Note: this entry is my way of putting into words the pain I feel regarding the recent deaths and acts of violence. I do not claim to have any answers, I just needed to say some things and I hope in saying them I will reach that one person who can change the outcome of some event for the better. ~M
On May 18, 2014 21 year old college student Brogan Dulle went missing in the university neighborhood of Clifton in Cincinnati, Ohio. A city wide search begins for the well liked young man.
On May 23, 2014 22 year old Elliot Rodger stabbed and shot 22 people near the University of Santa Barbara. 7 people died, including Rodger by self-inflicted wounds.
On May 26, 2014 the remains of Brogan Dulle were discovered in the building next to his apartment building. His death is ruled a suicide.
On May 30, 2014 two 12 year old girls attempted to stab a girl they called friend to death after a slumber party. The victim survived by sheer luck and is in critical but stable condition at the time of this writing.
In a matter of 12 days our world has been rocked by the decisions of 4 people, who acted with their own agency to do harm to living breathing people, including themselves. For reasons both known and unknown, they followed their hearts and minds to a dark place and perpetrated violence of the most hateful kind.
Let's start with Elliot Rodger, his story is the best documented and extends back in time years. His family recognized he was a troubled young man over a decade ago. He struggled with his parents' divorce when he was 8 years old. Who wouldn't struggle with that? Children often internalize and blame themselves for the difficulties their family faces, despite that frequently not being the case. He received counselling with a therapist and was prescribed medications, which he eventually stopped taking. Elliot was bullied throughout school, including being taped to his desk when he fell asleep. He felt alone and isolated, those around him indicated he pushed them away. Rodger left behind numerous disturbing videos and 107,000 page manifesto, which he sent to his parents, therapist, friends and former teachers. Things started to come to a head in 2012 with more concern being expressed by his family and Rodgers began purchasing firearms, which at the time there were no legal reasons he would have been denied access.
April 30, 2014 the police were contacted in regards to the videos and emails by Elliot's parents. The police determined that Rodger did not meet the criteria for an involuntary hold.
On April 30, 2014 the police determined that despite overwhelming evidence of a troubled mind and clear plan to kill people that Elliot Rodger did not meet the criteria for an involuntary hold. Evidence that they did not review because it was not in the protocols that they follow for such events.
Brogen Dulle was a well-liked young man from an affluent neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up in the neighborhood I grew up in, went to the schools I went to and lived close to where I live now. He was a swim coach at a local swim club, he was a student at the University of Cincinnati. The night of his death he was out with friends having pizza. He left his friends to go look for his cell phone and was never seen again. There was no indications that he was upset, troubled, mentally ill, or anything else that would illuminate why someone who seemed to have everything going in his favor would be found, hanging in the basement of a building. It is hard to accept that this young man took his own life, but there is little evidence to indicate otherwise. There was no suicide note, but at some point he had the foresight to procure a crowbar and a length of rope as well as a bottle of wine.
This is an unfolding situation as I write this, 12 year olds Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser premeditated the attack and attempted homicide of their classmate, her name has been withheld, in order to prove the existence of a made up internet boogey man known as Slender Man. The victim was stabbed 19 times and left in a wooded area, she was able to crawl to a place where a passing bicyclist was able to find her and get her the subsequent assistance that will hopefully save her life. She is still in critical condition and fighting for her life. There is a level of premeditation in this attack that is astonishing to me. As someone who has planned things around a gaming table many times, these girls really had their ducks in a row. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is by sheer luck and perhaps a miracle that no major blood vessels or organs were damaged and the third girl remains alive at this time. Very little information has surfaced yet on the mental stability of these two girls, but they both express a conflict in themselves – "At one point, when talking with police, Geyser said she was sorry. She said she had put the knife back into her bag and wiped it off on her jacket. She then told a detective, 'It was weird that I didn't feel remorse.'"(1) And "When police asked Weier if she knew what it meant to kill someone, Weier said, 'I believe it's ending a life and I regret it.' Weier also said, 'The bad part of me wanted her to die, the good part of me wanted her to live.'"(1). Weier and Geyser tried to take the life of another girl who called them "friends", who trusted them and probably cared for them. They betrayed her so they could join a fictitious cult they found on an entertainment site on the internet.
Where were the grown-ups in these girls' lives? Perhaps they were aware, perhaps not, I'm sure the story will continue to be told in the coming days. While it remains unclear how and when Weier and Geyser made their plans, it is clear that they had time and foresight to do so. Surely someone somewhere heard something and missed the meaning behind it.
On the surface these three cases seem to have very little in common, but when we look at the individuals involved we see four young people, ages 12 to 22. All of whom attempted or did take the life of someone. In the wake of the Isla Vista killings, University of California's President Janet Napolitano said "This is almost the kind of event that's impossible to prevent and almost impossible to predict." I say that Janet Napolitano is categorically incorrect in her statement. As the former Secretary of Homeland Security I would have hoped by now that she would know what the signs of impending violence are when presented with them.
When we see videos, forum dialogue and hear conversations that raise red flags in our minds as the audience, it is imperative that we take action. That we, as the audience speak up and continue to speak until our voices are heard. The lawmakers of California are outraged that the deputies involved in the Elliot Rodger investigation did not check the gun owners' registration that Rodger's name appeared on, had this been part of their protocol, they would have known, but it wasn't and so they didn't know and they choose to leave him at large. We do not need more laws to regulate weapons, we need our law enforcement personnel to have the support they need to use the tools that are already at their disposal. We need friends and family to not give up, to keep speaking out and to keep reaching out to those among us who are troubled. We most especially need to be paying attention to our loved ones, talking with them, listening to them and watching for warning signs.
Today 8 people are dead and 14 people are seriously injured because we as a society missed the signs or failed to act accordingly to prevent the preventable. Each of these individuals have friends and families who are struggling to figure out what they could have done differently and come to terms with something that is not understandable. Not every tragedy is avoidable and I do not have all the answers, I wish I did, but I do know that if I didn't share these thoughts with you, I would be remiss in my responsibility as a member of the human race to reach out and try to help the other members of the human race have lives that were happy, healthy and safe.
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel; June 2, 2014. http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/waukesha-police-2-12-year-old-girls-plotted-for-months-to-kill-friend-b99282655z1-261534171.html
