DECATUR, GA — Luigi Mangione, Tyler Robinson, Dylann Roof, Colt Gray, and Thomas Matthew Crooks... In order, the alleged murderer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, charged assassin in the killing of Charlie Kirk, convicted murderer of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, SC in 2015, the former classmate and alleged shooter of 11 students and adults (four fatalities, two faculty and two students) at his alma mater, Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia.
There are dozens of others across the quarter-century since the Columbine shooting of 1999. Almost all are disaffected, lone-wolf, angry, and disturbed young white men from their mid-teens to late 20s. A majority obtained their weapons through legal means, most often family-owned or through private sales.
Gun confiscation is a fantasy, and the state with among the most restrictive gun control laws, and a city with even more...Chicago, Illinois, recently experienced more than 50 shooting fatalities over the Labor Day weekend.
Evil and mental illness certainly exist in this world. With increasing frequency, these angry young men seem to believe that their only solution, or possibility of being a catalyst for societal change or messenger for some odd manifesto...is to kill others, sometimes a prominent individual or political leader, others murdered for their demographic group, still others for some prior bullying or action, real or perceived against the shooter.
In the past 30 days, we had the shooting at the headquarters of the CDC in Atlanta, and another school shooting in Colorado, also on September 10th, overshadowed by the death and murder of Charlie Kirk. It’s troubling that some school shootings now receive only brief mention in local news or regional headlines.
With the Apalachee High shooting, my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren live just over a mile from the Apalachee River, and near the school campus. My daughter is a schoolteacher, but not in that county. A nearby neighbor’s child was close to one of the students killed. That community is still grieving; while trials await both the father and the son...
When associates/neighbors and classmates of these convicted and alleged killers are interviewed, they speak of ‘kept to himself,’ ‘quiet loner,’ ‘seldom speaks with anyone’’...occasionally more evident gaps in mental health or prior minor scrapes with local authorities are on file... Yet to a trained observer, there would likely be more signs of unrest and possible future abnormal behavior at play.
I believe the abrogation of some parenting, in exchange for the quiet of interaction with an electronic device, or the otherworldly VR and headphones of video gaming have created a safe space which minimizes death and unsafe acts in the name of entertainment. Inflamed by bullying and some aspects of social media, the world appears to be a much more damaged and viler place.
Conversely, supporters of Luigi Mangione seemed to think the CEO of UnitedHealthcare deserved to be murdered, because medical insurance costs are high and claim denials are frequent. Some Progressives are more sated by Charlie Kirk’s departure due to his lightning rod campus visits and their perceived hate speech in some of the beliefs that he held.
We don’t need to ‘go after’ unidentified Left of Center political organizations. We need to do more to provide, ensure and assist the mental health needs/shortcomings and mental breakdowns of a growing percentage of our young men each year.
I have come to know one of the survivors of the Columbine shooting. He witnessed the shooting death of his sister (the first student killed) and his best friend at Columbine and lived to tell the tale. Yes, he would like to see more common-sense restrictions on gun ownership, but how does he spend his life...speaking to tween and teen students across the country, speaking with them frankly about depression, suicidal ideation, and realizing that needing help/counseling/assistance does not mean you are crazy. Several of those same students have reconnected with him years later, to thank him for that watchful and thoughtful intervention... It is something we can all do in our own communities. Not vigilantes, but observers of our young people, mentors and coaches as well as providing a safe place to be.
There is no silver bullet for ending all of these shell casings...but no war is won in a single battle. Hug your children and those close to you, become an advocate for pulling our children back into this world, with less time in virtual ones...support additional mental health resources in your local school. And each day, be alert, be kind and live a life by example that our children can safely follow.
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