As bad as today's school shooting was, it wasn't the worst.

[Archae]

In Bath, Michigan, in 1927, some idiot killed 45 with a combination of guns and bombs.
And most of them were elementary school kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_school_bombing

[hobbit709]

1. Can't blame that one

on violent video games, porn, tv, etc.

[Archae]

2. Nope, just a bitter man with a "cause."

He blamed the school for his losing his farm.

[medeak]

6. Did anyone see the SNL video of shooting over and over?

Wasn't funny when I watched in on YouTube this am...and then the shooting happened and immediately thought of it. Has been pulled off YouTube...but surely SNL will be getting letters?

[pingdashf]

8. Blame

Can't blame it on our "firearm culture" either since no guns were used. Why do we have to blame anything other than an evil person doing an evil thing?

[gatorboy]

15. VROOOOM!

Out of the woodwork they come, hugging their rifles closely. :rofl:

"Firearm culture"? Is that like Trekkies?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. That's impossible.

School shootings are new, and caused by pet election-year issues.

[joshcryer]

4. Damn, never heard of that one...

...wow.

[uppityperson]

5. Mental health issues. People have done these things forever.

They will do them forever. It just is tragic.

[treestar]

10. True, then every time it happens those with an agenda

start using it as the reason for a whole set of new laws - I think we have to try to get to this problem some other way than making it more against the law than it already is - obviously that hasn't worked.

[uppityperson]

16. I am in agreement with you. What has been done hasn't worked.

Time to figure out another way. I wish I had an answer, or even a magic wand, but I don't.

[youngdem]

31. I don't think there is 'another way'. Sometimes bad people do bad things

and if they are willing to die doing it, we really can't stop it.

Perhaps the only thing we haven't tried is having high quality, well advertised, affordable or free mental health care offered to the public and training teachers and employers how to spot troubled people and how to refer them.

[uppityperson]

33. There is that also. If someone in intent on something, sometimes they can't be stopped.

Mental health care before and after is good.

[Rex]

7. Well don't tell CNN, they say VT is the deadliest US shooting EVER!

And we all know how they make the news! So don't question it!

[pingdashf]

9. "shooting"

Bath wasn't a shooting. :)

[Rex]

14. Ah.

Edit - Oh I see, ya just blew his crazy ass up. Thanks. :)

[AshevilleGuy]

11. Another bad one was in 1966 at U Texas-Austin.

Some guy named Charles Whitman got up in the bell tower and shot several students. I do not recall how many. It turned out later he had a brain tumor, which was blamed.

[Poiuyt]

21. He killed 15, but I think there were two other deaths that were indirectly

associated with the shooting. I think in some ways the Texas tower incident may have been worse because it was out in the open and he had people pinned down, hiding behind trees for 90 minutes. For a long time, no one knew where the shots were coming from. They were both horrible though.

[John Q. Citizen]

22. Brain tumors can do that.

[Cabcere]

23. They were talking about that on CNN earlier, I think

or on one of the news networks on my campus (I don't go to VT, but I have several friends there...I'm still waiting to hear from a few of them, but it looks like most of them are all right), and they said Whitman shot sixteen people, I believe.

[pitohui]

30. good ole charles whitman, a marine and his rifle

yeah, they used to say whitman was the worst "in modern times" -- i guess that's how they would eliminate incidents from the anarchist days, although this bath, michigan incident it isn't clear to me that the guy was an anarchist taking a stand against property tax as a matter of some political ideal or if he was just a grade A kook

as others say whitman knew he was ill, had sought help, didn't get it (no modern CAT scans in those days), and turned out to have a brain tumor

a terrible case for all concerned

[Deja Q]

12. If Bush and corproate america have a plan in what they are doing,

they'd better do it soon.

We do not need these animals shooting people in schools.

Period.

[etherealtruth]

13. A piece of Michigan history that I was unaware of

yet another tidbit to file away

[TwilightGardener]

17. Just another guy who snapped and decided to take everyone to

hell with him. I'm sure this will be picked apart from a zillion angles, and everyone will try to look for warning signals in hindsight, or come up with ways to prevent this from happening again--but in the end, what can any of us do when someone is bent on killing people? Not much, besides mourn.

[stirlingsliver]

18. And Remember The Killings in Russia

Don't forget the killings that took place at a school in Russia a few years ago.

[etherealtruth]

There is no way I could eveer forget the murder of the children in Beslan

[pitohui]

32. the beslan murder was a terrorist attack, more akin to 911 than this

this attack which killed some 200 children and teachers IIRC was a deliberate and coordinated terrorist attack on that community

at this time we don't have any reason to think the virginia shooting was an act of terror or that it was planned by more than one person, of course, it may be that we'll get new information later

i think this is why no comparison is being made at this time

both terrible events but i'm guessing very different cause and very different approaches to preventing repeats and/or copycats

[etherealtruth]

34. Of course it was ...

I didn't mean to imply a comparison ... except that the events are both horrific and tragic ...and people will grieve

[pitohui]

36. absolutely, it's so hard to accept in both cases

i don't know what is more senseless -- that evil men would get together and PLAN to do this to students or that mental illness could make one person snap so badly that they just go off like a suitcase nuke all by themselves

it's just stunning and shocking on all sides

[MAGICBULLET]

19. I think the difference is

that Kehoe used only bombs as opposed to shooting. This particular shooting killed 33 including the gunman. I still find it hard to believe that it's "the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history."

[MAGICBULLET]

20. I think the difference is

that Kehoe used only bombs as opposed to shooting. This particular shooting killed 33 including the gunman. I still find it hard to believe that it's "the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history."

[stirlingsliver]

26. 17 Killed At University of Texas in 1964

Seventeen people were killed at the University of Texas in 1964 -- and that includes the sniper who killed the other 16.

I think that was the worst shooting in US history before today.

Not counting the Civil War, of course.

[Bluerthanblue]

24. the "worst" is the one that touches' you'- not the 'head-count'- I've never

really understood the fixation with numbers-
Like everyone inflating the # of 9/11 victims, rounding up- as though the 'grand total' made it 'worser'- more 'heinous' more 'painful'....

I think the Amish school tragedy was pretty horrible. The quiet routine of a simple school invaded as it was- the empathy of the older kids, who wanted to protect, spare the littler ones...

All sudden, violent, unexpected, needless premature deaths are profound tragedies.

All deaths are grievous.

Every one diminishes us all.

wishing comfort, healing, peace-
to all life

blu

[etherealtruth]

29. Well said BtB

[AuntPatsy]

37. I agree, well said.

[Beaverhausen]

25. Pointing a gun and pulling the trigger at 32 human beings is personal

bombs can kill many at once, but for one person to shoot that many people is pretty fucking horrible.

[KoKo]

27. CNN Saying that "Virginia Massacre" is WORST in US History!

Kinda shows the level of reporting doesn't it. Maybe you should send your post to them. They might learn something and have to retract... At least it's worth a try.

[stirlingsliver]

28. Battle of Antietam Was Far Worse

The Battle of Antietam was far worse than today or the 1927 attack in Michigan.

[pitohui]

35. ok sure but now we're getting silly

the battle of antietam was a war, fought with relatively primitive weapons by modern standards, but with thousands upon thousands of soldiers pretty much throwing themselves into the meat grinder for whatever reason

this vtech shooting was apparently one dude with a gun "bravely" taking on room fulls of un-armed people who had absolutely no chance at self-defense or escape for no real reason other than what? his girlfriend told him to eff off?

i think we can safely say that lots of horrible, bloody things have happened in usa history, which is a grim and bloody and depressing history if looked at too closely, but we're just trying to compare apples to apples to get some understanding of the size of this mess and how much damage ONE man can do w. modern weaspons

i'm pretty sure in modern history the gold standard was charles whitman, of brain tumor/texas tower fame

[stirlingsliver]

38. All Right, Then -- But Then Oklahoma City

All right, then, but if one man's work is the criterion for discussion here, then I might suggest that the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995 (by Timothy McVeigh) was far worse than today or 1927.

If Charles Whitman's actions were "the gold standard", the Tim McVeigh's actions were -- what? -- the Titanium/Platinum standard?

[pitohui]

40. mcveigh was an act of terror

i don't class mcveigh in the same category because it was an act of terror to make a statement about waco and mcveigh's extremist political beliefs, also, it's clear that mcveigh did not act alone

we don't yet have any reason to believe this shooting is anything except a case of mental illness

agree -- if it turns out to be an act of terror also, then clearly the comparison to mcveigh would be the better one

[stirlingsliver]

42. I'm Confused.

I'm confused now.

This thread is about how, as bad as today is, today's killings were not the worst.

The OP started by posting information about a bombing in 1927 that killed more people than the gunman did today.

There have been many more days when more Americans lost their lives.

I posted about Antietam. Someone else posted about Wounded Knee.

I posted about Oklahoma City.

There were many days before this one when more Americans lost their lives -- on American soil.

This is not to diminish in any way the horrible tragedy that took place in Blacksburg today.

But it is to agree with what the original poster said -- and to provide examples.

[geardaddy]

39. Yep, much worse than Wounded Knee

:eyes:

[Colobo]

41. In Puerto Rico, there has never been something like this

There is not one documented case of school/mass shootings. Ever. I haven't heard of such thing happening with any sort of frequency in any Latin American nation (Mexico had one case like 4 or 5 years ago, but that's about it).