<p>Undoubtedly there are many cases of 'if I can’t have you, no one else can". I am not a psychologist, but it seems to me something else is going on in a lot of these cases. I see similarities to the honor killings prevalent in other cultures. In those instances the focus isn’t on the feelings of the person killed, but on the killer - whether husband or father - who somehow feels the people they killed humiliated them in the eyes of their peers, and the only recourse is to kill them to re-assert their own power in their social circle. </p>
<p>I’ve said before on this board that I think the sense of humiliation, of being “dissed”, is a significant cause of violence. I think it should be studied more. We just dismiss it because we assume honor killings don’t happen here because none of us (probably including the killer) think of it in those terms. </p>
<p>Forty years ago, when a drunk driver killed someone else, the excuse was offered that he/she didn’t mean to do it, and that was usually enough. Today it works differently. Not perfectly, but differently. I wonder if we’ll get to the point where the adults who leave guns where children can access them routinely get charged and jailed on child abuse charges, instead of more often indicating that they’ve been hurt enough because of the loss of a child?</p>
<p>The young woman who died at the scene was, indeed, the GF of the shooter’s cousin Andrew who remains in critical condition. It appears that they have been a couple for quite awhile. Whatever it was . . . the shooters recent ex was not present.</p>
<p>“I wonder if people who allow their guns to fall into the hands of children have their permits revoked? Preferably for life? Somehow I doubt it.”</p>
<p>There was a case near me a few years ago and the father’s gun permit was revoked… He was prosecuted, too, but plead guilty before trial. </p>
<p>The young woman who was his GF (they seem to have had a very recent breakup) belonged to a different tribe (Suquamish) which is across the water from the Tulalip tribe and really not very close. She appears to be very active on her tribal youth counsel which seems to fit with the characterization of the shooter as having been very “cultural” and headed for tribal leadership roles in the future. Both families are very active in fisheries and cultural activities which must be where they met.</p>
<p>Did the County Prosecutor in Kitsap (across the bay from Seattle) prosecute the parent of the elementary school boy who brought a gun to school and shot a classmate? It was in 2011 or 2012 I believe.</p>
<p>No. It occured February 22, 2012 in Bremerton.
The 9 yr old boy who had the gun in his backpack, was charged at the time. ( he said he was being bullied, it went off when his backpack was dropped onto his desk)
Criminal charges were dismissed against the boy and the State Supreme Court ruled the gun owner shouldn’t face criminal charges.
The school district and the gun owner reached a settlement in August with the girls family for $1.2 million.
They have since moved out of state.</p>
<p>Yes @emeraldkity4 - his ex-girlfriend is Suquamish and lives on the Kitsap (see earlier posts). She is very active in tribal youth council etc. and her family is also into fisheries. I don’t know but speculate that they must have met at either joint tribal youth gatherings or larger cultural events. </p>
<p>It is just so tragic (not more than other shootings but in a different way) that this doesn’t seem to have been one of those ticking time bomb types of situations like the Seattle Pacific shooting or others where it seemed for months or years that something could happen and the shooter might “snap”. I feel even more like whatever it was would have passed had he not had easy access to the handgun to carry out this act.</p>
<p>“Lucas’s father, Joshua Heagren, had tried to teach the 3-year-old to respect firearms. The boy had gotten a .22 rifle for Christmas, and his father showed him how to fire it. But he also warned him to handle it only when an adult was present.”</p>
<p>Who in their right mind gives a 3 year old a gun?!!!?"</p>
<p>Bubbas. Why don’t we call these people what they are? They are ignorant, and should be laughed at and shamed.</p>
<p>Three weeks ago Marysville School District was selected, along with two other school districts in Washington State, to share “a $10M federal grant aimed at linking students with mental health providers.” The districts were chosen “based on their need and their readiness to benefit from the grant.”</p>
<p>“Lucas’s father, Joshua Heagren, had tried to teach the 3-year-old to respect firearms. The boy had gotten a .22 rifle for Christmas, and his father showed him how to fire it. But he also warned him to handle it only when an adult was present.”</p>
<p>Ah, so he warned the 3 year old. That changes things of course, since warning a 3 year old is always effective. </p>
<p>I suppose he’d also leave a bottle of cyanid capsules on the bedside table, warn the child not to touch the cyanide, then leave the room without any qualms?</p>
<p>I wonder if in their twisted little worlds these people think “training” their kids somehow absolves them of the responsibility to keep their weapons safely locked away. Because really, one can’t be the big, brave cowboy unless the loaded weapon can be grabbed at a moment’s notice.</p>
<p>Why call them ignorant? I agree that giving a firearm to a young kid is foolhardy (as with the girl in Arizona), and I don’t like guns. But I’d like to know more about this family before we decide to condemn them to shame. I doubt if they thought their nephew would ever kill relatives. </p>