OT: Horrible Columbinesque tragedy unfolding in CT

[Joker]

OK...so this guy goes in and kills his mother...and then continues firing round after round killing all the young children in the classroom....he obviously planned this...he obviously planned to kill as many little children as he could...monstrous...and now the preliminary motive is he was distraught over the break-up of his father and mother's marriage....there's a dead body in the mother's apartment some surmise to be the boyfriend...almost incomprehensible that a young man could plan something like this and then act it out...

 

[BSR]

OK...so this guy goes in and kills his mother...and then continues firing round after round killing all the young children in the classroom....he obviously planned this...he obviously planned to kill as many little children as he could...monstrous...

I can't even wrap my mind around that part of your post. It doesn't make any sense and is almost unbelievable. If this were in a movie or a book I would laugh it off as I wouldn't think anyone could be so callous. It makes me sick even thinking about it. The rage, bewilderment and helplessness every parent is feeling right now can not be measured.

 

[PatsDeb]

No words. Just unspeakable horror. Those poor parents, kids and others left behind who had to witness one twisted person's unspeakable acts.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

27 dead...18 children...K through 4th grade.....I shouldn't be so enraged but I can't help it...two gunmen, one dead...the other should be tried and sentenced old school...drawn and quartered...slowly

I have two kids in that age group and I understand what you mean. "Justice" reverts to its most primitive definition, for me at least, when I hear something like this.

The town is a little far away to be a "suburb" of NYC, but it's close enough to think of it here as "local." My wife called me in tears from her office and said, "So much for moving to the suburbs." How ironic for us to feel more secure this afternoon in midtown Manhattan than do the residents of a leafy town in Connecticut.

 

[Steve102]

I'm so upset by this. I went home to a late lunch, just as my wife, 14 yr old and 18 yr old came home. Needless to say, Dad needed a hug.

What is this world coming to? I cannot fathom it.

 

[abdul7]

I came online before bed to read the latest about my beloved Patriots and when i read this i don't think i will sleep well at all. I never watch the news at night , because of tragedies like this . This is not just an American tragedy ,,but for all mankind. Words cannot describe how i feel as a father and a human being. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Angels. May Allah grant them strength in these difficult hours.

 

[PatsFanJess]

Absolutely sickening. Thoughts and prayers with those affected by this terrible tragedy.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Some things are worse than death. Standing over the grave of your child is one of them and is something no parent should ever have to do. Unfortunately for 20 families (and those of the adult victims), their nightmare is just beginning.

Thoughts and prayers for all tonight..............

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

So he had a dispute with his mother who worked at the school. Killed her...(GF missing and another friend..could be dead) drives to her school to kill her class..for what reason?....unreal


And then takes the easy way out and kills himself....wow


sick world...no wonder i hate most people....a lot of scum on this earth

 

[mayoclinic]

Some things are worse than death. Standing over the grave of your child is one of them and is something no parent should ever have to do. Unfortunately for 20 families (and those of the adult victims), their nightmare is just beginning.

Thoughts and prayers for all tonight..............

I'm fairly confident I could handle just about anything in life - painful thought it might be - except for the death of my children. I have no idea if I could handle that. God forbid, and god help those who have had to endure such a loss.

 

[NSpatsfan]

So very sad...so many lives needlessly gone. Hug your loved ones tonight people...

 

[BananaRepublican]

I spend time in the genocide in Rwanda and the civil war in Sierra Leone, so I've seen my share of atrocities.

Without question. Rwanda was just something off the charts even to somebody like me who only followed the story from afar. Witnessing this stuff changes the witnesses forever. A lot of people don't realize that you don't "just let it go".

 

[mayoclinic]

Without question. Rwanda was just something off the charts even to somebody like me who only followed the story from afar. Witnessing this stuff changes the witnesses forever. A lot of people don't realize that you don't "just let it go".

Yeah, but there's always a lot of humanity buried in something like that. And things always look different from far away. I was working in the Rwandan refugee camps in Zaire in the spring of 1995 and first heard about the Oklahoma City bombing from refugees who heard the reports over BBC radio. They said America sounded like a scary place.

 

[upstater1]

I'm checking in right now after a brief break of dressing our Xmas tree with jazz playing in the background, a fire (though it's 50 degrees right now in Buffalo), hot cocoa and my 3 and 6 year olds are loving the donuts before dinner! Exactly the therapy I need. I took off from work at noon today, and got home, then sat in front of the TV shaking as brothers and nieces from Ct. checked in with phone calls; I couldn't stop shaking. Yes, I have young kids, so of course it's going to hit me hard. But why the hell does the fact that this happened in Ct. mean so much to me (I was raised in Ct.)? This could happen anywhere in America. But I'm breaking up over Conn. right now, haven't lived there since I left for Boston in 1986.

I have to admit, I'm a New England elitist yankee snob. I want the rest of the country to look like New England. Instead, New England is looking like the rest of the country.

 

[DefenseRules]

I heard about this at work, but I couldn't follow the story. I just got home and I turned on the news. This is AWFUL, just Horrible. I can't even imagine what the parents are going through and will go through in the days to come. How could this guy turn a gun on innocent children? Just AWFUL.

 

[shmessy]

I'm checking in right now after a brief break of dressing our Xmas tree with jazz playing in the background, a fire (though it's 50 degrees right now in Buffalo), hot cocoa and my 3 and 6 year olds are loving the donuts before dinner! Exactly the therapy I need. I took off from work at noon today, and got home, then sat in front of the TV shaking as brothers and nieces from Ct. checked in with phone calls; I couldn't stop shaking. Yes, I have young kids, so of course it's going to hit me hard. But why the hell does the fact that this happened in Ct. mean so much to me (I was raised in Ct.)? This could happen anywhere in America. But I'm breaking up over Conn. right now, haven't lived there since I left for Boston in 1986.

I have to admit, I'm a New England elitist yankee snob. I want the rest of the country to look like New England. Instead, New England is looking like the rest of the country.

I think it is just human nature. Any loss of an innocent human life is horrific, yet while we all grieve and hurt for innocent victims everywhere, there is always an extra twinge when you know the victims or have a personal connection to the tragedy's location.

Also, parents seem to be hit harder by this than people who aren't parents.

 

[gmtaxi27]

I think it is just human nature.

Also, parents seem to be hit harder by this than people who aren't parents.

This is the truth. I keep asking, what if it were my kids? I can't fathom what I would do.

I have been through all kinds of physical pain, survived 9/11 (was 2 blocks away and trapped in my building), witnesses deaths in front of my eyes, lost tons of money in bad investments, but that would be nothing compared to losing any of my 3 children. I just don't know how I would handle that.

I will be thinking and praying for those families frequently.

 

[dales804]

I think it is just human nature. Any loss of an innocent human life is horrific, yet while we all grieve and hurt for innocent victims everywhere, there is always an extra twinge when you know the victims or have a personal connection to the tragedy's location.

Also, parents seem to be hit harder by this than people who aren't parents.

That is true. Before becoming a father I would have been upset about this but been able to be functional today. Since I heard about it I haven't been able to have a clear thought. I needed to leave work early and come home to my daughters. Can't wait for my wife to get home to hug her, too.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

have 3 kids, 5, 3 and 1 and I cannot imagine this. its just so completely unbelievable.

it scares me to think this can and does happen.

May god be with all of them.

 

[Bella*chick]

I have a kindergartener and a preschooler. This is too much to process. Too much to handle. How will these parents deal with this? My life would be over.