Keep Your Misery to Yourself

It's emotionally draining to read day after day in the newspaper about some poor soul, so miserable in his own depression or driven by heated jealousy that he kills his wife and/or children and/or co-workers in a fit of rage. I've always believed that if you're that suicidal, you should just kill yourself and leave innocent people, especially children, out of it.

Last week in eastern San Diego County, a recently fired casino investigator allegedly marched into the gaming commission office at Barona Valley Casino with a shotgun and killed his former supervisor before turning the gun on himself. Fortunately, he ordered all of the bystanders out of the office before he started firing his gun. At least his rage was focused on a single target, but one innocent person was still the victim of his twisted mental state.

Today, a man walked into the lobby of a federal building in Las Vegas and shot two federal court officers, killing one of the men. No motive for the tragedy has been reported. But given the fact that federal buildings tend to be guarded with heavily armed security since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the air, in New York City and at the Pentagon, there is a pretty good chance that he was committing "suicide by cop," since it was likely he'd be gunned down just as he attempted to slaughter the innocent victims around him.

And as the economy has soured, there have been multiple stories of families in dire straits in which one of the heads of the household kills their spouse and children to save them from the shame of foreclosure or bankruptcy and the possibility that they might end up living on the streets. Clearly, depression over their financial status has clouded their mental state so badly that death is preferable to asking for help from family, friends, church or the multitude of social service and nonprofit agencies that offer financial assistance.

I just can't understand how someone has that "Aha!" moment that tells them killing people along with themselves is the best solution to their problems. Wouldn't you rather collect unemployment and scale back your lifestyle than go to jail or die for killing your boss? Or move in with family or seek out affordable housing or maybe be homeless for a short time while your kids go into foster care rather than kill the children you labored for 24 hours to deliver? Or find some other outlet for your love and affection when your lover moves on with her life?

It's easy for me to judge, because I've never been fired, bankrupt or brutally dumped. But when I read stories about these kinds of brutal killings, I can't feel sorry for the person who didn't bother to reach out to someone for help. I do mourn the innocent people who probably would have helped if they'd known how badly their killer was dealing with their loss, shame or jealousy.