Prayers please

[Gnarwhal]

My town was rocked by a shooting at our public library yesterday, two people were killed and a child was injured. I'm disturbed because the police released the name of the shooter early this morning and it's someone I know. Not well, but he was a catechist in the classes I taught over the past couple of years. He started off with the group of adults we were working with but then my coordinator put him on his own track cause he was so knowledgeable that he was able to advance quickly.

The police noted in their post that he seemed motivated to "Commit a Columbine High School-style shooting."

He's 18, I think he was around 15-16 when he joined our OCIF classes. I believe he's on the spectrum cause he's incredibly smart but he showed some behavioral signs often associated with being on the spectrum.

Yesterday while the events were unfolding and information was still kind of scarce, someone posted a grainy low-resolution photo of the suspect being taken into custody by the police. You could only see him from behind though, somehow my wife and I both recognized him cause we separately thought "That looks like [name]". But we both dismissed it as "Well I suppose a lot of people could look like that." But I think we were kind of spooked that we had the same thought. Then I found out around 5:30 this morning that we were right.

Please pray for the souls of the victims, their names haven't been released yet. Please pray for the recovery of the child, fortunately they said he or she only had minor injuries. Pray for the families of the victims and that justice will be served. I don't want to say the name of the shooter but if you feel so inclined pray for him too.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. Other than just pure mental illness it's hard to process how someone could seem to understand the faith so well, and have a zeal for becoming Catholic (he was confirmed last year), he served at the altar; and then turn around and do this.

EDIT: I was talking about it with my wife this morning and she noted that she had seem him less and less at Mass, and that when he was coming he was accompanied by a strange man dressed in a three piece suit. The shooter was notably wearing suspenders yesterday, which is a little unusual these days unless someone's cosplaying. I daren't express my suspicions right now.

 

[RileyG]

Lord have mercy! May God keep you in the palm of his hand! May God have mercy on the victims and grant them rest in his kingdom! How horrifying!

 

[joymercy]

Oh how horrifying for you and your wife to see this and know the person. How shocking this is indeed.

Are you and anyone else associated with teaching talking and processing this?

This is very traumatic and needs to be discussed.

How on Earth could this have happened?!

Also, because the story is public now, I think its safe to discuss here if you want.

Why would anyone in confirmation class chose to emulate not the Saints, but the two deranged psychopaths of Columbine?

Makes no sense at all except it is pure evil and every parents worse nightmare.

He needs to repent with true contrition at some point as there will be no escape from life in prison.

His soul needs to be saved from eternal separation from God.

What is your priest saying?

Virgo potens Ora pro nobis

 

[Gnarwhal]

Are you and anyone else associated with teaching talking and processing this?

We probably will, it's just a matter of figuring out how we want to go about it. There's maybe a dozen of us who knew him from church, maybe a few of us can get together and talk it out. I dunno.

How on Earth could this have happened?!

The more I learn about the background, the more I'm disturbed. The story was picked up nationally, NBC gave it three minutes at the top of their show last night on the evening news. The NY/California Post has been running headlines as has the NY Times. None of us ever would've guessed that he was so ill, let alone obsessed with something so evil and tragic as Columbine.

He needs to repent with true contrition at some point as there will be no escape from life in prison.

His soul needs to be saved from eternal separation from God.

That's something my wife and I were talking about, he seems to have only intellectually digested Catholicism but as far as true belief goes, as far as faith goes it's hard to tell if he ever really had any of that. To so quickly turn around and commit an atrocity like this, obviously nothing in our faith would compel him to do that so methinks he had a more influential force in his life than the Church.

What is your priest saying?

That's another thing that bothers me. There hasn't been any word from our priests or even the lay leadership like my friend who runs all of the RCIA/RCIF/RCIC/RCIF programs, and shepherded hundreds of souls along the path to conversion. Our priest hasn't even issued a Flocknote. I hope he's just following instruction from our bishop not to speak yet or something.

 

[joymercy]

We probably will, it's just a matter of figuring out how we want to go about it. There's maybe a dozen of us who knew him from church, maybe a few of us can get together and talk it out. I dunno.


The more I learn about the background, the more I'm disturbed. The story was picked up nationally, NBC gave it three minutes at the top of their show last night on the evening news. The NY/California Post has been running headlines as has the NY Times. None of us ever would've guessed that he was so ill, let alone obsessed with something so evil and tragic as Columbine.

That's something my wife and I were talking about, he seems to have only intellectually digested Catholicism but as far as true belief goes, as far as faith goes it's hard to tell if he ever really had any of that. To so quickly turn around and commit an atrocity like this, obviously nothing in our faith would compel him to do that so methinks he had a more influential force in his life than the Church.


That's another thing that bothers me. There hasn't been any word from our priests or even the lay leadership like my friend who runs all of the RCIA/RCIF/RCIC/RCIF programs, and shepherded hundreds of souls along the path to conversion. Our priest hasn't even issued a Flocknote. I hope he's just following instruction from our bishop not to speak yet or something.

Thank you. Maybe in obedience he's not allowed to speak yet, and maybe there needs to be some time before a remark can be made due to the need to process all of the information and conclude some sort of reason.

He had gone to his first confession, yes?

Who got a hold of him? This is definitely the evil one.

We are all in an absolute war right now in the spiritual life.

We absolutely cannot be lukewarm Catholics any more,

We must develop an active and deep interior life to survive this.

I honestly think that something very evil got unleashed into the world after Columbine.

I really wish Fr Ripperger would address this Columbine immitation thing that opened up an insane number of mass school shootings ever since.

Such a young man, throwing away any chance for a life!!