Gunman kills 32 on campus of Virginia Tech

[Kosmo Yagkoto]

I heard that he was from China last night on the news. Guess they just made that up.

Pretty good guess since 1/3 to 1/4 of the world is Chinese.

[Paladin_Hammer]

I've been watching the news trying to figure out just what caused him to go on a killing-spree. So far the general consensus is that he was mentally ill, years of strange things, such as writing a play in which a step-father and stepson kill each other by throwing hammers and cutting each other up with chainsaws. He was just deranged. Badly, badly deranged. I can't believe no one picked up on it earlier, or at least said something.

[Dr Mario]

I've been watching the news trying to figure out just what caused him to go on a killing-spree. So far the general consensus is that he was mentally ill, years of strange things, such as writing a play in which a step-father and stepson kill each other by throwing hammers and cutting each other up with chainsaws. He was just deranged. Badly, badly deranged. I can't believe no one picked up on it earlier, or at least said something.

Going by what the media says (I know, grain of salt and all that), his roommates and the uni had picked up on him being more than a bit weird. He was apparently referred to the campus therapist because of his creative writing exercises.

Of course, most people who write about twisted things never actually go out and kill other humans, so identifying them isn't all that useful anyway.

[Evans]

Most people also don't write stuff like that. I think it shouldn't be dismissed so hastily. IMO, it takes a 'deranged' person to write stuff like that, and only deranged people tend to go on shooting sprees.

[Dr Mario]

Most people also don't write stuff like that. I think it shouldn't be dismissed so hastily. IMO, it takes a 'deranged' person to write stuff like that, and only deranged people tend to go on shooting sprees.

I think using deranged probably isn't the best word choice here. It's a loaded term when discussing behaviour.

That said, it doesn't take a particularly dangerous mind to concoct horrific stories. It takes a mind somewhat outside the norm, but I don't see anything about it that requires the person be mentally unstable or a danger to others. Especially given it's comparative prevalence in western culture.

[Evans]

I guess that's your opinion on the matter, but I personally think people who write stories of the sort aren't simply "outside the norm".

... I don't see anything about it that requires the person be mentally unstable...

I tend to think that if you write stories about people being mutilated and killed, you're far from stable. Am I saying all horror story writers are a danger to society? Nope, just that in this case (and likely many others, too lazy to google it up), he was. I see this as the kid who starts killing animals and ends up a murderer. Not all kids who do that end up monsters.

[Dr Mario]

I guess that's your opinion on the matter, but I personally think people who write stories of the sort aren't simply "outside the norm".

I tend to think that if you write stories about people being mutilated and killed, you're far from stable. Am I saying all horror story writers are a danger to society? Nope, just that in this case (and likely many others, too lazy to google it up), he was. I see this as the kid who starts killing animals and ends up a murderer. Not all kids who do that end up monsters.

And herein lies a problem. Even if we could demonstrate a serious correlation between people who write/enjoy morbid tales and people who commit violent crime (I haven't seen one, but my experience is far from universal. There may be one), there's simply too many in the first category for tracking to be of any use in heading off these incidents. If we're going to try and prevent this shit from happening, there's no point squandering resources on something so widespread. Pick things with known correlations to violence that are rare enough to get a workable hit rate, or track by multiple factors. Just do it in a way that actually works rather than giving false positives on ~10% of the population.

I'm with you as far as animal cruelty being something to watch for though. It's a far smaller segment of the population, and one with significant correlation regarding violent anti-social tendencies (or whatever the official name for sociopathy is nowadays).

[Evans]

And herein lies the problem. Even if we could demonstrate a serious correlation between people who write/enjoy morbid tales and people who commit violent crime (I haven't seen one, but my experience is far from universal. There may be one), there's simply too many in the first category for tracking to be of any use in heading off these incidents. If we're going to try and prevent this shit from happening, there's no point squandering resources on something so widespread. Pick things with known correlations to violence that are rare enough to get a workable hit rate, or track by multiple factors. Just do it in a way that actually works rather than giving false positives on ~10% of the population.

Oh, I don't think it's worth it to waste money looking around for kids who mutilate animals, either. Or anything like that. We don't need money, just some basic level of awareness. Teachers/parents/friends/anyone who knew about his writings didn't do much other than go "Hey, that's not normal. Let's get him some cheap ass school counseling." It's not like it's the first time this has happened. Many kids have written up a kill list and were found in possession of guns. He just got passed the filters. I prefer thinking this kind of story only happens when people decide not to act. This could have been prevented, guys.

[Tassadar]

That guy[gunman] is incredibly similar to most members of 4chan.

^That wasn't a joke.

[skakidd]

its sick that the shootings happened, and its weird that it has because my girlfriend and i have both thought about what we would do if something like this happened at our school. in high school there was one kid who was expelled because he was planning on shooting the school he had drawings and ugh he was a sick fuck (his uncle lives on my street im scared). and now at university well i dont think anyone would but who knows. my girlfriends school doesnt have openable windows so she wouldnt be able to escape. anyone else think about what they would do if it happened at your school?

Also, Dr. Phil blames videogames http://gamepolitics.com/2007/04/17/d...tech-massacre/

i like this response

The first school shooting in American history was 1966. Predates videogames.
Apparently, the gunman was a Chinese national. As someone studying in China right now, the most overwhelmingly popular games are RTS/MMOs/crazy Chinese games… nary a FPS in sight. And they’re not exactly known for playing console games.
If he’d been running around campus with a sword yelling “FOR THE HORDE!” every time he cut someone down? You might have a case. Here? Not so much.

and

Of course, rather than trying to address the problems of why they’re a sociopath or trying to help others with similar mental illnesses, it’s wasier to just pin the blame on the entertainment.
How can someone say that, and not realise the major logical short-circuit there? The problem wasn’t that he was a gamer, it’s that he was a f**king psychopath. Taking his games away wouldn’t have made him any less of a psychopath

sums up everything i think quite nicely.

[Jetsetlemming]

Except he was south korean and has been in the US since he was 8.

[Dinosaurman]

The pictures they put online from his "media package",
Makes him look like a douche who played too much Counter stike.

[b1gwi11]

Photos and videos sent to NBC by Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui give a glimpse of his psyche.

link

[Kazuya Mishima]

That dude is so emotionally mixed up and depressed that is why he did it. That is what I see from the video.

[b1gwi11]

That dude is so emotionally mixed up and depressed that is why he did it. That is what I see from the video.

yea... sad part is... i heard that he had been in a psychiatric center before this incident...... obviously it didnt help

im also curious as to who the "they" is that he keeps referring to in the video

is it america in general?

or is it a specific group of people?

so many questions...