Shooting at showing of 'Dark Knight Rises'

[Drtooth]

If he is found not to be insane, and does get sentenced to prison, he's going to be such a big target. Just like with Jeffrey Dahmer, somebody in prison will want to be famous for wasting him.

I'm sure a lot of people in this country would love to exact some kind of revenge on him. But no matter what his fate may be, it won't bring the twelve victims back, nor will it bring closure to the victims' families any faster.

Revenge will not bring them back or give any closure, but a swift, lawfully painful punishment makes an example. That's what the law is for. To separate dangerous people from the society they would bring harm to, and to send the message that illegal activity will be punished. Someone may try to kill and or rape him, or he could get into some sort of hierarchy and become the boss of a prison clique. There is a LOT wrong with our judicial system that I don't want to go on about, but violent offenders like this guy should get what's coming to them. We're lucky. He turned himself in when he was caught. He could have killed a bunch of cops, escaped, and there could have been a man hunt for him. Or worse... we could never find out who it was, and he could have gotten off Scott free. It happens.

But the fact of the matter is, an insane person COULD very well set up a trap like that. Insane doesn't mean you're blinded by crazy and you poo yourself for fun. it means that something is dangerously wrong with you. He probably hid it quite well (even though NO ONE mentioned the disturbing messages he left about the gun range until it was too late). Crazy certainly does not mean that he wasn't cold and calculating. Those who have the frightening vision to pull off what he pulled off surely can't be in the right mental state.

Though something tells me, interviews with people are going to piece together obvious flaming red flags that could have prevented all of this. But that's what always happens in the face of a tragedy.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I don't know if you could classify him as insane. Disturbed, yes, but I don't think an insane person would have the wherewithall to systematically stock weapons, booby-trap his apartment to create a possible diversion

As DrTooth said, it's a bit of a misconception that an insane person couldn't carry out a complicated plan.

 

[Hubert]

Something that goes along with this in a way, AND I WANT NO ONE TO TAKE THIS FARTHER THAN IT IS MEANT TO GO, though it may not be in this case, so many times people seem to try to excuse crimes because the person might have been insane or mentally ill. It seems like people are more and more afraid to accuse someone, so it's easier to just assume they were mentally ill. I'm not saying that's the case, it's just sort of an observation I've made.

 

[Drtooth]

Trying for the insanity plea when it isn't the case does happen indeed. But this character clearly had some issues that would make him want to such a thing. I'd hate to see the "sane" person who wants to shoot up a theater. I don't think one even exists.

When a supposed sane person kills someone, it's usually with a motive and usually for revenge. or Gang related violence. Those are crimes that at least have a sound reasoning to them. Killing people indifferently, taking the lives of innocent people for the sake of taking lives isn't. It's usually signs of a HUGE personal problem that went untreated.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Something that goes along with this in a way, AND I WANT NO ONE TO TAKE THIS FARTHER THAN IT IS MEANT TO GO, though it may not be in this case, so many times people seem to try to excuse crimes because the person might have been insane or mentally ill. It seems like people are more and more afraid to accuse someone, so it's easier to just assume they were mentally ill. I'm not saying that's the case, it's just sort of an observation I've made.

It's not an excuse. It's just an explanation, period. No one asks to be mentally ill, it could happen to anyone, and our society needs to work harder to deal with it and to get help for these people before these things happen. Or at least get them out of society.

Again life is not a comic book where the bad guy always wants power or is just "evil." Life is not always that clear cut.

 

[Hubert]

It's not an excuse. It's just an explanation, period. No one asks to be mentally ill, it could happen to anyone, and our society needs to work harder to deal with it and to get help for these people before these things happen. Or at least get them out of society.

Again life is not a comic book where the bad guy always wants power or is just "evil." Life is not always that clear cut.

Yes, I understand that. I'm saying that many times I've seen the majority of the general public excuse a serious crime, saying "Eh, just another mentally ill person," without even taking a look at it. I understand that there are mentally ill people do who this stuff often times, and I know that it is an explanation. I'm just saying that many times many, many people use that as an excuse to not take it seriously.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yes, I understand that. I'm saying that many times I've seen the majority of the general public excuse a serious crime, saying "Eh, just another mentally ill person," without even taking a look at it. I understand that there are mentally ill people do who this stuff often times, and I know that it is an explanation. I'm just saying that many times many, many people use that as an excuse to not take it seriously.

Gotcha; I'm sure there are people who do that. I just get bugged by the whole "this is the face of pure evil" nonsense.

 

[Hubert]

Gotcha; I'm sure there are people who do that.

Like, for example, one time my friend was telling me about some crime or something like that, (I forget exactly what it was), and she was saying, "the guy was probably mentally ill, so I don't know why everyone is making a big deal about it. Just deal with the fact that there are mentally ill people in the world." People seem to be using it as an excuse to live under a rock in their own little world...I don't doubt that after the CFA and JHC thing, someone in the world said, "the Chick-Fil-A guy was mentally ill, and the JHC needs to understand that."

 

[Drtooth]

Gotcha; I'm sure there are people who do that. I just get bugged by the whole "this is the face of pure evil" nonsense.

This was indeed a psychological problem. The reason and past of the guy finally came out and ... like I said, if there were any small steps, this could have been averted completely.

You know how they said this guy dropped out of school all of the sudden? Truth is, he bombed a very important exam and took it terribly.

Now, I don't know where I read this or who told me this or where I remember it from... but years ago, I heard that MIT has a huge suicide rate. There's that much pressure to perform well, and there's too much in do or die exams that can cause extreme bouts of depression if they fail. You can't take the tests over, a lot of college professors have hubris and ego that rivals Greek Gods, and they refuse to help you out. Anyone who's gone to college knows this. That one jerkbutt professor that just wants you to fail, and you wind up being hideously depressed about it. I don't even know if it's still up here, but I wrote the saddest thing I ever wrote in my life on this board because I got a D in something I worked hard on, and I got a lot of sympathetic replies that helped me deal that I'm still to this day thankful for.

Mental illness doesn't just mean pretending to be Napoleon and acting like Gogo Dodo. It can mean life shattering depression and suicidal tendencies.

If anything, I think that anytime a student does that terribly on a test, they should be required to A) see a school psychologist to evaluate them and B) take the test over until you pass it. Clearly the pressure drove him over the edge, made him spiral down into madness, and he did what he did... and NO ONE from the school wanted to help him. So they now own a nice chunk of responsibility to this problem too.

 

[MuppetsRule]

If anything, I think that anytime a student does that terribly on a test, they should be required to A) see a school psychologist to evaluate them and B) take the test over until you pass it. Clearly the pressure drove him over the edge, made him spiral down into madness, and he did what he did... and NO ONE from the school wanted to help him. So they now own a nice chunk of responsibility to this problem too.

Are you serious with this paragraph? Every time somebody does poorly on an exam they should be required to see a psychologist? And you are actually holding the school responsible for this? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING? RIGHT?