A few days ago there was a shooting at a mall in Kansas City. I am from the area (an hour east, but still), and still read the Kansas City area news fairly regularly. As if the story of the shooting, especially after Virginia Tech, was not enough to make you wonder what is going on with the world, and how to feel safe, and what is going on in these people's heads, this story was on the web tonight.
Apparently, the shooter left a voice mail with his sister shortly before going on the shooting spree. He asked his sister to take care of his kitties, saying they were all he had to love, and that it was too late for him.
Now I know that we are supposed to hate these people, to paint them as entirely evil, inhuman creatures capable of the unthinkable, and to feel only for the victims. And don't get me wrong - I feel for the victims, for their families. But this story, this man's voice mail to his sister, has me heartbroken. Yes, I feel heartbroken for the man who shot innocent people.
Because, really, what is it that causes someone to do this? A person who has been loved, and who has lived a happy, fulfilled life, does not do this. A person who has nothing left in the world but his "kitties" does not go to a mall and shoot innocent people. And though their lives were cut short, maybe those victims felt at some point something this man never did - loved.
Maybe I'm reading too deep. Maybe I'm thinking too much. Maybe I'll be attacked by all sides. But I just can't help but think that just maybe, if we all stopped for awhile, slowed down a bit, held our babies, rocked our children, hugged our spouses, smiled at strangers, and the world loved a little more, then there might not be people who felt so unloved that they did these horrible, horrible things, and that those innocent victims might still be here.
He did a horrible, unthinkable thing. But at the same time, I hope his sister takes good care of his kitties.
2 comments:
I agree.
You know, I think a lot about the pain and isolation that we inflict on one another and on ourselves. I got really worked up when some news hack or another said that films like Revenge of the Nerds were dangerous because they "inspired" people like the Virginia Tech shooter. Uh, because it tells people that the jocks and pretty people have NO RIGHT to torment outcasts and that outcasts can fight back? ('Cuz, I don't remember seeing any guns or deaths in ROTN, but maybe I was distracted by all the gratuitous female nudity. I am simple that way.) We don't think about the ramifications of our actions, don't think about all the petty acts of cruelty that people commit against one another on a daily basis, don't think about all those moments when people in power demonstrate that they feel no empathy for others, and then we wonder why some people develop a dangerous lack of empathy for everyone.
Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a rant there.
Apparently he had an alochol problem and had been kicked out basically of mental hosptials for needing help.
I have read the articles in the paper this week, as he shot another woman in a house, stole her car, and then went to the mall to see how many people he could kill. The police then shot and killed him outside of Target. (and now I am not sure I can go there anymore)
MY SIL and MIL often shop at Ward Parkway and I had to call to make sure they were not there that day. Luckily they were not.
Anyway, the shooters sister said that he was an alcoholic and needed mental help but he was not given any. So there you go.
Ever want any news on KC let me know.
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