Mass shooting in the US, 27 dead, 18 are children.

baloo · Post by **baloo** » 15th Dec, '12, 05:05

It's when you read shit like this that makes it very hard to argue against the death penalty. Actually, they should change it so death is via slow painful torture.

Connecticut shooting leaves 27 dead, including 18 pupils

At least 27 people, including up to 18 children, are thought to have been killed in a mass shooting at the Sandy Hook primary school in Newton, a small town in rural Connecticut.
The gunman was identified in US media reports as 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, who killed his father at home before driving to the school and killing his mother, who worked there, along with many of her young students.
What does a parent think about coming to a school where there’s a shooting? It’s the most terrifying moment of a parent’s life … you have no idea

Newtown police received their first 911 call just after 9.30am and learned that a man wearing a bullet proof vest entered the school about 9.40am – Friday morning in America – and opened fire.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/connecti ... z2F3vsBKEL

Joseph27 · Post by **Joseph27** » 15th Dec, '12, 07:31

baloo wrote:It's when you read shit like this that makes it very hard to argue against the death penalty. Actually, they should change it so death is via slow painful torture.

This is so sad to hear about - with 2 kids in primary school, I don't even want to imagine the pain the parents must be feeling right now. There is a film called Law Abiding Citizen and I love the scene when the killer is very slowly and deliberately tortured body part by body party with enough equipment connected to him to prolong the suffering as long as possible. This animal in the US deserves the same treatment - no lethal injection, no gas - just a slow helpful hand to introduce him to the concept of hell on earth, a hell he has created today for beautiful little kids getting ready for Christmas. I wish him pain, suffering and torment - of course he is dead and it kinda makes me want to believe in an actual hell

canuck · Post by **canuck** » 15th Dec, '12, 08:39

Only word one word "horrific"

And the reporting from the new yorker is almost as horrific....

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 15th Dec, '12, 09:49

baloo wrote:It's when you read shit like this that makes it very hard to argue against the death penalty. Actually, they should change it so death is via slow painful torture.

I'm hard pressed to argue against that, but the guy took himself out, so no chance for the death penalty.

Unbelievably horrifying story, and as has already been noted, as a parent with kids in school it's painful, awful, unimaginable, pick your word to even think about.

daffodil · Post by **daffodil** » 15th Dec, '12, 11:28

Another tragedy, those poor families must be going through hell.

Lili Von Shtupp · Post by **Lili Von Shtupp** » 15th Dec, '12, 13:32

Wow, it's a really sad day.

My FB is on fire today. Many people are saying let's have some respect for the situation before we go politicizing the issue. I've also seen some people lose FB friends because of angry debates. Emotions are hot and tensions are high. I think this time people will push for it to go on the national agenda. I don't think that the problem is simply a gun issue. I think we can also ask why people have an easier time buying a gun than they have obtaining quality, affordable mental health care without shame or stigma attached.

Tas · Post by **Tas** » 15th Dec, '12, 14:12

Interesting economic point LVS, was discussing different health systems with a doctor who had worked in US was saying that an effective medication for depression that cost $28 in Aus branded, and $12 generic because it is on subsidised listing, costs $130 in the US for a month supply. It did shock me, and drives home your point for me.

T2K · Post by **T2K** » 15th Dec, '12, 22:51

Posted this in the China school stabbing thread also, adding a bit here:

Pandora's box on this matter was opened years ago.

Instead of quietly offing themselves, nutjobs want to force others to "feel their pain". It will continue, in various forms and countries. This is part of our world now, sadly. It's part of our common consciousness from the US to Germany to Japan to Finland to Germany to China and on and on.

In the US for many decades in the first half of the 20th century, you could buy a machinegun (a real machinegun, not the semi-auto rifles which the media calls "assault weapons) via mail order. School shootings didn't happen. Gun availability isn't the relevant variable here. Defective people are.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 16th Dec, '12, 10:38

This is being attributed to Morgan Freeman, but there is no proof (according to Snopes) that he actually said it, but, no matter who said it, there is a good point in it:

This examiner happened to stumble across the words of Morgan Freeman and his thoughts on the event on Friday as well as other mass shootings.

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine?

Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

A friend of mine yesterday noted the obsession with reality tv in the US and how so much of what is seen on shows like that is people being awful to each other and being cheered on for it. Add to that the big urge to be 'famous' by many and the sensationalist news reporting and maybe we have something to consider about part of what is going wrong with society. I'm sure there are a million more pieces to the puzzle, but maybe a more critical look at what passes for entertainment and what we accept as 'news' and 'reporting' is something that is needed.

Joseph27 · Post by **Joseph27** » 16th Dec, '12, 15:31

Nevertheless I like how this part of the puzzle has been highlighted here

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Mass shooting in the US, 27 dead, 18 are children.

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