When thousands of people returned to Northwest college campuses recently, I doubt anyone anticipated a glory-seeking disturbed young man would slaughter teachers and students in their classrooms.
But that’s what happened Thursday at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, a campus similar in size to Centralia College. This year, the nation has seen 294 mass shootings, defined as events leaving four or more people dead. (That figure includes gang violence.)
Then an idiot at Centralia High School Friday left a threatening note on a teacher’s desk saying a student planned to kill people during an assembly, prompting a lockdown and postponement of homecoming. Threatening violence at school is not been a funny prank, especially when people scrambling to see if their loved ones are safe could be killed in accidents or die of heart attacks.
My heart broke for the Umpqua victims and families. Yet stories of self-sacrifice emerged, such as the dying young man who covered a classmate with his bloody body to prevent the shooter from killing her, and an Army veteran who banged on doors and tried to block the gunman from a classroom. He survived despite seven gunshot wounds.
Why are students on school campuses no longer safe? Why would someone kill innocent people? Even if he’s suicidal, what motivates him to kill others first? What can we do to prevent such massacres in the future?
The answers to those questions are elusive. An organization that tracks school shootings says 11 percent of cases involve possible mental illness and 44 percent of the time the shooter commits suicide. Another site stated at least 35 school-related shootings were committed by people taking or withdrawing from prescribed psychiatric drugs.
President Barack Obama immediately blamed guns, advocating stronger gun-control laws, even though most mass shootings occur in gun-free zones. Each of the 13 weapons owned by last week’s gunman was acquired legally. He had no criminal background, no record of mental illness. His mother knew he had problems, but she didn’t report him to authorities.
Armed security guards on campuses may serve as a deterrent and provide a quicker response when someone starts shooting. Some suggest arming teachers, but what’s to prevent an unruly student from grabbing the gun, or a mentally unstable teacher from going on a shooting rampage?
Others blame the media for blazing the names and faces of mass shooters across televisions screens and in newspaper pages, giving these publicity-seekers exactly what they want.
Or perhaps it stems from the violent video games young people play for hours on end, shooting ever-more-lifelike computer-generated “people” to score higher than a competitor.
The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill may play a part. Today, about 30 percent of the homeless are mentally ill. Many others reside in jails and prisons.
I tend to think the problem is a combination of the above, but also boils down to a lack of respect for the greatest gift of all — life. Society first dehumanizes segments of people, such as the unborn, disabled, elderly, Jews, Christians, blacks and Muslims. Then people consider those lives worthless and disposable.
We’re fortunate that Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza and Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer focus on helping people with mental illness find help. Lewis County commissioners have expanded options for chemical dependency and mental health treatment.
But throwing money at the problem won’t solve it. The issue is foundational. It starts with parents teaching children to respect life — all life — and teaching young people to respect others. Like many addicts, most shooters seemed to focus inward, wallowing in self-pity, festering in anger.
The solution boils down to the golden rule, cited by Pope Francis during his recent visit to the United States: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
