Again?

Just a couple of random thoughts on today’s shooting at the NIU campus--leaving six dead including the shooter--which is not far from my home:

1. Every time a shooting occurs on a school campus—which are full of potential targets for deranged gunmen—the tragedy is two-fold: beyond the immediate grief for those dead and injured, the killer’s insanity is contagious – flicking a switch in the head of a copycat inspiring him to one day try the same thing (i.e. Columbine, VA Tech).
   
   
2. I also can’t help wondering if the shooter’s decision to use Valentine’s Day for his rampage has anything to do with a possible bad break-up or romantic jilting, and opted to use innocent people to vent his angst upon, or if the day in question was just random.

I attended NIU for 18 months in the very late '80s, during which time I had a math class at the same building where the shootings occurred today. And though my personal memories of NIU are not rosy, my heart goes out to the community. Incidents like these are becoming far too commonplace.

But on a lighter note, I wonder how long it will take Nathaneal Blake to whip up a self-righteous column questioning the manhood of those caught in the crossfire?

Come on, dickhead. We know you want to.