Could be a history of mental illness? Could be a long history of child abuse? Obviously this may not be the case and even if it were would in no way excuse his actions but it would certainly prevent me personally from taking pleasure in reading of his death. He brought it on himself but it doesn't make it nice.
While these questions have merit from an academic standpoint, they have no bearing on the incident. There is some usefulness in asking these questions because they can help us predict and prevent future violence, but they don't mean anything to a minimum wage employee at a pharmacy who has a gun shoved in his face.
Too often, people want to ask what could have caused this person to act in such a despicable manner, as though the causes of his actions could in some way mitigate them. There is no mitigating factor which excuses violent assault on innocent people.
I understand what you mean. I understand that you aren't trying to excuse his behavior. I'm not attacking you on this. However, too many will ask these questions as though he is the real victim. He is not.
He is a monster. He is beneath pity. He is an indefensable animal, with no regard for human life. There is much suffering in this world today, however, some people choose to try harder, and some people choose to prey on those around them. His actions determined his worth, and in my mind, he died without any at all.
You are right when you say none of us here know the life story of this man. But that is only because he chose to throw his life away before he had a chance to tell us. He didn't have to. He chose to. He chose to throw that life away when he chose to threaten the life of an innocent person. Whether that night, or some other, his actions could only result in the loss of his own life, either through death or imprisonment.
And that is no one's fault but his own. Not his abusive father's. Not the priest who touched him in church. Not the school system that failed him, or the state welfare check he didn't recieve, or the institutional racism he was a victim of, or the health care provider that denied his claim. It was his decision. It was his fault.
And yes, as sad a story as this is, at least it has a happy ending.
-Rob
