Motive is surfacing in VA Beach shooting

But he recently started showing serious behavioral problems and got into physical “scuffles” with other city workers, a source told The New York Times.

The source told the paper that the troubles had escalated in the week leading up to the mass shooting and _____ was involved in what it called “a violent altercation on city grounds.”

______ reportedly knew he was facing disciplinary action for the fight when he went into the municipal building with two .45-caliber handguns...

Shooter was violent with co-workers before Virginia Beach shooting

I am sure there are regrets that he was not suspended and his access card taken away right then. It is hard to judge if that was warranted with the limited info we have.

He had given a two week notice by email just before the shooting. More details will be revealed in the coming days it appears, regarding his conflicts at work.

Best thoughts and prayers to all involved in this sad situation.

It appears that this guy had some sort of an issue that necessitated him receiving counseling or psychiatric help. He should have never did what he did, Someone should have advised him that he was being obsessed instead of being "nice" to him and then just agreeing with him to keep the peace.

I try to tell my friends and relatives if they are going in the wrong direction, being civil but reasoning with them and try to steer them in the right direction. I hear it from my wife and others....leave them make their own mistakes and do not get involved. I will not stand by and tell my relatives and friends a bunch of bull, I try to talk them out of bad things, even if it is just advising them if they are getting scammed by someone or talked into something they regret. I am not going to sit idly by and let them mess up their life if they are on the wrong track. I do this so I won't feel guilty, seems like most women do not feel guilty letting their kids and friends flop on their faces. Sure, friends do get upset at first, but in a little while, they show doubt and other friends start to chirp in since they have doubts. So has my philosophy worked often, most times it has worked, and I never expect a thanks, They just learn to listen to me when I talk wisdom.

Never lost a friend that way, in fact it strengthened my friendships over the years. But you have to do it right.

Could someone have talked this guy out of this? I think someone who knew him well could have made a difference. But they did not want to hurt his feelings.

I am taking it he’s not a trump fan because that would be very news worthy.

Finally he was black, that will limit the news reporting on him. Don’t want to promote negative stereotypes.

It’s sad that’s how easy it is to tell how the news media is, if he listened or followed anything republican, his picture would have been in the news. The only think that can make a shooting disappear faster is if the person was an anti trump transgender....

a reply to: SocratesJohnson

Sadly so true.

The media (and government to a degree) is very much complicit in the mass shooting phenomena. First by simply reporting on it - which, admittedly, is hard to blame them for since a mass shooting is relevant news. However, the reason they report on it with such fervor and run the issue into the ground from the beginning is a standard tactic in a plea for gun control. Report something over and over ad nauseam in an attempt to wear the citizenry down, control the narrative and attempt to achieve your idealistic aims -- which is gun control. Eric Holder and the Obama administration even admitted to this tactic, which is not surprising to learn that there were a record number of mass shootings under the Obama administration.

By doing this, the media has exacerbated the phenomena ten fold. And the second reason it has become a pandemic is because of how they are reporting on it. They present the perpetrator as this monster and picture of pure evil. To anyone else out there struggling with issues of mental illness or just a basic sense of a lack of control in their lives they are going to see this and feel like this is a way to empower themselves. This is a simple phenomena that we have studied in primates for decades now. If a primate becomes confused about their spot in the pecking order it will often lash out in a violent act in an attempt to regain some semblance of control. The media is providing that opportunity. Stop.

Stop presenting the perpetrators as evil caricatures and using these events to further an idealistic agenda. If you want to curb mass shootings then dig into the reasons the perpetrator lost control and their spot in society and at least feign a sense of compassion and pity for them. They are still human beings after all even though they committed a heinous act.

Everyone needs to stop being consumed with the how (they used a gun!) or who (a right-wing white male!) and instead understand the why. That is how we curb the violence of mass shootings.

I know sometimes these types of people simply can't be helped no matter how hard you try to reach out to them, but that doesn't mean you stop trying.

As I've stated before on this site, I am in favor of most forms of reasonable gun control. That is my personal stance. However, if we simply banned all firearms overnight that doesn't make these broken people disappear. They are still out there. They will instead maybe knife a few people in the neck and it probably won't make the national news and you can go on your daily return like nothing is wrong. That is what the gun control reaction to mass shootings is actually saying. It is classic compartmentalization. They don't actually want to solve to the root cause of the problem and actually help the individuals suffering that end up committing these acts, they just want to make it small enough that they don't have to be confronted with it or think about. It is an incredibly selfish, narcissistic and deplorable position to have.

Additionally, if you are wondering why mass killings are happening frequently now when they didn't before is because of the surveillance state. All of these CCTVs everywhere do not prevent crime -- they modify it. Or the video is used as a tool by law enforcement to solve the crime after the fact. The crime, however, still happens regardless.

The mass killer is a product of our modern society and an evolution of the serial killer. Serial killing, thank goodness, is harder and harder to get away with because of all of the forensic tools and surveillance at the disposal of law enforcement. So as a result, the same type of individual who would commit serial murder now gets all of that urge out in fell swoop and becomes the mass killer.

If you look at the data, violent homicide and serial murder is way down while mass killings have skyrocketed.

This being said, I suppose it is debatable as to which era was worse to live in. The gun violence and serial killing of the 70s and 80s or the mass killer era of today. The numbers seem to suggest that today is preferable despite my hesitancy to give any sort of praise to the surveillance state. And plus, to make the progressives feel good about it, the mass killer is a lot more equal in the victims they kill whereas the serial killer tended to primarily target females. So maybe that might blow your skirt up.

a reply to: sooth
It is most certainly better today than the crack days where a junkie would stab or shoot a pregnant mother or grandparent for a pocket full of change. Then do it again in twelve hours. No cameras to actually witness it either.

a reply to: SocratesJohnson

This is the only thing cnn is reporting about.

So the shooter was being treated for mental health issues huh?
Big fracking surprise.
Could someone tell me which mass shooters over the last tenty or thirty years WEREN'T on a pharmaceutical antidepressant or other pharmacological "mood enhancer"?

a reply to: Zeropinion

Ummmmm no