Details emerge about the Wisconsin killing of 3 teens at the Michigan border.

[Faygo Kid]

Wis. town reels after 3 from Mich. are slain
38-year-old arrested after three teens are killed, 1 man is hurt

Steve Pardo / The Detroit News
It bills itself as "The City of Scenic Beauty" for its bluff views and wooded trails, but its 1,980 residents are coping with horror following the shooting deaths of three Michigan teens and the wounding of a fourth man. . .

. . . At about 9 a.m. Friday, they made an arrest -- Scott J. Johnson, 38, from the nearby Michigan town of Iron Mountain. Authorities said he was still in camouflage as he walked out of the woods, dropped his assault rifle and was apprehended. . .

. . . A motive was unknown. Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said the shooter was only 7 to 10 feet away from victims when he fired on a group of nine swimming in the Menominee River near a railroad bridge. Killed were Tiffany Pohlson, 17; Anthony Spigarelli, 18; and Bryan Mort, 19. A fourth Michigan man, 20-year-old Daniel Gordon, was wounded. . .

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080802/METRO/808020372/1409/METRO

Lots more at the article. Is it just me, or are we seeing more and more random acts of violence in recent weeks? This is horrific. I wonder if this guy was an O'Reilly/Hannity/Savage fan like that church shooter in Tennessee.

I would like to know.

RIP, kids.

[malaise]

1. Too sad

Just innocent young adults enjoying their summer vacation. I wonder if Johnson is not another troubled Iraq war vet.

[elocs]

2. Until we know more details, there is no point in endlessly speculating.

People who are mentally ill and disturbed, and people who commit horrific crimes are not solely limited to Republicans.

[norepubsin08]

5. Yeah but usually they are

Just remember Ted Bundy? He was being groomed by the Washington State Republican Party to run for governor some day!

[elocs]

6. There's no need for us to get self righteous as Democrats.

People are people and there is no way to definitively prove one is better than another.

[Faygo Kid]

8. Well, this guy sure in hell was no prize.

"People are people?" This guy slaughtered three kids. I think I can definitively say I'm better than that, whatever his tragic mental problems.

I'll save my sympathy for the teens and their families.

[elocs]

12. I not talking about this guy in particular,

I talking about the attitude that only Republicans commit terrible crimes. People are people regardless of their party affiliations of lack of them. There is no way to prove that Republicans are more likely to commit crimes than Democrats. Mental illness and crime know no party labels. This is what I meant by "people are people". I'm sorry I evidently made this so unclear in my post.

At this time the only thing we know about this guy is that he is accused of the shootings and we know nothing else about him.

[elehhhhna]

11. Last time I was in Iron Mountain, some jerk came into a restaurant wearing his

"Let's Kill All the Liberals" tee shirt. Nice sunday brunch outfit, huh? Lots of nasty, nasty bumper stickers all over the place, as well.

It's goofy up there.

[carlyhippy]

3. WTF is WRONG with people, shooting kids, beheading sleeping bus passengers

these people who do these crimes should never be allowed to walk the streets ever again. They need to be put away in the darkest corner, because they are monsters.

[benEzra]

15. Word is now that he had raped another woman in the same woods the night before.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5920825.html

I do not understand how a human being can be so evil. I just don't.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. It's random now.

It will become more organized as time goes on. Even mentally ill people, with a predeliction for violence and the means to carry it out, can find kindred spirits.

[tuckessee]

7. Here's a link w/some details & a pic.

He's suspected of raping a girl the night before the massacre.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting

[Ian David]

9. See also: Killer in ambush may be charged in Michigan and Wisconsin

Killer in ambush may be charged in Michigan and Wisconsin
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3719755&mesg_id=3719755

[Ian David]

10. He was an unemployed veteran abandoned by our country at home and abroad.

If you train someone to kill and then don't look after their physical, mental and financial well-being, this sort of shit starts to happen more often.

Maybe he was an "evil" person... or maybe an hour twice a week with a therapist, a prescription for Prozac, and a satisfying job at a living wage would turned him into a pillar of the community.

We'll never know now.

[pampango]

13. Good point. I wonder if there have been studies to determine if veterans

are more likely to commit various types of violent crimes than those who have not been in the military. It seems logical that having been trained to kill, and in some cases having actually killed people, would make one more likely to commit some types of violent crimes under certain circumstances.

We owe our veterans in any case, but such a link would provide more of a sense of urgency to help veterans than seems to exist in the current political climate.

[Ian David]

14. No... the REAL problem is violent video game.

:sarcasm: