After nearly every mass shooting, many people begin to ponder what were the motives behind the killer. Why did the killer begin their deadly rampage? Was the killer motivated by some terroristic ideology that led him/her to shoot and kill others? What can we and others do to possibly alter that person’s life that might have changed the ultimate outcome?
Some of these questions might be answered by the killers who have clearly communicated their rationale for their crimes – at least what they tell us. But are we to take at face value what they are telling us is the truth and the whole truth?
In past cases, killers who surrendered and lived to talk about their crimes say they were bullied and that alone drove their single-minded purpose to shoot and kill people. Some killers who did not survive left behind writings, video recordings or social media postings. Others left manifestos that ramble on for many pages and left readers just as confused after reading the document as before they began reading it.
In the case of a few killers (such as the killer who struck Las Vegas, NV on Oct 1, 2017 killing 58 people), law enforcement has “microscoped” the person’s life and were unable to determine a reason. And yet, some believe it may have been the killers’ I.C. (Involuntary Celibacy) and their inability to connect on an intimate level with a woman that drove them to kill innocent people.
In a shooting that occurred in the Odessa, TX on August 31, 2019, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle occupied by one man. The occupant pointed a rifle at the back window of his vehicle and began firing at the officers. The suspect then fled the scene in his vehicle and then did the unthinkable; the suspect began shooting random and uninvolved citizens as he led police on a vehicle pursuit through a couple of jurisdictions. The suspect carjacked a U.S. Mail truck and continued his rampage in that vehicle until law enforcement ultimately confronted him again and ended not only the pursuit, but the suspect’s deadly rampage as the suspect engaged officers in a final gun battle.
Although I am not privy to the law enforcement case and the facts they may (or may not) have, it appears as the killer fled the area, he began shooting innocent and random people he encountered to either to cause law enforcement to become so distracted and preoccupied they might discontinue the pursuit. Or, the killer may have been in the beginning stages of and active shooter rampage when law enforcement initially intervened with their traffic stop.
As law enforcement officers comb though the suspect’s life to attempt to search for answers, one fact stands very apparent. A person with a firearm bent on killing others will do what they do until they either stop themselves, or someone competently intervenes to stop the killer. We need to recognize when gunshots are fired anywhere around us and take the necessary steps to save our lives. Those steps may be to escape the area where the extreme violence is occurring, or (with training) take significant physical actions against the shooter to stop the shooter.