CT School shooting

[keeperrox]

Apparently the shooter went to a private religious school. It is safe to say that he got tons of religious instruction and prayer in schools.

Adam Lanza did? Do you have a link? Everything I've read said he went to public school up until his senior year and then his mother pulled him out and homeschooled at some point due to disagreements with the district.

[AnnieC 305]

Adam Lanza did? Do you have a link? Everything I've read said he went to public school up until his senior year and then his mother pulled him out and homeschooled at some point due to disagreements with the district.

I was about to point out that his mother pulled him out and homeschooled him at some point.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/16/justice/c ... ?hpt=hp_t1

Also he was not mentally ill before he was pulled out, it sounds like he was a high functioning Autistic. And his mother was a divorced SAHM.

That said, one thing we all might know better than any other group is the amount of cray-cray in the homeschool community. Not that homeschooling is bad, the husband and I are considering it, but it is fundie ground zero. And it also has a whopping overlap with the gun nut (as opposed to responsible gun owner) community. It's hard to believe that Mom would not have been exposed to both camps when she started homeschooling her son.

Is anyone else catching a whiff a mixture of single, non-working parent parent (nothing to provide balance), perhaps Pearl-esque discipline on an autistic kid, the constant drumbeat of the evils of the public schools, and all the rest here? I mean there's no way to tell but with what we have....

[Artemis]

I'd certainly like to know the family background - to shoot your mother argues a really extreme state of mind: it's probably the hardest bond to break.

[Minerva]

Unfortunately, judging by the increasingly paranoid rantings of various people on facebook, there seem to be a large number of right-wingers in the U.S. who think they ARE in a revolutionary situation, and they better keep their guns with them at all times, since the evil government is going to come collect them at any moment. :evil: They also seem to think they could have jumped in their ninja style and taken down the school shooter and saved some lives, cause they are all "great shots" ... never mind that there shooting practice was, I hope, confined to stationary targets on a range ! :roll: Idiots.

:roll: When paranoia and delusions of grandeur are confused with politics. Look, I know plenty of people who are as far to the left as they get, and I know of only one person who actually believes we are on the brink of a revolution. He's a bit scary, and I don't even wanna know what he's stocking up on, but there's one of him. How are there so many people like that on the right in the US?

[Minerva]

I'm reposting this as a PSA to not be taken in by urban legends or scams.

(Scott is a friend of mine and he would not mind. He'd think it's common sense, actually.)

Thanks. It's not immediately obvious, but so many people are going to be taking advantage of the shooting. Doug Phillips is a tool 's readers come to mind, with how they were all ready go pack their bags and go "minister" to the bereaved. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the missionary population of Newtown skyrocketed overnight.

[emmiedahl]

Adam Lanza did? Do you have a link? Everything I've read said he went to public school up until his senior year and then his mother pulled him out and homeschooled at some point due to disagreements with the district.

He was in Catholic schools in elementary and middle school. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/hc ... 8700.story

[keeperrox]

He was in Catholic schools in elementary and middle school. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/hc ... 8700.story

That article says he went to Sandy Hook for elementary school, then Catholic school for less than one year in seventh grade, and then Newton High School. It also sounds like he was homeschooled more than just at the end of his high school career.

Kateleen Foy, now an undergraduate at Hofstra University in New York, said she was in Lanza's seventh-grade class at St. Rose of Lima School in Newtown.

She recalled that he joined the class after the school year began and left before school got out for the summer.

"He was really shy, really painfully shy," Foy said. "He was a little hard to talk to."

Foy said she didn't recall seeing Lanza again after he left St. Rose until she spotted him in a hall while they were students at Newtown High School.

"I want people to know he wasn't always a monster," Foy said. "He became one, but he wasn't always that way."

Foy said she and other students accepted his shyness because, she said, he had been home-schooled and "hadn't really been socialized."

[emmiedahl]

That article says he went to Sandy Hook for elementary school, then Catholic school for less than one year in seventh grade, and then Newton High School. It also sounds like he was homeschooled more than just at the end of his high school career.

Sorry, I think I quoted the wrong article. I thought that was it and did not read it through. I read one that said he went to local Catholic schools until high school. I will look again for it.

The conflicting stories are frustrating.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Apparently the shooter went to a private religious school. It is safe to say that he got tons of religious instruction and prayer in schools.

He also went to public school and was homeschooled. I dont think any of the schools he went to make a difference.

[emmiedahl]

He also went to public school and was homeschooled. I dont think any of the schools he went to make a difference.

If he did go to a religious school, it kinda contradicts the whole "This happened because schools aren't Christian enough!!!" thing. That is the only reason I care. :D

I am just sick of hearing that if Christianity was forced on the population, Christians would stop killing people.

[Minerva]

He also went to public school and was homeschooled. I dont think any of the schools he went to make a difference.

That's because you're an intelligent human being. According to some, it makes all the difference which school he went to. Those same people will tell you his school wasn't really Christian no matter which school he went to, however. He could have gone to the Fundamentalist School for Budding Right Wing Asshats his whole life and Mike Fuckabee would have said the same thing.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

He also went to public school and was homeschooled. I dont think any of the schools he went to make a difference.

The one part I found interesting is that he had attended Sandy Hook elementary himself, which would put SOME connection between him and the place.

[stacyf]

The school psychologist who was killed was at the school when he would have attended. I wonder if there may be a connection there. I think they said she had been there since 1998.

I had many children from Sandy Hook pass through my summer programs at the local State Park. I do not think any of them were victims since most of my kids were 8 and older but they most definitely may have had siblings that were victims and I worry for them. When I lived in Alaska I had the chance to get to know one of Ethan Ramsey's victim's siblings and I know how it continued to effect them for years.

Has anyone really addressed why these shootings happen in mostly white somewhat suburban/rural areas? Why do these incidents not happen in the inner cities? I know inner city schools have their share of violence but not this type, inner city violence seems to be more targeted (gang/beefs with others) and these mass shootings seem to be mostly random and the victims seem to have very little connection to the shooter.

I have a cousin affiliated with a local evangelical church and saw an update from the church saying this is an opportunity to bring Jesus to the area that only 3% of CT is linked to evangelical christian churches and that this is a chance to grow that number. Just from my experience most of the area residents are Roman Catholic, Congregationalist and Jewish which is just not good enough for the evangelicals.

[Turtle]

The school psychologist who was killed was at the school when he would have attended. I wonder if there may be a connection there. I think they said she had been there since 1998.

I had many children from Sandy Hook pass through my summer programs at the local State Park. I do not think any of them were victims since most of my kids were 8 and older but they most definitely may have had siblings that were victims and I worry for them. When I lived in Alaska I had the chance to get to know one of Ethan Ramsey's victim's siblings and I know how it continued to effect them for years.

Has anyone really addressed why these shootings happen in mostly white somewhat suburban/rural areas? Why do these incidents not happen in the inner cities? I know inner city schools have their share of violence but not this type, inner city violence seems to be more targeted (gang/beefs with others) and these mass shootings seem to be mostly random and the victims seem to have very little connection to the shooter.

I have a cousin affiliated with a local evangelical church and saw an update from the church saying this is an opportunity to bring Jesus to the area that only 3% of CT is linked to evangelical christian churches and that this is a chance to grow that number. Just from my experience most of the area residents are Roman Catholic, Congregationalist and Jewish which is just not good enough for the evangelicals.

That is absolutely disgusting. A tragedy is not a good opportunity to boost your church attendance. I pray that none of the victims' families are subjected to any unwanted "witnessing".

From the news footage, it seems there are a lot of Catholics in the area. I saw a clip of the parish priest being interviewed, crying after saying that he had baptized some of the victims. Heartbreaking.

[stacyf]

This is a quote from a pastor at the local Evangelical Christian Church:

Earlier in the day, in that fire station, a guy walked past muttering “Jesus.†But he said it in such a way that I knew he wasn’t crying out to the Lord; it was a cry of disbelief, almost an epithet. He knew His name, but it was quite clear he’d lost the meaning of the Name. He, like so many others in this part of New England—where we calculate about 3 percent are evangelical Christian—is living in pretty much a godless state. It’s a place where people have little time for God, and it must perplex Him that—when tragedy of this magnitude strikes—the churches fill up ... for a time.

Our prayer is that this evil, this unspeakable horror, would be the turning point for what God is doing in New England. We’ve spent the last nearly eight years here, breaking up the land and laying seed for a harvest—or revival in New England.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the wake-up call. Maybe, just maybe, this is when the church springs into action, being the hands and feet of Jesus and shining His light in this darkness. People here need Jesus and it’s our job to introduce Him to them.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2 ... urvivalist

Speaking from her home near Chicago, Nancy Lanza's sister-in-law, Marsha Lanza, told reporters , "She was stockpiling food. We talked about prepping a lot. She was getting ready for the economic collapse. I think she had the guns for self-defense because she lived alone."

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Theres a pic of her on that site, too.

And theres this

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2 ... sandy-hook

"Nancy told me he was burning himself with a lighter. In the ankles or arms or something," a friend of Adam's mother, Nancy Lanza, told the New York Daily News. "It was like he was trying to feel something."

"She just looked down at the glass and said, 'I don't know. I'm worried I'm losing him'," the friend, who asked not to be identified recalled of their conversation at a popular Newtown, CT restaurant called My Place.

PHOTOS: Celebs Involved In Murder

"She said it was getting worse. She was having trouble reaching him."

"She looked disturbed. She was looking down at her glass and kind of talking slowly," the friend added. "You have to know Nancy to know how weird that was. She was just always so full of life."

[CallmeChaCha]

I wonder also how much the excess media coverage affects or motivates the people that carry out mass murders. I'm not saying that watching tv, or even playing video games, drove him to do this, but I'm wondering if there were any ideas he got or even final motivation from watching the news about others in Colorado or Oregon or Wisconsin.

And speaking of media, I too am tired of all the misinformation that's disseminated especially right after the incidents occur. It's so irresponsible and it seems that it's easier to apologize for it later than to bother actually confirming the facts before spewing them out.

[AnnieC 305]

Unfortunately, judging by the increasingly paranoid rantings of various people on facebook, there seem to be a large number of right-wingers in the U.S. who think they ARE in a revolutionary situation, and they better keep their guns with them at all times, since the evil government is going to come collect them at any moment. :evil: They also seem to think they could have jumped in their ninja style and taken down the school shooter and saved some lives, cause they are all "great shots" ... never mind that there shooting practice was, I hope, confined to stationary targets on a range ! :roll: Idiots.

That whiff I spoke of earlier is getting stronger.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/1 ... Enthusiast

There’s been some level of mystery about just why Adam Lanza’s first victim, Nancy Lanza, had such a stock of weapons, particularly military style weapons like the .223 Bushmaster, the weapon we now know was actually used in the killings. She wasn’t just into guns. She was apparently stocked up for when the economy collapses and when everyone’s on their own with their guns.

[Minerva]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/12/sandy-hook-killer-mother-nancy-lanza-survivalist

Poor woman. I wonder if she'd still be alive if people weren't going around predicting an economic apocalypse.

Here's something I don't get about guns for self defence. When RapeAxe, the barbed female condom, came out, the typical mainsplain-y reaction to it was "baaad idea, don't you ladies do anything that might provoke your attacker, now" *wags finger*. Yet when it comes to someone breaking into your house, it's "Pull a gun on them. That definitely won't escalate shit."

[crazyforkate]

Turns out my sister and brother-in-law knew one of the victims - or at least, they knew her parents, I'm not sure how well they knew the little girl. My brother-in-law worked with the dad a few years back. Even if they weren't close friends or anything, it's pretty awful to know that something so terrible has happened to someone you know.

[mebeforee]

Yeah, I was going to mention that reports say the mother was a prepper. Raising an already troubled child around that kind of mentality is probably a big contributor to something like this. She also took her sons to the shooting range. A child who is already disturbed doesn't need to be taught that in the future he will have to use violence because the world wants to kill him. That's dangerous.

I also read that he had visited the school the day before the attack and there was some kind of confrontation between him and the people in the front office. Of the four women he argued with, only one of them survived the attack. It seems very likely that there's a link.

[miffy]

Has anyone really addressed why these shootings happen in mostly white somewhat suburban/rural areas? Why do these incidents not happen in the inner cities? I know inner city schools have their share of violence but not this type, inner city violence seems to be more targeted (gang/beefs with others) and these mass shootings seem to be mostly random and the victims seem to have very little connection to the shooter.

Inner city areas seem to have more cohesive communities & its probably harder to be a loner when you live in the same building or very close to others. I grew up in an area where the houses are far apart & people tend to socialise with other people from the area at the tennis club, rather then their actual neighbours. So it would be really easy for a teenager to have little contact with others if they don't have friends at school.

[Peas n carrots]

Inner city areas seem to have more cohesive communities & its probably harder to be a loner when you live in the same building or very close to others. I grew up in an area where the houses are far apart & people tend to socialise with other people from the area at the tennis club, rather then their actual neighbours. So it would be really easy for a teenager to have little contact with others if they don't have friends at school.

I think there is something to this theory. I read in a book by John Douglas (former FBI profiler) the theory of why serial killers seem to be a recent phenomena. His theory was very similar...in pre-industrial societies most people lived in small communities and you generally were aware of who were the disturbed people were and the community kept an eye on them at the very least. We don't have that kind of communal eye anymore.

I can state that I really don't know my neighbors in my building. It's a larger building but not especially huge. Everyone keeps to themselves, and (myself included) make little effort to reach out to neighbors. Maybe I should start doing that...

[JesusFightClub]

This is right I reckon.

My mum grew up in inner city London and she says "we always knew who not to be alone with"

Where community is strong you have that connection.