As I start this post, one is dead, 6 critically injured, two of whom are on life support and 13 others are seriously injured after the killing spree at Dawson College in downtown Montreal. The media is full of stories and antecdotal information about the incident which occured yesterday afternoon........commentary, observations, debates on gun control have begun in earnest. This is the third such shooting in our beautiful city of Montreal since 1992 when a professor, Valeri Fabrikant, at Concordia University went on a shooting spree because he didn't get tenure. 17 years ago this December, Marc Lepine rampaged through Ecole Polytechnique purposefully targetting female students..................killing 14...........
Today we learn of the third sick man named Kimveer Gill. He was a 25 year old loner goth blogger who posted many photos on the net of himself holding a semi-automatic gun; who wrote about depression, death and destruction. Dressed in black, complete with trench coat and combat boots, Gill began his spree near the entrance doors of the college and continued to shoot randomly as he entered the building, spraying bullets up and down the hallways, in the cafeteria and up a set of stairs. No voice..............no crazy yelling...... no accusations shouted aloud................he was in the zone..............killing.........innocents.
A tragic incident like this automatically steers us to others in the past.........places where families, friends and victims are still searching for answers..........Columbine, Taber to name just two. There aren't any. The "experts" will have a heyday attempting..........more books will be written on bullying..............more protests will occur over gun control (good!) ................ theories will abound. Though this sounds so defeatist, I don't believe there is an answer and if there is, well it's more complicated than looking at one issue as the cause.
Senseless and Sad..........................another senseless and sad incident..........with no explanations. Whether Kimveer Gill was inherently mentally ill or psychologically damaged from emotionally abusive events in his life...........I don't think this event could have been prevented. Our society seems to generate so many lost souls.
Unfortunately, we can't prevent evil from invading our world. This was a sick sick man who is now dead. His real story and psychological profile are gone with him.
Now we focus on the survivors and the wounded individuals fighting to live.
Today we learn of the third sick man named Kimveer Gill. He was a 25 year old loner goth blogger who posted many photos on the net of himself holding a semi-automatic gun; who wrote about depression, death and destruction. Dressed in black, complete with trench coat and combat boots, Gill began his spree near the entrance doors of the college and continued to shoot randomly as he entered the building, spraying bullets up and down the hallways, in the cafeteria and up a set of stairs. No voice..............no crazy yelling...... no accusations shouted aloud................he was in the zone..............killing.........innocents.
A tragic incident like this automatically steers us to others in the past.........places where families, friends and victims are still searching for answers..........Columbine, Taber to name just two. There aren't any. The "experts" will have a heyday attempting..........more books will be written on bullying..............more protests will occur over gun control (good!) ................ theories will abound. Though this sounds so defeatist, I don't believe there is an answer and if there is, well it's more complicated than looking at one issue as the cause.
Senseless and Sad..........................another senseless and sad incident..........with no explanations. Whether Kimveer Gill was inherently mentally ill or psychologically damaged from emotionally abusive events in his life...........I don't think this event could have been prevented. Our society seems to generate so many lost souls.
Unfortunately, we can't prevent evil from invading our world. This was a sick sick man who is now dead. His real story and psychological profile are gone with him.
Now we focus on the survivors and the wounded individuals fighting to live.
5 comments:
Excellent post on a topic that is very hard to write about. I believe you're right about what you said in the last 2 paragraphs...
SUch an awful thing. I am with you on focusing on the victims now.
Scott
We hear more and more about these types of school shootings. Bullying seems to be a major underlying factor in each of them whether it be bullying from classmates, management or the general system, it always makes the shooter feel powerless. This is their method of feeling empowered. I believe the only way to begin is to change society into a more accepting place for individuals to grow up in. Video games and computers in many cases have encouraged us to revert back to the cave but a cave of solitude. People no longer have to interact with other people on a regular basis. Humans need other humans to thrive and the more our children are isolated from each other the more society isolates itself as well. Too many people are left alone to their own devises. Too many fall into depression and have nobody to reach out to. Too many pick up guns and shoot the innocents who may have excluded them.
Great blog with lots of things to think about as always. It's funny-peculiar (as opposed to funny-ha-ha) that you mentionned yesterday you may want to write on something political and by 2pm our time the world gave it to you...but then I guess there is always something going on somewhere.
Senseless and sad indeed - "our society seems to generate so many lost souls" ~ it does - or is it just we are more aware and hear more of them now?
I don't know - but I do agree with you on focussing on the survivors now
I worried about my son entering High School after the Columbine incident, but he was lucky, as the kids in his school took that one very hard, and they were extra kind to the new freshmen that were coming in. I breathed a sigh of relief when he graduated, and thought I'd never have to think about that kind of thing again. And now this at a college....
So sad to think that the deranged ones feel empowered with a gun in their hands. You really have to wonder what kind of abuse or mental instability they suffered in order for them to load a gun and take it out on people just going about their business.
My prayers to the victims as well. What a sad time for all of those affected personally.
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