Very sad story here.
How long before someone blames Heavy Metal/Video Games/Films for this instead of The Parents/The Kid Who Did It/The Fact He Could Buy A Gun In The First Place?
I would definitely blame Scotland. 
djm
He was 18 and while I don’t know the gun laws here that well, I imagine he could have picked it up relatively easily. This is a ‘hunting state’ after all. As of this morning, they know the shooters identity, but haven’t released it yet pending notification of his parents/family. The strangest part of all this is I drove right past Trolley last night about an hour before this happened. Very surreal.
Looking at recent history, a more scientific explanation would be that shootings are caused by trench coats. But, only very slightly more.
As we continue this discussion, let us remember that there is no Rubber Room any more… 
We don’t need guns to kill people, we have foreheads.
Hi Brian, I was thinking of you last night as I saw this come across the television news - glad you weren’t there! I was trying to remember Trolley Square as I was watching… pretty confined quarters in that mall, if I remember it correctly. What I found strange is that the first ‘Breaking News’ I saw was some 5 hours after it happened. And of course, even after describing the perp as having “a backpack filled with ammunition”, the TV newsreader informs us that “the police aren’t saying if this was premeditated.” 
Glad you’re safe, my friend.
Whoops, too late! That silly canard was being tossed about by the TEE-VEE newsreaders on CNN last night.
I suppose it never occurred to the experts that a long coat - yes, even the evil long coat of the trench species is efficient when attempting to hide a long-barrel weapon. Not to worry though, there’ll still be plenty of deep, bile-provoking coverage of Anna Nicole. 
Fortunately, the right to bear arms allows us all to carry sufficient weaponry that we can prevent these things from happening in the first place. And if we’re really on our game, we can do that on a global scale, and finally have peace in the world.
Music, movies, video games, bah! Weapons kill people…that’s my rant. 
Susan, you weren’t anywhere near this when it happened were you?
Thankfully, I was clear across the valley in a mom n’ pop chinese restaurant…I didn’t even know about it until I came in to work this morning.
Safe and sound at home, Tyler. Trolley Square is a few blocks from where I work and just 3 blocks from my daughter’s home - they had police helicopters flying over much of the night. This was such a senseless tragedy. We’ve been discussing this morning about young people and the myopic view that keeps so many of them from seeing further than today. I have no idea who this young man was or what led him to this action, but I feel for his family, for the families of those killed, for the children who saw this happen, some of whom were separated from their families in the chaos and in absolute terror. This has changed so many lives forever. Just tragic.
Susan
good to hear you and yours are safe!
Like I said before, I wasn’t even close at the time, and yet it feels surreal.
To boot, the company I work for supplies security services for that mall…
Everything I’ve been reading on the matter said the young man in question was there and acting strangely for a good deal of time before everything went down; I’m wondering why their security detail didn’t pick up on him.
I always love the term “suspect” when talking about the shooter. I think it’s pretty obvious he SHOT people. Yet he’s only a “suspect” instead of the perpetraitor.
And yeah, the mall has a pretty small layout as far as hallways go, and it’s not long and spread out. There wouldn’t be many places to run in that space depending on where you were. It’s a really cool building as well - sad that so much tragedy now mars it’s history.
the term suspect comes from the legal provision of everyone getting a fair trial and being presumed innocent until proven guilty during said trial.
Yeah, I understand the origins of the term. But this guy SHOT people. there is no guesswork there or assumptions or suspicions. He was gunning people down all over the mall before he himself was killed by police. No “suspecting” of what he did. He killed people - period. I just think it’s a funny quirk of the legal system to continue to call him a “suspect” any more.
In an interesting aside, the parking lot was also locked down, and there were hundreds of people who won’t be able to get to their cars for a day or two now either. They found the shooters car and didn’t find much there it seems…so hopefully they’ll be able to release the other cars soon. Another added stress to an already frightfully traumatic experience for so many.
It’s because it’s not in the hands of the police, media or bystanders to solicit judgement.
I suppose understanding the term and respecting the term are two different thigns.
Due to all the negative publicity after Columbine, the a cappella singing group “The Trenchcoats” had to change their name to “The Coats”.
Solicit judgement? Interesting viewpoint. Didn’t think there was any judgement to be solicited when someone shoots others. The fact is he shot and killed people. There is no guesswork or sleuthing there. The only question that police are trying to answer is why. Not if.
I just had a very interesting talk with a friend who is a counselor and does volunteer work with the Red Cross. She was at Trolley Square last night for hours, talking with people who had been in the mall. A little bit of info about this woman: she has a service dog, an adorable little sheltie named Dusty, who warns her of oncoming seizures. Dusty also works as a service dog with people receiving chemotherapy, allowing them to cuddle him as they get their treatments. A most remarkable woman and a most remarkable little dog.
Kay told me that many people were much more traumatized by their treatment by the police than by the actual shootings. One man was with a group who barricaded themselves in a room, piling things against the door. At one point they could hear people talking outside the room, but couldn’t hear what was being said. Although it was the police, they did not announce themselves and the people really believed it was the gunman. The door was smashed in by police who came in with pointed guns and ordered the people to raise their hands and come out. Others, too, told Kay their treatment by police (who obviously were just doing their job) was really frightening to them.
Kay was able to talk to many people; some just wanted to hold Dusty or they would talk to this sweet little dog about what had happened and not to Kay. Interestingly, she said Dusty was exhausted by the time they got home. This kind of stuff really drains him.
Susan