Charles Whitman was exceedingly intelligent, an Eagle Scout,
a Catholic altar boy, an accomplished hunter and marksman, and eventually ran a huge paper route. He enlisted in the Marines and with some minor incidents was honorably discharged. He pursued an engineering degree at the University of Texas in Austin. He was married to Cathy in 1962 and had a mostly harmonious marriage.
What was not so obvious about Whitman was a legacy of abuse in his childhood, the authoritarian presence of his father and the regular violence toward his mother and the children. Perfection was demanded of them all. It was enforced with violence and threats.
On August 1, 1966, just after midnight, Charles Whitman killed his mother and wife. In his notes left behind he declared his absolute love and that he was mercifully delivering them from the suffering of this world and the scorn they might endure from what was to come. That same late morning he ascended to the 28th floor of the University of Texas Bell Tower. With an assembled arsenal of high powered rifles he began randomly shooting the people on campus below. He killed 17 and wounded 31 before the police stormed his position and killed him.
Here is part of what he left in a suicide note:
"I do not quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I do not really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur, and it requires a tremendous mental effort to concentrate on useful and progressive tasks...
And then his final words, scribbled on the outside of an envelope:
"I never could quite make it. These thoughts are too much for me."
With suicide notes and the first person testimony of family, friends and acquaintances one can usually do a psychological autopsy and determine motivations for heinous acts. Absent that testimony and documentation it is only a guess. In Whitman's case we have evidence that provides a background for his murder spree. But in the case of Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas mass murderer, we may never know.
Paddock's life was opaque, covered by the trappings ordinary success in business, a long-standing but failed marriage, a Philippino girlfriend, and a massive gambling hobby at which he was very successful. He was not active on social media, left behind no notes, and never tipped his hand as to what he was going to do or why. His family was shocked. No one had any idea of the arsenal of military style assault rifles and ammo he had acquired. In a carefully hatched plan he arranged for his sniper nest in a hotel across from the concert venue. He opened up with high powered automatic fire that rained down on unsuspecting people below.
We have a long history of mass-murder incidents. In the case of storied characters such as Jack the Ripper, the behavior is sequential and includes some serial pattern that makes some kind of pathological sense to the killer. Incidents such as were designed by Whitman and Paddock are public, one-time events, and involve massive force and many deaths at once. And they ordinarily include an assumed ending to the story, the demise of the shooter, by suicide or police.
For all of these deplorable acts there is the same resulting tragedy, the loss of innocent life, the mourning of those left behind, and a parade of unanswered questions. People look to one another for love and support. The faith community calls upon time-honored consolations. The public engages in rituals to mark the occasion. Leaders make somber speeches. All of this is required for a time of involuntary social liminality, that no man's land following a tragedy.
We are thrust into a collective fog after any natural disaster that disrupts and destroys life and security. But humanly caused suffering, even though there may be fewer victims than following the tornado, flood, fire, earthquake or hurricane, has a decidedly different reality. "This was intentional and senseless," we say. Someone caused this. It becomes an evil event because it was marked by these evil intentions. Bombs placed in subways, airplanes flown into buildings, and systematic genocides carry an altogether different meaning for us than an unfortunate natural occurrence.
There is one other difference that sets the Las Vegas massacre apart from others. It is the readily available technology for mass murder: military style high powered assault weapons, ammo and accessories. This is not what was intended by the 2nd amendment. We have come to a time where sensible and reasonable controls and limits are required. A huge percentage of the American public desires this. But a very powerful block of corporate and political money and influence keeps it from happening. Until we address this directly, stop dodging the issue with sidelong admonitions to address mental health and better our parenting skills, the scale of these kinds of mass shootings - in schools, clubs, theaters, campuses, stadiums, churches - will continue and increase. It is time. Leaders with moral courage need to take a stand and do so now.
No, you cannot always predict who will become the next evil doer in our midst. It is often not clear and the smart ones cover their tracks. If someone wants to do evil they can inflict it with a butter knife if they are motivated enough. But the easy availability of these weapons today insures more and larger killing fields to come, an urban landscape resembling war zones. It is not acceptable. It should not become our new normal. And any person of strong conscience knows so.
