Of course. He was probably one of those intelligent loners with a grudge to bear. It's usually the shunned who hit back hardest.

/pointless speculation

Well, yes, that's true, but mindlessly killing people isn't exactly what I'd call a smart move. Sure it took planning and he would have had to think it out, but still... killing others is never supreme on the list of "good things."

It might not seem so to you, but perhaps it did to him. Maybe, in his mindset, it was his way of leaving his mark upon the world. Or perhaps, since his behavior suggests that he was empty inside, he felt it necessary to see how many people he was able to kill before the police came to get him. Maybe it was a way of testing his worth. Or, as MF said, perhaps those people shunned and/or bullied him, and he felt he needed to get his revenge. There are countless scenarios that could be formualted in order to explain why he would do such a thing. None of them, however, suggest that he was the least bit stupid. Conscienceless, yes, but not stupid.

You have very valid points, but the taking of life isn't right. Sure it isn't stupid. I see that now, but I already corrected myself...


3rd itteration of original post: The world would be much better if people had conciences and used them correctly... and if stupid people were gone. ;)

Again, I must disagree. The pointless taking of life isn't right, I agree, but there are instances in which it can be justified.

Oh, and I agree with your edited statement :p.

They have resorted to crime of this magnitude for whatever reason. They are preparing for the higher risk by becoming more dangerous in combat. You're going to rob this place for whatever reason, you've chosen that location specifically so you know the risks, and therefore go in prepared. As soon as you pick up a gun with malicious intent you are risking death.

Not when everyone else is carrying them as well. Still, if you are going out with obvious weapons and the intent to use them, you aren't going to go down without a fight. The undertaker buys a boat.

With more devastating weapons to keep one rung up, setting the bar for the real criminals to compete against even higher. The cycle continues.

Now not only can I hear about it with anyone anywhere. But now I can go on here and enjoy the repetition of the subject.

I highly doubt that any criminal out there is risking death by robbing a single person or a convinience store. Most criminals want to feel superior to the person whom they are robbing, and as a result chose targets they know they can overwhelm.

Now, if they knew that everyone just might be wielding a firearm, I think they'd back down. Sure, they'd consider taking the necessary precautions, such as arming themselves with deadlier weapons, or protecting themselves with kevlar, but in the end, they just wouldn't know what they'd be facing, and as a result would rethink whether or not they should commit the crime in the first place.

True, but in a city where everyone wields firearms, firing at a single person may be met with a shower of bullets from other citizens. I don't think they'd risk it. Even if they thought they'd have the upper hand.

I heard about this. It's stupid that the guy killed do many people because he broke up with his girlfirend. Dumbest thing ever.

Not pointless at all.
 

Wow , you must be a psycho er, er psychic.
Seems your discription fits Cho Seung- Hui very well.
Except the part about him likeing to play basketball by himself.

I think it is quite clear that criminals are not able to be properly aware of the consequences of their actions, which is consistent with the spontaneity and nature of most armed crimes. And with massive crossfire from everyone with a powerful weapons that have become popular, the collateral will be inevitable and massive.

Actually, that was only a rumor. Apparently, this kid was a loner, and would write plays centered around violence.

They really were idiots for not doing something about him. I mean, I could understand if he never acted in such a manner before, but this kid was clearly either psychotic or psychopathic.

EDIT: Just noticed your post, BM :p.

Actually, most criminals are aware of the consequences of their actions. Only the psychopathic or sociopathic criminals would either would not realize the enormous consequences of their actions, or ignore them completely and commit the crime regardless.

And if the criminals were surrounded by a bunch of armed citizens, I doubt a gunfight would ensue.

Yeah the Chancellor just issued a statement for all of us here at my University. I definately think we take our safety in college for granted. However, hands down the kid was mentally ill it does not excuse it, but this is no doubt going to turn into a debate about politics and gun control, etc. Not to mention idiots in this country and abroad will most likely use the fact that he is Korean to pull some bullshit about "foreigners" and that we shouldn't let people in the country, blah blah blah. Makes me absolutely sick.

This is a failure on society as well for isolationism that we practice towards people, if he was identified by the disturbing writings he was writing his strange behavior in the gun shop etc this could have been prevented as well. I dunno whether I have labeled him as a psychopath yet, or once again another youth lost in the crowd of society and not wanting to die alone, or whether he had some other severe mental conditions.

Definitely. I mean, look at the freaking plays he wrote. If those don't constitute a trip to a psychiatrist, nothing does.

Precisely. Unfortunately, it boils down to the fact that yes it is a fault of society and like I said that we isolate those and shut them out to the world sometimes unknowingly. I guess it means having to actively engage at least since its a huge problem here in the U.S. in the past two decades but to pay attention to what's going on around us, otherwise one day we find a completely changed world.

Okay I'm a human being, but I'm an extremely sadistic one and I just can't let this pass without making at least on 'oops-I'm-going-to-hell-for-this' comment. So with the risc of being flamed half to death:

1. He might have done us a favour as at least 8 of those kids probably deserved to be shot now or in the future.

2. Then again he might have killed someone who would have cured cancer...

3. Then again... we didn't know these kids at all. Who's to say he's not a hero for stopping some 32 man terrorist plot? Maybe the victims were hand picked.

4. I really don't give to dimes about this entire thing except for the fact that it's taking the place of news that's actually important. Can't turn my damn TV on without hearing about this. Can we get back to nuclear wars and Russian superpowers please?

Please be gentle...

Havoc

At the moment Australia holds the record for most deaths by a single gunman (35). No World Record for you. Plus he's still alive. That deserves bonus points.

All kidding aside, there are 2 things that have irked me with this event. As I understand, the first killing happened at about 7am. Then after that the next lot happened at around 9am. How on earth is it possible that someone gets shot and no one seems to care. Surely after the first shooting the Police should have been called and they could have saved 31 lives. What happened in those 2 hours? Did people just go on with their business like they didn't hear someone being murdered? Does anyone know at what time the first 911 call was made? Also the school sent an email around to warn of a gunman on the loose. Forget about the slowness, how many people are going to read an email that they can only access on the computer. How could the poor people in class be able to receive this email? Surely there has to be a better system than that.

My other point is I don't like how the Media keeps say that the shooter was from South Korea. I know they don't actually lie but the way they word it, us the viewer assumes that he is an exchanged student or something. He came to America when he was 8. In my eyes, he's an American. Not some loner kid from another country. If he was born in North Korea I bet the media would have had a field day with it.

And what's with the owner of the gun shop that sold him one of the guns. He acting like "Oh, if I knew he was going to shoot people with the gun, I wouldn't have sold it to him". If you are selling a pistol to anyone then chances are it ain't for hunting. What is the love that Americans have for guns? They should be banned. I know that guns don't kill people, but the crazy mother ****er who is holding it might.

Havoc get real....you know you're being completely ridiculous.

I'm isolated... But I take care of myself and I actually like it.
I just remembered the theme from a gaming magazine I read a few months ago. "Bloody pixels", it said one guy returned to his EX-school (see that:EX) and wounded 37 people and in the end comitted a suicide. The "experts",of course, blamed it on counter strike! But it also says that he's been complaining on his blog about being mocked, bullied, etc... so I wouldn't really blame it on a game. Not only that, but he also listened to death metal... So the reason being bullied might be a motivation for the killer to get his revenge.

As for the rising violence and there will probably be more gangs because of the gangsta rap and all those gangsta movies along with GTA:San Andreas.

They didn't think he was going to come back. Seems pretty logical to me - if he'd wanted to go on a rampage, I would have expected him to do it straight away and not leave for a while and potentially cool off.

The other interesting thing is that I heard on the radio today that he'd been sent to a psychiatric institution because he was seen to potentially harmful to society but was released a day later. The big question being how someone with psychiatric problems got a gun license.

A little update that I havn't seen anyone talk about yet. People are saying it did it because of his girlfriend but while I was listening to the radio yesterday there was an interview with the friend of his apparent girlfriend. She basically said that she had never heard of him, let alone seen him and she seriously doubted that her friend knew him either.
Also, I read a post in another forum that said that he had an imaginary girlfriend. He would tell his room mates that he had a girlfriend called Jelly and say they she called him Spanky.

He went to the Post Office, not kidding.
He mailed a package to NBC News in New York, it was time stamped 9:01.
According to the paper today the package contained a number of self-videos
and a 23 page "manifesto", and some photos.
The quotes from the video and the written work seem to be a litany of violent statments about everything that pissed him off.

One such as" Thanks to you, i die like Jesus Christ, to inspire genreations of the weak and defenseless people"
not quite sure what that ment.

NBC aired some of the videos last night.

Another reason the police were slow to respond was that they spent to much time tracking down the first victim`s boyfriend thinking this was a domestic relation attack.

Oh guys check this out btw. Can't have a mass school killing without Jack Thompson and Dr. Phil!

http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/04/16...ech-shootings/

Are these two idiots actually suggesting banning violent videogames because one or two morons can't seen the border between reality and a game? Why don't people like Jack Thompson ever get shot be these people?!

Havoc

A different perspective
 

Just saw an article by some European journalist who were interviewing
people on the street in Bagdad. One of the questions was what did they think about the shooting at V Tech.
As you can imagine the prevailing opinion was "So What".

This should come as no surprise when you think about their situation, but two
of the answers I found rather chilling.

One man said " 33 dead, that would be a good day for us ".

Another responded, " They were lucky, at least they got to look into the eyes of their killer ".

A very different perspective.

I want to see that video so badly. It may sound sick, but I have always been fascinated by what drives people like this kid to go completely insane. Watching these videos would be the perfect opportunity to delve into the mind of this madman. Although, that may be kind of a waste, since this guy just seemed to be off his rocker, and lacked any real motives.

It might seem sick to some people, but I understand your wish to see that. I am a little curious about it myself. What could possibly drive this guy to DO such a thing might have an answer right there!

Yay! I'm not alone! :D

Well, I think the guy was just psychotic, is all. Although, watching the video could prove otherwise. Maybe he really was conscienceless.

If you have not seen this yet, you can see part of the video here.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/vi...?videoId=49186

The shooter comes off as very cold indeed.

Thanks for the link :). He does, although I'm pretty sure that he's a paranoid schizophrenic. He just had a screw loose the entire time, and no one did anything about it.

Also, did anyone else notice that he sounds as whiny as Napoleon Dynamite? "You guys spilled my blood, GOSH!"