Shooting at the Batman premiere

[lefty12357]

It's hard to understand why anyone would do such a horrible thing, but the reality is there is always a small percentage of humans living among us that are simply wired wrong and are capable of such things. Unfortunately it will happen again. Think of the Norway massacre last year.

When reading about this most recent shooting, I ran into this, which relates to the mall shooting in Toronto:

"Jessica Ghawi had escaped a mall shooting in Toronto weeks ago when an "odd feeling" led her outside, and then blogged about how fortunate she was. But in an ironic and tragic twist of fate, Ghawi died in Friday's Colorado theater shooting spree, one of 12 fatalities in the mass killing."

My thoughts and feelings go out to all those affected by this horrible situation.

[Future Raptor Ace]

Originally Posted by Azhiri

Here's something disturbing that was found:



http://12160.info/forum/topics/is-th...ltfriendfinder

Quoted from that site:

1) The page indicates this user is a 24-year-old male and is roughly 6’0″ in height. That is his age and approximate height.

2) The username “ClassicJimbo” includes Jim, which is a common short-hand for James.

3) The user lives in Aurora, Colorado.

4) The user is a “Gold” member, which seems to mean he could not have signed up just today (if this were a Reddit hoax).

5) The user’s personal bio quote is: “Will you visit me in prison?” This fits neatly with the fact that he gave up to police without incident, seemingly all part of a plan (almost too much so).

6) The most important corroboration of all: the page includes a profile shot of the user with dyed red hair, as Holmes was reported to have upon apprehension after the shootings. Check out the profile picture below, with side-by-side comparison to the official photo released to the press earlier today:



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I dont think its him, the faces look different to me though there is no telling how old the picture on the left is. The first thing that stands out to me as different is the lips, the picture on the right has really big lips contrary to the picture on the left. The gap in the lips under the nose (idk what you call it) is different shapes and sizes in both pictures ... though they are at different angles so it is a little hard to tell for sure. The ears look different, the one on the left has a crease half way up where as the right is more straight. Unless he shaved is eyebrows, they are totally different! The one on the right seems to have a longer but narrower nose as well as a bigger forehead that bulges out more. The one on the right has an oval shaped head vs the round head on the left. The side burns on the right are more bushy and fine vs the thick and curly sideburns of the left. The eyes do look the same to me in both pictures but that is the only similarity that I see. So I don't think the two are the same though they do look similar but I think that is only the illusion of same hair style just different color as well as the different angles of the two pictures forcing the mind to assume too much!

[HelixSix]

I live within a couple miles of all the locations being talked about and driven or rode my bike past each of them countless times. It's a shame it takes something like this to get peoples attention because small shootings happen in the area almost every day, although under different circumstances.

I know some people who have most likely interacted with him at the University Hospital also. It feels pretty bad when you turn on the national news or BBC and see the places you know by heart being shown in a negative light.

[Future Raptor Ace]

Originally Posted by HelixSix

I live within a couple miles of all the locations being talked about and driven or rode my bike past each of them countless times. It's a shame it takes something like this to get peoples attention because small shootings happen in the area almost every day, although under different circumstances.

I know some people who have most likely interacted with him at the University Hospital also. It feels pretty bad when you turn on the national news or BBC and see the places you know by heart being shown in a negative light.

As a New Yorker I know the feeling and share your pain. I wish the best of luck to you Helix; stay safe!

[user472884]

Originally Posted by HelixSix

I live within a couple miles of all the locations being talked about and driven or rode my bike past each of them countless times. It's a shame it takes something like this to get peoples attention because small shootings happen in the area almost every day, although under different circumstances.

I know some people who have most likely interacted with him at the University Hospital also. It feels pretty bad when you turn on the national news or BBC and see the places you know by heart being shown in a negative light.

I forgot you live here too.

I drive by the Medical Campus all the time. It's weird now thinking that he was in there festering, or maybe if something happened in there which caused this.

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I was talking to someone at work today about the gun aspect of it, and I was telling him that I think (oh, how should I put it?) that guns should be a greater part in our cultural knowledge... in that guns aren't just mindless killing machines that cause bad things to happen wherever guns are present. There will always be bad people seeking to do harm, but as much as this guy's guns can kill innocent people, your gun is just as powerful at stopping him and defending everyone else.

I've always been sure that I would be one of those people toting a firearm somewhere on my person, and this event as made me more confident in that decision. I know myself well enough to know that I feel a greater duty to do whatever I can to prevent "wrong" from occurring and that I would not hesitate pulling the trigger if the situation was dire enough to call for it... whether it be stopping this guy from reaching a casualty count greater than one or less, defending my family from an unavoidable and impending danger, etc.

^maybe sharing my opinion on a fairly controversial topic isn't the greatest idea, but medically I should be unconscious right now and I have no idea how I'm still awake and moving.

[Azhiri]

I saw some quote from some guy somewhere who was using the incident as an example of why more people should be able to carry guns because someone could have stopped Holmes when he opened fire. Honestly, I think that's a terrible sentiment for two reasons -

1. The guy was covered in protective armor. He wouldn't have gone down too easily - and if someone managed to kill him, he wouldn't have been able to tip the police off after he was taken into custody that his apartment was rigged with explosives.

2. In the confusion with people running around, this guy armed, stalking up and down the aisles in the dark theater, anyone else with a gun on them could have easily gotten confused and ended up harming even more innocent people, and caused even more panic.

[Merci Alizée]

Originally Posted by Azhiri

I saw some quote from some guy somewhere who was using the incident as an example of why more people should be able to carry guns because someone could have stopped Holmes when he opened fire. Honestly, I think that's a terrible sentiment for two reasons -

1. The guy was covered in protective armor. He wouldn't have gone down too easily - and if someone managed to kill him, he wouldn't have been able to tip the police off after he was taken into custody that his apartment was rigged with explosives.

2. In the confusion with people running around, this guy armed, stalking up and down the aisles in the dark theater, anyone else with a gun on them could have easily gotten confused and ended up harming even more innocent people, and caused even more panic.

Yeah, if more people had guns then number could have easily been over 50. Instead of more people having guns if access to guns was more restricted then probably shooting might not happened. I doubt that such people would try to get illegal weapons.

In England, Wales and Scotland, the private ownership of most handguns was banned in 1997 following a gun massacre at a school in Dunblane and an earlier gun massacre in Hungerford in which the combined deaths was 35 and injured 30. Gun ownership and gun crime was already at a low level, which made these slaughters particularly concerning. Only an estimated 57,000 people —0.1% of the population owned such weapons prior to the ban.[69] In the UK, only 8 per cent of all criminal homicides are committed with a firearm of any kind.[70] In 2005/6 the number of such deaths in England and Wales (population 53.3 million) was just 50, a reduction of 36 per cent on the year before and lower than at any time since 1998/9.

There is no question, of course, that guns figure in countless murders, suicides and accidental deaths. Over the five years ending in 1997, the Justice Department says, there was an average of 36,000 firearms-related deaths a year. (Fifty-one percent were suicides, and 44 percent homicides.)

However,

Among the 15 states with the highest homicide rates, 10 have restrictive or very restrictive gun laws.

This suggests that there are many factors which have to be considered before taking any long term decision to prevent such cases.

[user472884]

http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-shootin...opstories.html

Holy hell. I remember the family posting on the Facebook page asking if anybody knew his whereabouts and seeing it say "32 minutes ago"

[HelixSix]

Originally Posted by Future Raptor Ace

As a New Yorker I know the feeling and share your pain. I wish the best of luck to you Helix; stay safe!

Well it's more embarrassing than painful. There is no comparison to NY but that was an attack from an outside source and this was a guy turning against his own people and disgracing the state...a state that didn't need another famous rampage.

If he was some thug with a criminal record a page long it would be one thing but he was an academic in a very advanced area of study. Apparently he went to the Zephyr Lounge nightclub which is kitty-corner from the medical campus and hospital. That is one shady place so if I had to bet I'd say he got at least partially influenced by people there.

[Rictor]

Originally Posted by Azhiri

I saw some quote from some guy somewhere who was using the incident as an example of why more people should be able to carry guns because someone could have stopped Holmes when he opened fire. Honestly, I think that's a terrible sentiment for two reasons -

1. The guy was covered in protective armor. He wouldn't have gone down too easily - and if someone managed to kill him, he wouldn't have been able to tip the police off after he was taken into custody that his apartment was rigged with explosives.

2. In the confusion with people running around, this guy armed, stalking up and down the aisles in the dark theater, anyone else with a gun on them could have easily gotten confused and ended up harming even more innocent people, and caused even more panic.

You don't fully understand how body armor works. Even if you're wearing armor, you won't just go "hahaha" and stand perfectly still (unaffected) as you're being shot. The impact of the round will still knock you down and allow the opportunity for others to disarm you. The point of body armor is that you're more likely to survive a shot due to the lack of penetration (depending on the round and type of armor worn).

And actually, I agree with the quote you're alluding to. I did a research paper on gun control back in 2009 for school and I was against gun control after seeing how uneffective it is statistically when it comes to preventing crime as well as these kinds of catastrophic situations. The majority of people who USE guns to commit crimes obtain them illegally. Gun control typically only hurts those who use them legally. Besides, if an armed burglar enters your home, wouldn't you like to at least have the OPTION of being able to shoot back?

Instead of restricting the sale of firearms in general, I think they should work to restrict the TYPE of firearms available for purchase, as well as the time it takes to purchase additional guns in succession. According to the news, he purchased all of them within the span of a few weeks. Look at how easily this guy was able to purchase an ASSAULT RIFLE. These kinds of weapons should not be sold to regular civilians. And WTF - 100 round magazines?? Ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Euphoria

Well, to me that sort of thing seems planned, which points to more deep seated psychological problems than just going crazy.

Definitely more deeply seated psych issues. In fact, I'm tired of people automatically labeling these kinds of people as "crazy." I understand that it helps to distance yourself from the kind of horror that such people are capable of and say "that ain't me." But truthfully, the scary part may in fact be that they are NOT crazy. They're as sane as you or me, but they crossed the line at some point and went the extreme route. You never know what you're capable of, and saying that they're "crazy" is not addressing the real issue. The psychological effects of pressure and stress in modern society has and continues to cause increasingly "crazy" behavior. I won't go into my technology rant because I don't want Unabomber comparisons again, but seriously, times like these make me want to go back to the hunterer/gatherer era.


AHHHH Have more to say but I gotta go