The MSD killer, Nikolas Cruz, had decided to plead guilty—twice. As I understand it, this sick twit first agreed to change his non-guilty plea to guilty. The change opens the penalty phase where a jury will decide to hand down a life sentence or a sentence of death. The prosecutors want a death penalty verdict. After the jury and judge no one is going to see this guy again for ages, if ever. That should be the end of it.

Expressions of pain at MSD HS
But things like this don’t end. There are always questions. One is what is the appropriate punishment for the officer who a) hid behind a column, didn’t follow the shooter into the school, and basically kept himself safe during the sounds of guns firing and children screaming? Or, making a strategic decision and waited for back up including SWAT, armed and trained for these things. I think we’re pushing the right to a speedy trial issue here and butting up against the question of whether anymore punishment is needed since Scott Pederson’s career and normal life is over.
Recently we read that the blue-ribbon committee formulated to present recommendations to the school board has completed its work—about a year ago. That completed work is apparently sequestered in someone’s desk under the guise of it’s being studied. Almost none of the recommendations have been adopted. Since MSD there have been over 150 school shootings in the US and a few more in Europe. There is no reason what-so-ever to think the MSD is a one and done. A whole new generation of students will enter the school and who knows what evil lurks amongst them. As Yogi said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” The mass school shooting as a feature of current and future life is not over. It astounds one to think that this dereliction of duty has been allowed to occur and tolerated by the students and parents of the school. Maybe the survivors need to come back. They learned how to get things done.
A local journalistic outlet has gotten itself into a bit of a dust-up too. It published a picture of the shooter. It received complaints, some bitter, about it. There is the theory, however twisted, that the more publicity one gives such a person the more that person feels embellished in his/her deed. It also gives the other maniacs out there the odd-ball thought of, “Gee, if I did that too, I can get my own “see what I did” picture in the papers. You have no idea how many dangerous screwballs there are walking around outside with you. While sounding implausible, that line of thinking is not implausible. It

Does this look like a mass murderer to you? Surprise!
So, the question becomes what is the role of a newspaper? For those of you who saw it, the picture is a front face forward shot of the killer’s head, neck, shoulders. On the one hand, say some. the picture should have been scotched altogether. Others say one must print “all the news that’s fit to print,” which is the motto of the NY Times. Part of the “all” is a wall of infamy picture of this sick, sad, “sack of potatoes” (as grandma used to say).
As I often do, I came out in the middle. While a news outlet has to be honest to itself and print the everything that makes the story comes alive, it also has to take into account the readers and how its choices are going to impact them. This is one of the stories that has left life-long scars on so many people that the shooting was like the rock hitting the waters and producing ripples that went far past the actual splash. I think a shot that was less stark (the one used I can see being nightmare producing), that had other people in it, showed him in a judicial setting, so that you got to see the guy but weren’t startled by him, and only him, staring right into your own eyes. Again, my thought, but not my call. It’s a lot easier to react than to make the decision others react to.
Still the facts his hard. According to a CNN report in 2019, from the Cruz shootings to the end of 2020, I child was killed on school grounds in the US every 11.7 days for a total of 31 K-12 shootings. Eight states had more than one shooting; Texas had four.

Let’s be careful out there
In 2020 The Trace published figures from the Gun Violence Archive. They say 2641 18 or younger children have been shot since MSD. The difference in the numbers is an organization’s choice of “rules” as to when a shooting is to be counted. Was in within school boundaries or outside of them. Does it include suicides or being shot by someone not in the school, like a police officer or security guard. Pick your statistician, the numbers are grave indicators of the state of society. And remember, this are only US mass school shootings.
The bottom line is this. With the legal end of this tragedy being put to rest. It is well to try to put it behind you. However, it will never go so far behind you that it will disappear. It will be a piece of scar tissue that will in there forever. That’s the reality of mass shootings—at least from my perspective.
In a dour mood produced by re-liviing this awful event, Bill reminds you that for lighter fare to try the second in his trilogy memoir series: George Washington Never Slept Here. Amazon.com kindle or paperback.
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