Santa Barbara shooting

EricJonrosh

This kid could be someone you or I know. I see this and wish I had a few minutes to talk some sense into him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CressilIo

silverraiyne

I wish he would've been given the metal healthy he obviously needed. There were videos posted days ago that were warnings of what he was about to do. His parents informed authorities, who did nothing. They deemed him not to be a threat because he didn't have any weapons, but how can that be when all the guns and ammo he used were legally purchased and registered to him.

Such a horrible tragedy. Already one of the victims has been identified as a local, and UCSB is a popular nearby college so possibly more locals involved :-( So sad, I was just in Isla Vista only a few weekends ago and thinking what a nice little beach town area :-(

bd0027

Maybe I'm cold-hearted, but I don't feel very much sympathy for him. All of my sympathy goes out to the families of his victims.

silverraiyne

Oh not, not cold-hearted at all. I don't have any sympathy for him -- though I do for his family, they're hurting just as bad if not worse as the other families knowing that their son was a monster the other night.

I just think if he would've gotten help, maybe been looked at more closely after those videos popped up, or hell, even been disciplined better as a child, maybe all those pore innocent victims wouldn't have gotten killed and their families wouldn't be suffering right now.

EricJonrosh

People are already blaming guns even though three of the victims he used a knife. Yes the focus will be on him instead of the victims, I'm sure, and how he got guns, what went wrong, etc. It's what people wonder about so the news will deliver.

Cathalain

The fact is that this is not going to stop until more attention, funding, research, and understanding is allocated to mental health in this country. It's as simple as that. Even in this supposedly enlightened day and age, there is too much stigmatization of mental illness. I see it every day, as I work directly with convicted ex-felons with diagnosed mental health issues.

I am also a survivor of mental illness (dx'd in 2006 with major depressive disorder).

I managed to get help and to recover. Not everyone is as fortunate as I. Not everyone has a valid support network. This kid apparently did - or at least, someone called - but he talked his way out of it. I was once like that. Luckily, I didn't snap and kill people.

It's a tragedy all the way around, for everyone. But until the aforementioned happens, it's going to keep churning out more and more and more victims. As Richard Martinez said - how many more have to die before we as a society wake up?

GiddyupTim

My son goes to UCSB and I even know the apartment building where Rodger lived quite well. Thank you. And, yes, I blame guns. Hell yes I blame guns. The fact that you can say "Well, yeah, deaths happen all the time that are not caused by guns" does not exonerate our lax and irresponsible gun laws. The is a stupid argument. I am quite sure the parents of the two girls shot outside the sorority -- killed very rapidly and easily, without the slightest chance of defending themselves -- and the father of the boy who was just buying a sandwich would agree.

salembambi

0% sympathy for this load of *kitten* human

male entitlement kills (& rapes) women and this is just a blown up in your face example of that

so beyond disgusted that I might actually cry

bd0027

He was a psycho. That's really all there is to be said about him. Here's his writings describing his plans to attack.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-isla-vista-document-20140524-story.html#page=3

DOM4U

This is down the road from me. Sad

weightliftingdiva

I see lots of things at play here. Poor mental health treatment systems, lax gun regulations (nothing is wrong with guns in the hands of responsible owners, but clearly we have a theme of irresponsible people getting access to guns in this country), and a patriarchal entitlement to sex and women. I think it will be impossible to say which one was the biggest influence on this guy, but it all came together to cause tragedy.

salembambi

He was a psycho. That's really all there is to be said about him. Here's his writings describing his plans to attack.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-isla-vista-document-20140524-story.html#page=3

dismissing violent misogynists as "crazy" is a neat way of saying that violent misogyny is an individual problem and not a cultural one

weightliftingdiva

He was a psycho. That's really all there is to be said about him. Here's his writings describing his plans to attack.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-isla-vista-document-20140524-story.html#page=3

dismissing violent misogynists as "crazy" is a neat way of saying that violent misogyny is an individual problem and not a cultural one

Maybe you're both right.

occupysmithmachine

sad product of a sad society..

EricJonrosh

My son goes to UCSB and I even know the apartment building where Rodger lived quite well. Thank you. And, yes, I blame guns. Hell yes I blame guns. The fact that you can say "Well, yeah, deaths happen all the time that are not caused by guns" does not exonerate our lax and irresponsible gun laws. The is a stupid argument. I am quite sure the parents of the two girls shot outside the sorority -- killed very rapidly and easily, without the slightest chance of defending themselves -- and the father of the boy who was just buying a sandwich would agree.

There are too many gun laws in California as it is and they are not enforced. I blame law enforcement and State mental health, and the parents. There were warning signs, action could have been taken but it wasn't.

GiddyupTim

My son goes to UCSB and I even know the apartment building where Rodger lived quite well. Thank you. And, yes, I blame guns. Hell yes I blame guns. The fact that you can say "Well, yeah, deaths happen all the time that are not caused by guns" does not exonerate our lax and irresponsible gun laws. The is a stupid argument. I am quite sure the parents of the two girls shot outside the sorority -- killed very rapidly and easily, without the slightest chance of defending themselves -- and the father of the boy who was just buying a sandwich would agree.

There are too many gun laws in California as it is and they are not enforced. I blame law enforcement and State mental health, and the parents. There were warning signs, action could have been taken but it wasn't.

Sure, hindsight is twenty-twenty. That's the cliche because it is true. Easy to see the signs after the fact. Not so with the present. The present is never so transparent and predictable.
Better to restrict or get rid of the guns. Another gun is not a shield for the innocents and potential, and actual, victims and never will be. Dodge City was not the safest city in America because everyone had a gun to defend themselves. It was actually the most violent and deadly.
Time to say our children -- your children, my children, Santa Barbara's children, Newtown's children, Columbine's children, Sparks', Nev., children, etc. -- are more important than unrestricted access and ownership. Seems the lesser price to pay...

tmanfromtexas

My son goes to UCSB and I even know the apartment building where Rodger lived quite well. Thank you. And, yes, I blame guns. Hell yes I blame guns. The fact that you can say "Well, yeah, deaths happen all the time that are not caused by guns" does not exonerate our lax and irresponsible gun laws. The is a stupid argument. I am quite sure the parents of the two girls shot outside the sorority -- killed very rapidly and easily, without the slightest chance of defending themselves -- and the father of the boy who was just buying a sandwich would agree.

There are too many gun laws in California as it is and they are not enforced. I blame law enforcement and State mental health, and the parents. There were warning signs, action could have been taken but it wasn't.

Sure, hindsight is twenty-twenty. That's the cliche because it is true. Easy to see the signs after the fact. Not so with the present. The present is never so transparent and predictable.
Better to restrict or get rid of the guns. Another gun is not a shield for the innocents and potential, and actual, victims and never will be. Dodge City was not the safest city in America because everyone had a gun to defend themselves. It was actually the most violent and deadly.
Time to say our children -- your children, my children, Santa Barbara's children, Newtown's children, Columbine's children, Sparks', Nev., children, etc. -- are more important than unrestricted access and ownership. Seems the lesser price to pay...

Sorry, I don't agree with the restriction or ban on guns. People kill people. What device they use is not as important as is the why do they kill people. This POS killed three people with a knife but I don't see anyone saying a word about that except Crazy Steve. Earlier this year a crazy POS killed 38 people in China with a knife. I have seen people killed with all kinds of weapons unfortunately in my previous career as a firefighter. Gun laws keep lawful people from being able to protect themselves. They don't apply to people like this or the gang bangers in Chicago because they don't care. They are going to do what they want to do without thought as to what weapon they use. They will use what is available.

MissMissle

It's difficult for me to have sympathy to the parents at all...

Guns, obviously, are not the issue here. Though i have to wonder how, knowing his mental state, he was able to keep so many in secret in his parents house...

Also - why was this kid driving around in a BMW??

Anyway, agreed, this country does have a serious lack of support for families dealing with mental health issues...

MissMissle

Never mind... it's probbaly a bit too early ...

3bambi3

He was a psycho. That's really all there is to be said about him. Here's his writings describing his plans to attack.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-isla-vista-document-20140524-story.html#page=3

dismissing violent misogynists as "crazy" is a neat way of saying that violent misogyny is an individual problem and not a cultural one

+1

rjmudlax13

He was a psycho. That's really all there is to be said about him. Here's his writings describing his plans to attack.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-isla-vista-document-20140524-story.html#page=3

dismissing violent misogynists as "crazy" is a neat way of saying that violent misogyny is an individual problem and not a cultural one

I agree. However, there is also the "man-shaming" (aka macho) culture which doesn't help the problem much either. I'm not suggesting it's true, but I wonder how many times this guy did ask for help but was told to "be a man" or "man up" or "stop being a p*ssy." Also, it's amazing how many WOMEN engage in this type of man-shaming. "Man shaming" is usually a forgotten component of the larger issue of misogyny.