I've always been fascinated by stories of people going on a rampage and killing masses of people in a defiant shootout. Perhaps fascinated is a strong word, more like morbidly intrigued. What makes a person like that tick? When does the fantasy of hurting people that have hurt you, become a reality? I'm sure many of us have suffered some kind of ridicule in our lives, we all dwell on our imperfections and human beings can be cruel, that's a lesson we're taught from a very young age.
I remember the first time I heard about the Columbine killings. Two young, mislead boys ridiculed, degraded for years and finally teaming up to create a chaos that will never be forgotten. Many innocent people, who had no part in the torment of these teenagers, died. That makes me wonder if they believed they had to kill as many people, regardless of their part in the ridicule, to prove their point? The frightening fact is that this seems to be a growing trend. When the world turns its back on you, get a gun and kill everyone in your path.
The latest story I've come across is about George Sodini, who had been rejected by women practically his whole life, he decided that the best way to deal with that pain would be to walk into the gym he frequented and open fire on all the women who had in some way rejected his advances. He, like many others, killed himself afterwards. He killed three women and injured nine.
The disturbing aspect of many of these stories is that all the warning signs were there and no one bothered to take them seriously. I've always believed that if someone threatened suicide, it was something to be taken seriously, a cry for help. These shooters, from all parts of the world, had blogs, websites, spoke to friends and family, how could no one have noticed a ticking time bomb? When someone posts the date of their death, like George Sodini, on their blog surely it would be your moral obligation to find out what's going on and help this person?
People are scared, scared of getting involved and immersing themselves in something they think could be potentially dangerous. My question is, how many lives could have be saved if someone had taken the initiative to find out why this person was in so much pain and how to get this person help? I urge everyone out there to be more vigilant because the next victim could be someone near and dear to you.
