scrubbedexpat097

Not nice Too close to home, glad he didn't visit this weekend mate.

md95065

While it certainly happens more that one would like, I would submit that rather than happening "a lot" it actually happens "almost never".

Pretty much 100% of teenage boys go through feelings like "girls don't like me/the teacher is picking on me/I haven't got many friends at school/I'm an unhappy teenager" - but almost none of them "go and kill some people".

The point is that it wasn't going through the normal stresses of being a teenager that made this guy go out and kill people - there was something much more fundamental wrong with him.

Sally Redux

There is a very unpleasant culture of that kind in Calabasas.

I don't know if it was relevant in this case, but large numbers of teenagers are on medication for anxiety and/or depression, it is my belief that these meds can cause erratic behaviour.

scrubbedexpat091

Its not just your belief, every mental health medication I have been prescribed have warnings about watching for behavior changes, changes in thoughts and so on, and these changes can be increased in children and teens and young adults, so these groups really need to be watched closely by doctors and family, especially when starting, stopping, or changes in dose.

Michael

There are kids like that around the world but with such easy access to guns in the US (even in California), it's pretty easy for a kid or adult to kill a 1/2 dozen or more people. It's not very easy to kill even one person with a knife or bat and what may excite someone that has a mental illness is the idea of killing a lot of people and if they have to use a knife or bat where they couldn't kill a lot of people, it take the excitement away making it less likely they will act on their impulses.

Sally Redux

Yes indeed to both.

I do feel a bit spooked today but I'm trying not to be because guns are just part of life here.

scrubbedexpat099

I am pretty sure it is publicity, this hits all the spots so will be widely covered.

Look at the somewhat belated fuss about the Nigerian girls that were kidnapped, it was mentioned that it was not considered a biggie by the Nigerians, not that unusual, well maybe the numbers at one time. Even in that area machetes probably still rule the roost.

mikelincs

We also have to be very careful just what we say on here, it's always possible that parents etc of the young man could be members. None of us know as usernames are usually made up.
He was, obviously, a very troubled young man, with major issues, in the same way that many others who do this are.

scrubbedexpat099

Like Boiler, in case you were wondering it was not me.

I am sort of intrigued as to what restrictions you had in mind?

andrewlohnes

what a terrible thing to happen, I only watched the 1st minute and a half of his video and could tell just from that he was a fruit loop! people like this will end up doing something crazy whether its with a gun, a knife, or just their hands in my opinion.

dunroving

Bingo. Look at how Xanax hid their research showing the drastic side-effects of Xanax a decade or two ago. And sit through the second half of any breezy advert for drugs like "Abilify", in which they go through a long list of side effects that add up to "a dozen times worse than before you started taking the drug"

thinbrit

The story, thus far, is he killed half of his victims with a knife. 3 stabbed, 3 shot.

I opine his motive was 'fame', and not excitement. He could have gone to six flags if he wanted excitement. Our appetite for sensational news stories has whipped the media in to a frenzy we all feast on, just as the wacko hoped it would. Not sure what the solution is...

scrubbedexpat099

Knife would be his British upbringing.

Sally Redux

Xanax is definitely a wild card one.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...524-story.html

Guns were not the whole story, true, but I still feel that someone easily being able to purchase 3 handguns is not healthy. We may speculate that his fantasies of retribution were more likely to be fuelled by the guns.

thinbrit

I doubt it.

It is illegal to sell cutlery to anyone under 18 in England, let alone anything really sharp.