In my work
on school shootings I am sometimes asked if I see any patterns in the killers.
The answer is “yes.” A large number of the killers have troubles with women.
Here are a four examples:
1.
Cho
Seung-Hui, who killed 32 and wounded another 17 at Virginia Tech on April 16,
2007, stalked female students. A complaint from one female student resulted in
his being first warned and later then taken into custody.
2.
Peter
Odighizuwa, who killed three and wounded three others at the Appalachian School
of Law on January 16, 2002, was a wife beater and ranted and raved against
females in classes.
3.
Elliott
Roger, killed six and wounded 14 in Santa Barbara, California on May 23, 2014.
Before beginning his rampage he uploaded a video to YouTube detailing his
frustrations at not having a girlfriend and his hatred of women.
4.
Omar
Mateen, who killed 49 and wounded 53 others in an Orlando nightclub on June 16,
2016, abused his first wife. A friend said he hated women because you have to
be nice to them to get sex.
Most
recently, on April 10, 2017, Cedric
Anderson (age 53) went to the school in San Bernardino, California where is
estranged wife was teaching. Anderson killed his wife, himself, and an
eight-year-old boy. A nine-year-old boy was seriously wounded. Anderson was a
pastor with a history of domestic violence and gun arrests going back over a
decade.
I have not
studied the history of the mass killers in this country, but the ones I have
looked at have two characteristics that emerge. First, the above abuse of women
and second, a documented history of types of mental illness that produce
violent behavior.
It should
not be that hard for the “Greatest Country on Earth” to keep guns out of the
hands of people with a documented history of spouse abuse or who have been
deemed mentally ill and a threat to themselves and others.
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