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That may very well be true in some cases. It is not universal.</p>
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Not really. Often, complicated is just layer upon layer of simple.</p>
<p>Sometimes we have a propensity for making things complicated that really aren’t. Murder is always unacceptable and anger is a reasonable, sane response to that. Trying to explain it sometimes is and sometimes isn’t because there is a line that can be crossed from explaining to excusing.</p>
<p>No one is excusing murder.</p>
<p>I didn’t say anyone here was doing that.</p>
<p>These events are so disturbing, but to be honest, I don’t think there can be a “catch-all” solution and I don’t like to place blame. There are just so many reasons that a person may choose to come to this point. I think a lot is undiagnosed or not properly treated mental illness. And you just cannot know everyone – you just cannot know what is going on in the deepest bowels of their souls. There will always be people that will fall thru the cracks. In a small town nearby my home, there has been a cluster of kid suicides over the past few years – there have been 10 suicides since 2008. They have tried everything to break the chain, however, just two weeks ago, there was another suicide. It just boggles the mind.</p>
<p>[Chapter</a> One: The Cluster | APP.com | Asbury Park Press](<a href=“http://special.app.com/article/20111013/DEADLYDECISIONS/101040003/Chapter-One-The-Cluster]Chapter”>http://special.app.com/article/20111013/DEADLYDECISIONS/101040003/Chapter-One-The-Cluster) </p>
<p>“Over three years, nine teenagers and young men would kill themselves. Six would die in the same manner as Tim — in front of a train. The first happened in April, 2008. The last was in April, 2011, when a 19-year-old Rutgers student, distraught over a failed romance, drove her black Honda CR-V onto the railroad tracks.”</p>
<p>And there was one about two weeks ago. Ten suicides in four (4) years. And this community has really tried everything. My point is – there are always going to be people that fall thru the cracks – whether they want a violent ending to someone else’s life or their own.</p>
<p>The student interviews I saw all mentioned bullying. One mentioned a second shooter. Online, another kid, different sex, reported two shooters. The Prosecutor on tv just now said no bullying involved, lone shooter. It makes me wonder whether they are listening.</p>
<p>I have no idea about the bullying. Only time will flush that out. But there is surveillance video from inside the school and it confirms one lone shooter.</p>
<p>Yes, there was one shooter. Although news reports early yesterday morning speculated two. And rumors went around the school, I heard up to 7 were rumored. The defense is saying it was random. It could be a defense strategy. I think he will be undergoing testing soon.</p>
<p>kleibo - I grew up a little north of there and my grandmother lived in that town. I grew up on that beach! We even had to walk over those very tracks to get from my nana’s house to the beach. So scary - I remember being terrified of those trains when they came by because they were right there on level ground with no fencing.</p>
<p>It’s pretty clear what the defense attorney(s) have in mind now. The kid has said that he didn’t “target” specific students and it’s being said that he is “not all right”. By claiming that it was random, he avoids the harsher penalties that come with “premeditated murder” and also leaves the door open to plead insanity, which he is certain to do.
The family situation is still unclear, but a grandfather was his legal guardian- which explains why police immediately headed to a cousin’s property and seized computers from grandparents. Neighbors said that they often heard “shots” from the property at all hours.
There are no claims of bullying and the pictures from the boy’s FB page were terrifying- him posing bare-chested, staring down the camera and another with guns in both hands and a sign referring to the upcoming “event”. The prose and poetry he had on there indicate that he was planning this massacre.
One boy is still in serious condition in the hospital after undergoing surgeries, and the girl is now recovering at home. I have no idea how kids, teachers and staff are going to handle having to go back into their school building where they saw friends dying… my thoughts are with them.</p>
<p>I was listening to the principals 911 call this morning and the soo sad part about the whole thing is that in a normal emergency, an ambulance would probably be onsite in a handful of minutes. With these shootings - no one can really get to the victims quickly because they don’t know where the shooter is - therefore delaying treatment to these seriously injured victims. I am not sure that this is what happened, but I would think that everyone - even medical personnel - were kept offsite until at least the place was secure or they apprehended the shooter.</p>
<p>CBS radio news this morning had an interview with the one of the killed boys’ mom and older brother. I was sobbing my eyes out. It is such a raw tragedy. My impulsive reaction is “an eye for an eye” but this and other families’ lives are shattered forever.
I understand the justice process but it will drag for years and the private hell that the families would have to go through, it is unmeasurable. I can’t even imagine going into your child’s room the morning after the day that you sent them to school and seeing their unmade bed and the mess that the boys usually make…</p>
<p>Since the shooter was run out of the school by a teacher within minutes, the emergency vehicles were able to reach the victims pretty quickly. Some were life flighted out. The teachers, emergency personnel and law enforcement handled everything very well.</p>
<p>If the defense is insanity and they claim random shooting, it would discredit the case to assert bullying. One student reported it took place in a televised interview. I have no direct knowledge one way or the other.</p>
<p>The first reports of the kids being random targets actually came from the police and prosecutor. This is what the kid told police when he was first interviewed. The defense team is unlikely to even be in place yet so I wouldn’t be speculating about a defense strategy already being articulated.</p>
<p>Sure, “random” means 2nd degree or manslaughter, not first degree murder (perhaps, what do I know? not a lawyer)… this doesn’t sound random to me… but again, all I know is what I read on the internet.
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<p>IMHO, I can’t see this is a random incident. For anyone in the right mind, would you announce the killing plan on the social net, steal your uncle’s gun and start shooting randomly? Come on!</p>
<p>I read an article yesterday about the “hero” - the coach who chased the shooter out of the room/building. I totally got choked up. School staff said that if you asked 100 kids at the school about this coach, 100 kids would say they loved him. So brave. He apparently is the father to four adopted children.</p>
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<p>If they can prove that this was premeditated, planned out, and the perpetrator was competent at the time, I doubt that the fact that the victims were random would reduce it to 2nd degree or manslaughter. But like you, I’m not a lawyer.</p>
<p>“The defense team is unlikely to even be in place yet so I wouldn’t be speculating about a defense strategy already being articulated.” </p>
<p>His defense attorney was in court with him yesterday. That is why I posted his attorney stated it was random. In the future, his attorney may get assistance or he may change representation.</p>
<p>The first shootings were also very close range. He was at the next table from the victims.</p>
<p>Hi all, I’ve been watching this forum somewhat quietly, as I graduated from that HS (many years ago). I still have friends in the area and this week has been especially hard to hear from afar. The lawyer interviewed is from a great family based in Chardon, and he likely knows a lot more about the situation and the shooter’s family than he can let on publicly. I am so impressed with the way the school and community handled everything from the moments during and after the shooting to the community gatherings and prayer vigils in the hours and days that followed. I know each of us has seen or read various ‘facts’ that are in the news the last few days. With facebook, twitter and the internet it is so easy to assume that what we read or saw in the news is the absolute truth, but sometimes it is not, and I can assure you from what I’m learning from my friends still in Chardon, there is still a lot to learn.</p>
<p>I cringe when I see people jump to conclusions regarding why this happened. On this forum, I just ask that you try to withhold your personal politics and assumptions until the grief is further behind us. I have friends who are grieving due to the loss of sons, and others that are grieving for the loss of the simplicity and a sense of safety. I am reading of beautiful stories on my Chardon High School Class of “xx” facebook page where the community has come together in amazing and beautiful ways. I’m so sad for them and I wish I could be there in person to give hugs and wipe tears.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting me get my thoughts out. I’m surprised that I feel so sad even today, two days later, but the fact that I used to eat in that cafeteria and walk those halls is making the stories my friends have had to endure too close to my heart.</p>
<p>OhioMom, my point was that people were speculating on defense strategy less than 48 hours after the event happened, which is ridiculous. Of course he had a lawyer with him in his court appearance. That’s how it works. Whether that is the lawyer who ends up running the defense team or not, no one knows at this point. In any case, the chances of this lawyer or any other having already determined the strategy to be used at trial are nil.</p>