Does this change your view of the tragedy? Psychiatrist Called Threat Team About James Holmes

I clicked 'no' too quickly.
while it doesn't change my view of HIM, it definitely changes my view of those surrounding him and what they might have done to stop the carnage before it happened.

I was a clinical counselor for many years and I can unequivocally say that what the school officials did was unethical at the least - possibly criminal.
they're hiding behind, "He dropped out of school so what could we do?"

they COULD HAVE done plenty. if a person is judged to be a possible threat to self or others they are mandated by federal law to notify the authorities and arrange for him to be placed in a hospital for observation. it doesn't matter if he is a student in their institution or not. they violated the law by doing nothing. end of discussion.

so - how many lives have they shattered by taking the easy way out and saying, "He's no longer our problem"? Far more than the number of dead - that's certain. every life creates ripples.
and if only ONE life had been impacted - it would be one too many.

I hope they are charged with negligence - at least. and I hope they lose their licenses - at least.
after all, if you don't want to be faced with the tough decisions, psychology is the wrong field for you.

I think he's a terribly sick man, but that doesn't make what he did any less horrendous. However, hopefully this will be a wake up call for our society. We need to start paying more attention to mental illness in this country.

People are still dead, hindsight is 20/20.

This reminds of me of every major tragedy including 9/11- it is very easy in hindsight to look back and see the oversights and errors- many small human errors added up to allow the tragedy to occur