Who is responsible?
Alleged killer James Holmes? Gun supporters? Gun regulators? A society that couldn’t recognize a very troubled individual quickly enough and get him the help he so desperately needed?
There are more questions than anything at this point and some may never be answered.
Still, they must be asked.
To prevent this from occurring again and again, we must know why this happened and how to recognize the warning signs, if any.
The more we learn about this particular case, the more it seems James knew trouble was coming and was desperate to warn those around them.
We may never know what thoughts cycled through his head immediately prior to that screening of The Dark Knight Rises but newly uncovered text conversations from weeks earlier laid a grim foundation.
He messaged another grad student in early July, asking her about “dysphoric mania” which is a bipolar condition known to cause mania, agitation, and paranoid delusions.
James then told her to stay away from him “because [he was] bad news.”
Clearly he knew something was amiss.
We hope a close study of James’ actions will assist law enforcement in recognizing similar destructive personalities and preventing crimes of this horrific magnitude from ever reoccurring.
[Image via AP Images.]
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