The horrible massacre in Aurora

[vickie gee]

My heart goes out to the people who witnessed this, the people who had loved ones get killed or injured, the community, and even the family of the deranged individual who did this. This is crazy. A student of neuroscience, an honor student getting his phd that dropped out, planned this horrific event, and who knows how much more damage he planned to do by rigging explosives at his apartment. Sure people will badmouth gun ownership while it is people who kill people, not guns. Sure the conspiracy theories are out there since the UN small arms blah, blah, blah. But my question is how did this guy arrive at being so evil? Drugs? Something traumatic in his life? Video games? I am at a total loss for an answer. This is just SICK! I cannot take one more showing of his photo. Those eyes are just evil.

 

[Marty]

I"ll tell you what I think because I'm about to explode here and really let loose. I'm all about Peace and Love and PEACE and frankly I am sick to death of all the crazies out there destroying good people.

Will all the crimally insane please stand up? Because then we can pluck them ALL out and cast their evil on some abandoned island somewhere and leave the innocent people alone already! I am sorry your daddy hit your mama and your mama hit you with the belt but dang it, and you've been picked on at school and now you suffer from low self esteem and all your troubles whatever they are give you no right to kill innocent people! You crazy people knew you were screwed up and you could have told someone and got help! I am so sick to death of the Casey Anthony's and OJ Simpsons and petafiles and terrorists Monsters of the world, just plain EVIL that is within them for whatever reason.. NO EXCUSE!

My heart is with Aurora

THE WORLD NEEDS LOVE AND PEACE!

 

[Jill]

What happened is terrible and my heart goes out to the families.

However, I can't help but think how it may have been different if the right person with a license to carry were there in the theater the other night. It may have had a much different outcome.

That's probably not going to be a popular sentiment on LB, but it's a sincere one.

 

[vickie gee]

I stand strong on my 2nd amendment rights and I agree that if had not been a gun free zone the situation might have been stopped early on...like the 71 year old man this week that gave those robbers at the internet cafe in Florida a dose of their own medicine. BUT I do not think a dark movie theater is a place for the public to be toting guns period. That could have turned into a wild west scene in the dark with lots of collateral damage caused by panic. There should have been gun toting security only.

This nut could be causing a lot more damage even while he is incarcerated. He has lawyered up after stating something like "this is not over."

I have no desire to argue gun control. You are either against it or for it.

But surely everyone other than those who hate Americans sees this incident as heartbreaking.

If his general profile was that of a gangster, a terrorist, a thug, or some sort of loser I might be able to wrap my head better around the how and the why of this character. Other than EVIL what could make somebody who was supposedly brilliant and had a bright future go off the deep end like this?

Praying for healing for so many lives of the ones still here and hurting.

 

[Genie]

This was so tragic. Our prayers go out to the survivors and the families and friends of all those in attendance.

It was my father's belief, and is also mine, that television and movies give the "wackos of the world" the ideas and sometimes the required details to pull these events off.

There was a news report that said his mother, when interviewed by police, said "you have the right person".

Possibly she had been trying to get help for him, to no avail. That would be better than finding that his parents knew he was troubled and hoped he would not do anything.

 

[tagalong]

BUT I do not think a dark movie theater is a place for the public to be toting guns period. That could have turned into a wild west scene in the dark with lots of collateral damage caused by panic.

I agree, Vicki - I expect there likely were a couple of people in that theatre that night who may have had a CCW - but the insane monster started everything in the dark so quickly with gas & smoke & panic to hep him - that there was little if any chance of someone being able to take him out quickly in any way - without even more people getting hurt in the crossfire.

I am not against guns - but I am against the need for people like this clown to have assault weapons like AK 47s... why does anyone outside of National Guard or police or military need them?

Anyway - my heart goes out to everyone in Colorado who lost loved ones or went through this horror. So heartbreaking...

I was up that night with a dog who was terrified of a thunderstorm that was going through and watched everything unfold on CNN & Fox... and also followed along online. There was a lot of speculation that it was some kind of terrorist attack - and I could only shake my head sadly and feel that it was exactly what it turned out to be - a sick, twisted waste of oxygen getting his jollies by hunting his fellow human beings for whatever grandiose reason the arrogant jerk can find to justify his lack of a soul or conscience. Pure evil.

 

[ohmt]

Marty, this is for you. I have a feeling it's not the genre of music you probably listen to, but I think you'll like it nonetheless.

Thoughts with those feeling the pain of the events in Aurora, whether physically or emotionally (or both).

 

[Minimor]

The Denver Post reports that the ****y trapped apartment of the suspect were as dangerous as feared--if anyone had opened the door to enter they wiuld have been seriously injured and probably would have died.

IMO it is unfortunate that this messed up fellow wasn't shot and killed during the arrest--i surely hope that he will bever see freedom again.

 

[Marty]

ohmt thank you for the song. Yes I know it and appreciate it.

I will never understand evil,. I don't understand meanness. As your resident old fart hippie violence of any kind has never been in my vocabulary. As humans we all screw up, I certainly have countless times, and of course no one is perfect but plain EVIL should not exist. I don't have a gun. Knowing me I'd shoot myself in the foot. Guns are war toys, heck I wouldn't even allow my boys to have a set of six guns or water pistols when they were little kids, but in this world, a gun is necessary evil I suppose. All we need to practice is love. patience, kindness and peace. Why is that so hard? My heart is crying for Aurora.

 

[Riverrose28]

Goodness knows I've seen enough violence in my lifetime as I was raised in S.E, D.C, I've seen and been through it all, my first husband was shot and killed as a young man over $1. I've spent my liftime trying to understand the evil that lurks in others, and still as an old woman can't figure it out. The only thing I can come up with is that those of us that are peace loving and sane will never understand the evil and insanity that lurks in others. The only thing we can do is try to be aware of our surroundings, keep our eyes open and not to take anything in life for granted, it only takes seconds for it to end. Be grateful for everyday and love all that are close to you.

 

[bonloubri]

Jill siad

However, I can't help but think how it may have been different if the right person with a license to carry were there in the theater the other night. It may have had a much different outcome.

In some cases this may be right, however he had so much body armor I doubt even a well experienced police officer would have been able to stop him.

 

[Jill]

You may be right with his body armor. Depending on what degree of crazy this person turns out to be, the knowledge that others are armed may or may not have detered him. You cannot regulate crazy... It's an awful situation but at the same time, it is absolutely a situation that makes me glad I have the capacity to protect myself.

 

[vickie gee]

Still wondering how he went from a young man described as everything from sweet, shy, bright, fun, etc to a suddenly evil psycho. The newer images of him look like he just woke up out of a stupor. In my search for what is being said about this young man I came up on a website of a radio talk show host named Alex Jones who has been saying for some time that something like this was about to happen. I had never heard of the man before today. IF you are interested in getting his take you can look him up at infowars.com. As and added fyi there are some really cool shirts in his on-line store for those who think government has gotten way too big.

 

[Leeana]

This has been on my mind the last week - every since I heard of this on the news last week the morning after it happened, i've just not been able to shake it for some reason.

Now, in risk of sounding completely crazy...none of this makes sense to me. Several people said just prior to the shooting that a man in the theater got a call, went to the emergency exit door and opened it and motioned to someone outside the exit door. Its like they are totally ignoring this, or maybe it just seems that way. I guess to me - its just not adding up. Then on the other side, things do add up. But just so much of this seems "unreal" or faked. I'm not one to say "oh the government decided to make 70 people sitting ducks and put the blaim on this guy", but a small part of me in todays day and age wouldn't put it past the gov in all honesty. Then agian, this kid seems really really smart and seems to be playing all his cards in the right order and I can't help but think he may have more cards to play. I read today that he is saying he doesn't remember anything...

My honesty thoughts on this is that this kid was lonely / is lonely. I think he would have " off'ed " himself months ago, but decided if he was going to do that - he may as well go out and have fun in doing so. I think he put together this entire shooting and plotted it out as "the joker" knowing he would be sure to get the death penality and atleast get to go out with a name for himself. SICK...but that is what i've made of the entire situation.

It is so sad, my heart goes out to everyone involved

 

[Jill]

Interesting Leeana!

What about this picture?

 

[Leeana]

That and I looked at photos of the scene behind where the car was found...why was the gas mask at the other end of the parking lot? All of the body armor was right outside of the door he came out of behind the movies and leading to his car (where they found him pretty much out of it in his car) and for some reason, the gas mask was way the heck at the other end of the parking lot. He coudln't have thrown it that far (well I guess he could have, but not likely). I read somewhere online where if this was a "set up", James could have been in that car the entire time and someone else in the movie's doing the shooting, who on the way out stripped off the body armor and then ran (with the gas mask on, so the camera wouldnt see their face) across the parking lot which is a great distance just until they were out of view of the camera and then took off the mask and got in the "get away" car. This is from what I read online, i'm looking for the link but for the life of me cannot find it. Then there is the idea of, if there was a camera out back (which there was/is), have they looked at the video or are they even going to...

I don't know, maybe i'm crazy too, but this story has just been on my mind all week and i'm running every idea across my mind. Here is a photo of the scene behind the movies showing where everything was found...look at the gas mask way out in no mans land..

http://24.media.tumb...jznio1_1280.png

Jill I just don't know..I would hope the parents would know if this was their son or not when they see him in person. The two pics do not look alike really, but in the second "jail" photo he looks like he has his eyes bigger and brought up (probably trying to keep his eyes open bc he is so out of it) which would make his nose come off as being longer (I just tried this in the mirror, and if you rasie your eye brows it makes your nose looking longer).

 

[tagalong]

I dunno - the only thing different in that photo is the lighting and his expression. Check out the courtroom pics of the jerk - same nose, same face.

I just think this jerk was a psychotic butt working on his own. He was under psychiatric care and sent the psychiatrist a notebook describing an attack. He planned it for months and had even had ammo delivered to his workplace at the U of C campus. He ****y-trapped his apartment - that did not happen in the space of a few hours. It was all very premeditated. He propped the door open from the inside and then was able to get through it from the outside when he wanted to carry out his "mission". If only an usher or employee had checked and found that door open...

A local gun range owner was interviewed on the radio the other day and thought the jerk was creepy and weird when he called to use the range and would not let him shoot there. Lucky for the jerk, there are public ranges where he did not need permission.

How did the gas mask get so far away? Maybe when he came out the door, dropping some of his gear on the way, he still had it on or in his hand until he ran clear of the gas/smoke coming through the open door behind him. Maybe he ran to the corner of the building to see if any cops were on the way or to check out the mayhem he had caused and then went back to the car when the gas had cleared - all of a minute or two at the most. SWAT found him at the car.

You can't make sense of an insane act such as this...

 

[ozymandias]

Interesting Leeana!

What about this picture?

Same man, different expressions. Don't see anything else that can be made of it.

 

[vickie gee]

I think it is like those pictures you see of people before and after they got on crystal meth. In this case though I wonder if the drug in question Devil's Breath.

 

[Minimor]

I believe that if someone reported a second person--and I believe that was mentioned in one early news report and then a later one said investigators had ruled out that theory--I believe that the police would have checked it out thoroughly . They wouldn't ignore it. I expect that if one person gave that version and 20 others gave the other info, that one man had left through the door, propped it open and then returned, they would be inclined to believe the majority were correct. If there was a camera in the back I am confident they would look at the video footage.

I don't believe the government would set up a mass shooting like this; why would they. What could possibly be gained by shooting 70 people in a movie theatre? Some believed the OKC bombing was done by the government but again, why would they? That is a pretty drastic step to take just to put away one single person.