The country searched for answers after the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School – which followed two high-profile shootings during the summer. In Newtown, Conn., Adam Lanza killed 27 people, including 20 children, and then turned the gun on himself. The massacre reignited discussions about gun control, among other issues.
In Colorado, alleged shooter James Holmes was charged with killing 12 people at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. He sought the help of at least three mental-health professionals at the University of Colorado before the July 20 rampage. But even though he exhibited disturbing warning signs, they did not warn authorities, as directed under state law.
In Wisconsin, Wade Michael Page was an Army veteran who killed six people at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and also died himself Aug. 5. He was well known in the white supremacist movement, often posted to online hate sites, and played in white power bands.
The incidents have prompted discussions on how mass killers can often be detected months, even years, in advance and what people in their lives can do to bring them counseling.
– Mark Guarino, Staff writer
Reporter's takeaway: “The Wisconsin shooting was interesting in how members of the community and of the Sikh temple sought each other out for consoling. Many said that each had operated in isolation, but that that would never again be the case.”
