I think he looks different in every released picture. Maybe people who knew him were hoping against hope. I don’t think the one at the hostel is representative of how he looks.
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I think he has a sort of “everyman” look and I wouldn’t be surprised if people didn’t really look carefully and match him to what they remembered. I know someone else earlier on the thread talked about how not everyone recognizes faces so well. I saw my high school reunion photo and I was trying to recognize people and it was from a limited known group at a defined time in my life, and I still couldn’t recognize several of them. One guy had changed so much I didn’t recognize him in person, actually.
It’s also certainly likely that some people doubted themselves even if they did recognize him, some others “didn’t want to get involved,” and yes, probably some were supportive enough that they weren’t going to help law enforcement.
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Dynamics are completely different. Men neither expect nor demand flirtatious charm from other men.
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I’m guessing they, and many others, informed he police. We just don’t that perhaps
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I absolutely feel sorry for his family, too. I recall reading an article by the mother of one of the Columbine murderers.
It was heartbreaking. On thing she said that stuck with me is something like “he turned out like this not because of his raising, but despite it”.
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I thought I read a day or two ago that police “had a name”, so you really do not know who did or did not step up.
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I heard that they had a name late last week, but they have since come out and said they didn’t have a name until he was identified in Altoona.
I googled the last name and my town, several mangione’s here.
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I tell myself something like this everyday. His family will have a lot to work through. Some of the comments here really give me pause. Quite a few posters have mentioned mental illness as a possibility for him committing a cold blooded murder. I have a close family member who served a lengthy prison sentence, as I’m sure several of you are aware. I would never share details here because of the judgmental posts I’ve read on CC over the years. “I hope they rot” or some such re: a particularly heinous news story. My family member is mentally ill, and there is no lasting treatment. I hope he is able to keep on the straight and narrow, but he did terrible things despite his upbringing. I had to read comments on news articles, live with people turning their backs, a hairdresser who told me after 10 years of doing my hair I was no longer welcome.
It’s never the people you think it’s going to be. I hope none of you ever have to live through it.
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That is what I’m thinking. I’ve dealt with this in my family (fortunately temporary on the schizophrenia part, but it’s pretty terrifying. My best friend who I met in grade school has a brother who was diagnosed in high school, he’s in a place now since their parents passed but he never even had a job). Both were definitely not loners.
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I read this morning that the charge is currently 2nd degree murder. Wonder why not 1st degree? It was obviously premeditated. Maybe they’ll eventually upgrade.
In no way is taking a life justified for the ills of the American healthcare system* but reading what many people have gone through with UHC specifically (including reading copies of the letters of denial), and the alleged company policy to deny everything and count on most of the people being under-educated or elderly and not knowledgeable on how to appeal (per the accounts of current & ex UHC employees, some who worked directly for the CEO), it’s not entirely surprising that this extreme situation happened. I agree - it’s shocking to see the cold responses on social media. The responses should serve as a wake-up call to the HC industry that folks are at the end of their ropes.
What is surprising is that the shooter is highly educated and very affluent - presumably with the knowledge and means to pursue the highest level of healthcare for himself.
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I think it’s a little early to assume that mental illness is the cause of the crime. I’m sure that as the legal case against the suspect progresses, more information will come forward that will shed light on the motive. The general public will just have to be patient.
Regardless of whether the suspect was temporarily insane or of sound mind while committing the crime, if he’s found guilty of the crime, he deserves to spend a lot of time in a locked facility of some sort…whether that’s a prison cell or a state mental institution.
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I do hope they eventually share the actual manifesto. Or at least the relevant points.
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But they weren’t in contact with him. I can say that a drug induced psychosis (not saying this is what it is) can happen very quickly and can also get out of hand quickly if not treated (and treatment takes time). It’s also not something easily ignored by people in regular contact with the affected.
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I wonder if they will share much of it at all due to the fears of egging on copycats.
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I’m terribly sorry about what happened with your family member, I hadn’t read that. I think many of us here have not been touched by mental illness, and it’s easy to be downright judgmental if you haven’t. I know that until recently, I would be far less compassionate about people suffering with mental issues. It’s not until you’ve been jolted out of the blue with something that makes no logical sense, to realize that this can happen to our loved ones. It’s hard to have empathy for anyone besides the victim, if you have not walked beside someone who has dealt with mental illness.
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My DS1 read the NY penal code to answer that very question - apparently 1st-degree is reserved for aggravated cases and/or cop-killing? But 2nd-degree can carry a life sentence in prison.
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Doutbful they could claim temporary insanity, there is just too many signs of premeditation, from buying the parts for a ghost gun, to the manifesto, the writing on the shell casings. He could be found incompetent to stand trial still if they find signs of a mental illness. My guess is he will be found sane fwiw, that his obsession was based around a deep seated hatred for either health care companies or capitalism or whatever.
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Wow, just wow. Seems odd that charging would be different outside of those limited circumstances.