Quote: Just a day before the school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead, a Washington state woman handed police her grandson’s journal — which allegedly detailed plans for a mass shooting at his high school.

Catherine Katsel-O’Connor called 911 on Tuesday in Everett, Washington, after she read the journal of her grandson, Joshua Alexander O’Connor, the night before, according to court documents.

She indicated that she was alarmed by the violent sentiments she discovered in the journal — as well as the semi-automatic rifle she found hidden in a guitar case.

Police now claim that O'Connor, 18, planned to kill his classmates at ACES High School with the rifle as well as homemade explosive devices.

"I'm preparing myself for the school shooting,” the teenager wrote, according to court documents. “I can’t wait. My aim has gotten much more accurate ... I can’t wait to walk into that class and blow all those f---ers away."

In his journal, he also expressed how much attention he had paid to creating the plot and how many of his classmates he hoped to kill.

“I’ve been thinking alot [sic],” the entry said. “I need to make this shooting/bombing at Kamiak infamous. I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count.”

“I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings),” he added, according to the court documents. “I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don’t make the same ones.”

Via a “coin flip,” O’Connor wrote that he had chosen to target ACES High School — the school he attended — rather than Kamiak High School.

O’Connor purchased defused grenades and planned to make them live by filling them with “black powder,” according to the court documents. He also wrote about making pressure cooker bombs and detailed where and how he would place them in and around the school.

School officials pulled the suspect from his class once the police told them about his alleged plans. An officer was waiting for O’Connor, ready to arrest him.

While in custody, O’Connor was able to pull his hand out of one of his cuffs and made a run for it across the parking lot, the court documents state. As he attempted to make his escape, he fell down onto a mulch-covered area near the blacktop. That’s when the officer caught up and the suspect “mule kicked” the policeman in the leg.

The officer was ultimately able to secure O’Connor after a brief scuffle, officials said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/day...ng-n848426

(02-16-2018 03:33 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

Quote: “I’ve been thinking alot [sic],” the entry said. “I need to make this shooting/bombing at Kamiak infamous. I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count.”
“I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings),” he added, according to the court documents. “I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don’t make the same ones.”

There are two characteristics of school shootings:

• They involve guns
• They are followed by 24/7 news coverage for about two weeks
  

Why is there pushback on one aspect but not the other?

How the Media Inspires Mass Shooters – Mother Jones

Quote:Evidence amassed by the FBI and other threat assessment experts shows that perpetrators and plotters look to past attacks both for inspiration and operational details, in hopes of causing even greater carnage.

(02-16-2018 05:15 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(02-16-2018 03:33 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

Quote: “I’ve been thinking alot [sic],” the entry said. “I need to make this shooting/bombing at Kamiak infamous. I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count.”
“I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings),” he added, according to the court documents. “I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don’t make the same ones.”

There are two characteristics of school shootings:

• They involve guns
• They are followed by 24/7 news coverage for about two weeks
  

Why is there pushback on one aspect but not the other?

How the Media Inspires Mass Shooters – Mother Jones

Quote:Evidence amassed by the FBI and other threat assessment experts shows that perpetrators and plotters look to past attacks both for inspiration and operational details, in hopes of causing even greater carnage.

Two more:

- The perpetrators have severe mental issues; and
- They occur in “gun-free” zones.

(02-16-2018 05:21 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(02-16-2018 05:15 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(02-16-2018 03:33 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

Quote: “I’ve been thinking alot [sic],” the entry said. “I need to make this shooting/bombing at Kamiak infamous. I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count.”
“I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings),” he added, according to the court documents. “I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don’t make the same ones.”

There are two characteristics of school shootings:

• They involve guns
• They are followed by 24/7 news coverage for about two weeks
  

Why is there pushback on one aspect but not the other?

How the Media Inspires Mass Shooters – Mother Jones

Quote:Evidence amassed by the FBI and other threat assessment experts shows that perpetrators and plotters look to past attacks both for inspiration and operational details, in hopes of causing even greater carnage.

Two more:
- The perpetrators have severe mental issues; and
- They occur in “gun-free” zones.

I'd agree with the second, but not necessarily the first. There are a few that showed signs of severe mental issues... but there are others who did not. To me, the bigger problem than mental illness is that there is a perverse social pressure that motivates these kids to act out these crimes. There is not an availability of weapons that has changed in the past 30 years... there is not a change to make schools gun free zones... I don't think that mental illness is more prevalent now than it was 30 years ago. There is a dramatic change in press coverage that is amplified by the frequency of these shootings (be it 5 or 50 each year) and by the 24x7 coverage that television, radio, and online media can and do perpetrate.

Of those commonalities, "media" coverage only one that could have a quick or immediate impact, but it seems like it's rarely talked about, and it seems like it is the one that has most contributed to the motivations of these school shooters.

How School Shootings Spread | The New Yorker

Quote:it is a mistake to assume “that if most members of a group make the same behavior decision—to join a riot, for example—we can infer from this that most ended up sharing the same norm or belief about the situation, whether or not they did at the beginning.”
...
The problem is not that there is an endless supply of deeply disturbed young men who are willing to contemplate horrific acts. It’s worse. It’s that young men no longer need to be deeply disturbed to contemplate horrific acts.

Thank you to that grandmother

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(02-19-2018 07:19 AM)fsquid Wrote:  Thank you to that grandmother

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No doubt. Knew a little Sh** when she saw one.

I missed in the story where the rifle was participating in the planning of this crime. Also, sounds like we need to get out in front of things and ban crock pots.