legal hoops you have to jump through because you can not get them committed to a hospital so they will be given medication and treatment that will get them better unless they are ‘a danger to themselves or others’. Do you know how bad it has to get for a normal good person to get to the point of being a danger to anyone? Do you know how hard it is to prove that so they can get help in a hospital? This is where the reform needs to be in America. A better understanding of mental illness and better laws could have avoided this disaster This mother was trying to help her son and the process was taking so long that it eventually was too late. When you try to help the person, they almost always blame you for what is going on with them, they never make the connection that all the problems they are percieving might be caused by a mental issue, sometimes even after they have been rehabilitated and medicated. There is no cure, only treatment, to many of these problems, and so they can relapse at any time. The battle with mental illness can last a lifetime.

      Report this comment

      Red herring  
  • Fubared
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 5:51pm

    Her drinking pals knew what was cooking, she self medicated, little kids paid with their lives, and now guns are the only evil aspect in the whole crap sammich equation? F ed up libs at every turn. That rabid dog may or may not bite you, but I need to get to the bar to chat with people I hardly know. People suck, inanimate objects don’t.

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    Fubared  
    • barber2
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:06pm

      Ever watch Cheers ? Many small towns in the East have neighborhood taverns where people eat , have a beer and socialize. This woman had her hands full. Where was dad?

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      barber2  
    • qpwillie
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:13pm

      @barber2
      Yeah, there is not indication that she was some kind of barfly. More likely she met with a friend over a drink or two, occasionally.

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      qpwillie  
    • Eastinfection
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:14pm

      “My Place” is more of a Pizza joint than a bar.
      The owner is actually really cool. We used to go there because it was one of the 1st places to feature Micro-brews on tap.
      Good Pizza, too.

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      Eastinfection  
    • Fubared
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:30pm

      Personal fan of many a New England micro brewery. However, if junior couldn’t be trusted at 13 years of age, not sure I would be chewing the fat and testing all magic hat had to offer. Zero responsibility. Even the village knew what mommy knew, but hey, don’t let that rabid dog infringe on the bake sale while the brownies are still warm. Let us pass the buck once again.

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      Fubared  
    • Eastinfection
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:40pm

      FUBARED…

      You can’t possibly be suggesting that a 52 yr old single woman has no right to a social life and should become an Old Maid tethered to the wacky 20yr-old son at home that wouldn’t even talk to her?

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      Eastinfection  
    • qpwillie
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:54pm

      @Fubared
      You should read the comment left by Red herring (above). I know a family who is dealing with situation very similar to this. They are putting so much time into trying to get this teenager into a better/safer situation that younger family members are suffering as a result. Medical professionals and school officials keep saying “oh, she’ll be fine” so they can’t get the child the type of help she so obviously needs. Yes, it’s very obvious that she could very well harm herself or somebody else and the family as well as the neighbors know it.

      This is a situation where it’s tempting to find someone to blame but automatically jumping on the parent(s) is just as careless as blaming the guns for what happened.

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      qpwillie  
    • Fubared
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:15pm

      Why not abort early and absolve any and all responsibility? Could visit way more micro brewery’s and spend time with the chosen children. More free time for range, more time for making new friends, way more time to volunteer to spend time with other people’s children too.

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      Fubared  
    • Fubared
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:40pm

      QP
      Real sorry to hear about you friends neighbors second cousin’s stepson that knew somebody that had read about a juvie with an issue. Not much is cut and dry in this world any more. She/mom played patty cake with a rabid dog hoping it would become unrabid. At the age of 13, mom told adult male sitters to never turn their back on the poor little soul. Why? I can obfuscate like no one, given the time and opportunity, so I can see a little bit here. I also spent several years transporting juvies in various bouts of juvie-ness. I have traveled many times from coast to coast with lil johnies and janeys whose parents had found new interests, new spouses, new micro brews, new docs, and new meds. All of those F ed up kids and oodles of meds and umpteen miles from facility to facility and only one thing was missing. Parents. . .

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      Fubared  
    • GuruMeditation
      Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:42pm

      @barber2: It sounds like he may have been pretty tied up in controversy with big corporations like GE and International banks.

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      GuruMeditation  
  • 1proudAmerican
    Posted on December 18, 2012 at 5:50pm

    That makes sense. He couldn’t feel pain so he wanted to make sure other people did. Too bad he succeeded. If the principal had been armed……….

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    1proudAmerican  

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