Columbine

[Dave Cullen]

Article in today's Phla Inquirer:  Attorney for the former counseling center director at Virginia Tech said yesterday that the director inadvertently took home mental-health records for the student gunman when he left his job a year before the massacre.

What a strange twist.

And to add to the strangeness for me, I was on the V Tech campus they day the news came, for the first day of a three day conference on the aftermath of the shooting. Many of the experts on it from the uni were meeting with us. They were quite surprised, to put it lightly.

[Nikki]

What a strange twist.

And to add to the strangeness for me, I was on the V Tech campus they day the news came, for the first day of a three day conference on the aftermath of the shooting. Many of the experts on it from the uni were meeting with us. They were quite surprised, to put it lightly.

Even in his deep psychosis, Cho left word that he was inspired by Eric and Dylan (your Chapter 51). It's not only frightening that Cho committed the worst school shooting, but that he was inspired by the Columbine killers. The footprints these guys left were deep and pervasive.

[CellarDweller115]

Hello Dave,

I had ordered your book some time ago, and life always seemed to get into the way with my reading it.  As a result, I didn't get the opportunity to participate in the book club (though I may go through the questions anyway, even at this late date).

I also had a conversation regarding the news, tv, and internet, and how they can affect people's attention spans.  I used to be an avid reader, but things change, and to be honest my reading had dropped off dramatically.  Before "Columbine" I read "The Mayor Of Castro Street", and can't remember the last book read before that.  It was time to work on my attention span again.

When I booked my flights to and from Alberta, I had long flights and layovers, so I took this opportunity to pack two books to read.  The first book was "Columbine".  I finished the book on the way home from Alberta, and I was very impressed.  Your style of writing caught my attention, and I truly learned a lot about the massacre that took place.  Also, there was a number of times reading that I had tears in my eyes for the survivors and family members of those lost.  

I can't imagine the toll that this took on you as an author/journalist.  I hope you are enjoying the success that is coming with it now.


Chuck

[Dave Cullen]

Thanks, Chuck. That made me smile.

[janjo]

We have been travelling around the UK quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, and Columbine has been prominently displayed in several bookshops we have been in, often with personal reccommendation tickets attached, and very deservedly so.

[michaelflanagansf]

It happened again today on the peninsula....

Ex-student held in San Mateo school blast
John Koopman, Kathleen Pender, Jaxon Van Derbeken,John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writers
Monday, August 24, 2009

(08-24) 19:56 PDT SAN MATEO -- A former student at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, armed with 10 pipe bombs, a chainsaw and a sword, planned to forge a path of destruction through his old campus Monday, authorities said.

Investigators believe his plan was to kill people with bombs, then slaughter the survivors with the chainsaw and sword.

Instead, the 17-year-old was able to detonate only two of the bombs - injuring no one - before staffers at the school tackled him and police arrived.

On Monday evening he was at juvenile hall after being questioned by police and prosecutors. His name has not been released because he is a juvenile. Prosecutors said no decision had been made on whether to charge him as an adult.

Students described a harrowing scene in which the power went out and the fire alarm was triggered as the teenager, with bombs secured to a tactical vest, made his way through the school shortly after classes began at 8 a.m.

The youth lit two of the pipe bombs and threw them in a hallway near the school library, then ran before they detonated, authorities said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/24/BAAT19CUPM.DTL#ixzz0PAF37HJ9

[dejavu]

A chainsaw and a sword?  How completely awful.

I hope they do charge him as an adult.

[michaelflanagansf]

As do I Debbie.  One of the things about this case that was outstanding was that people disarmed this individual before he could do any harm.  It made me think of both Dave Sanders and Frank DeAngelis.  I think if there is anything that will eliminate this sort of crime it will be these kind of actions.

[michaelflanagansf]

Thank God for people like Kennet Santana:

Hero teacher 'didn't have time to think'
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

(08-25) 13:22 PDT SAN MATEO --

In the moments after a young man detonated two pipe bombs at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, English language development teacher Kennet Santana didn't have time to think about what he should do.

Instinctively, as students crouched for cover in their classrooms, Santana, 34, moved toward the explosions. He was confronted with the sight of the youth, wearing a tactical vest with what turned out to be eight other pipe bombs.

The teacher didn't know the devices were bombs. He also didn't know that the suspect, identified as a 17-year-old former student at Hillsdale, was armed with a chainsaw and a sword with a 2-foot blade.

All Santana knew was that this boy was a threat - and that he had to stop him. Without hesitation, Santana tackled the boy shortly after 8 a.m. Monday and yelled at other teachers to call for help. Principal Jeff Gilbert, counselor Ed Canda and Santana held the teenager down until police arrived.

Now, the campus community and authorities are crediting Santana with helping to avert what could have been a disaster: A law-enforcement source said the boy, whose name has not been released because of his age, nursed a grudge against some teachers and had planned to detonate all 10 pipe bombs before attacking students with the chain saw and the sword as they fled.

No one was hurt in the attack, which began just as Santana arrived at school and was heading to the office.

"It just happened so fast. He didn't even think about it," said his wife, Angelique Vega-Santana, 35.

continues:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/25/BASE19DFN6.DTL

[michaelflanagansf]

And again a teen who hid his world from his family:

'Techno-wizard' teen suspect fooled family
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The 17-year-old held in the pipe bomb attack on a San Mateo high school was a "techno-wizard" who told his family he was building model rockets as he assembled his explosive devices from material he bought over the Internet, authorities said today.

Angry with teachers who had given him bad grades at Hillsdale High School where he had dropped out more than a year ago and smarting over how other students there had treated him, the youth began planning the attack months ago, said law enforcement sources briefed on the interrogation of the boy.

On Monday, he walked onto the campus with 10 pipe bombs strapped to his vest and toting a chainsaw in a violin case and a "martial arts-style" sword with a 2-foot blade, authorities said. He set off two bombs before faculty members wrestled him to the ground. No one was injured.

"This was cold-blooded," said one law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. "He planned this for a very long time."

The chainsaw, said the source, was intended to "differentiate his attack" from other acts of campus violence over the years. Sources have said they believe the youth planned to kill many students and teachers with the chainsaw and sword if they were not killed by the bombs.

continues:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/25/BAL719DH0L.DTL

[michaelflanagansf]

And now they are comparing it to the attack in Colorado (well...Fox is....):

Columbine-Style Attack by Armed California Teen Thwarted by 'Heroic' Teachers
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Fox News

A teen armed with a sword and chainsaw who had several pipe bombs strapped to his body was arrested Monday after two explosions rocked Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Calif., KTVU reported.

Police called the foiled attack that forced the evacuation of more than 1,200 students and teachers a Columbine-style plot, according to the station.

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer told KTVU that the 17-year-old boy came onto campus with the chainsaw, a 2-foot-long sword and 10 homemade pipe bombs attached to a tactical vest he was wearing.

continues:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,542481,00.html

[Nikki]

Interesting links, Michael.  I wonder if the boy can be analyzed to see if it's another case of psychopathy.  If not, then I'm sick of people and kids who bear grudges against teachers, officials, cops, government, etc..  If everyone who bore a grudge against someone resorted to violence, what then? 

[michaelflanagansf]

Interesting links, Michael.  I wonder if the boy can be analyzed to see if it's another case of psychopathy.  If not, then I'm sick of people and kids who bear grudges against teachers, officials, cops, government, etc..  If everyone who bore a grudge against someone resorted to violence, what then? 

I thought about this, Nikki.  He actually does seem like a psychopath.  He was lying to his parents - saying he was working on science projects - when he was putting together his bombs.  He apparently had been planning this for some time - it was not spur of the moment.

The only thing that makes him seem a bit more psychotic and a bit less psychopathic is the choice of weapons.  He couldn't do nearly as much damage with a chain saw and a sword as he could with a gun - perhaps it was a question of access, though.

I wonder what Dave thinks about this.

[Nikki]

I thought about this, Nikki.  He actually does seem like a psychopath.  He was lying to his parents - saying he was working on science projects - when he was putting together his bombs.  He apparently had been planning this for some time - it was not spur of the moment.

The only thing that makes him seem a bit more psychotic and a bit less psychopathic is the choice of weapons.  He couldn't do nearly as much damage with a chain saw and a sword as he could with a gun - perhaps it was a question of access, though.

I wonder what Dave thinks about this.

True, Michael, a gun could take out multiple people, but a chain saw could do horrific damage to a body.  The chain saw makes me agree that he probably was more psychotic.  Again, one has to wonder how he was able to hide his bomb-making gear, or possibly describing it as 'science projects.'

[janjo]

I know this is a terrible thought, but I keep thinking of Homer Hickam, (for all you people who have seen our beloved Jake Gyllenhaal in October Sky), who really was making space rockets in his basement as a boy.