It saddens me that the killer took the coward way out.

What, he should have gotten into a shootout with the police? I'd say it's too bad he didn't take the coward's way out sooner -- like alone in his apartment this morning.

We don't know the why in this incident.. Until we do all that is appropriate is condolences to those injured and to the families of those her killed.

I feel sorry for everyone who was there, including the crazy b***ard who did it.

Is there ever a "why" except a psycho with a gun?

The only blessing is that the killer did take "the coward's way" out.

I wonder what role prescribed pharmaceuticals may have had in this event....

I was in a local Fred Meyer store a few days ago, and noticed they have added an entire firearm section to the sporting goods dept. I guess I missed the memo, it just surprised me.

I also recently read that S&W gun sales were up 50% from last year. Not making any judgments, just sayin..

You're right. We can't agree so we'll just keep living in fear.

As usual the shooter likely wanted to create a BIG event and that he did with 100+ SWAT members marching into the Mall about an hour and a half after the last shot was fired. Build it and they will come.

Better if the PD watched TV News as they were well ahead in the information game.

"Is there ever a "why" except a psycho with a gun?"

This happens when people lose hope. There's a lot of that going around, and with the political and economic worlds in chaos, things will likely get worse. The question is, will the country figure out how to get back on its legs again? And can we regain hope (not the political campaign propaganda kind) for our future? The world view that is being portrayed by the media and politicians (and urban/social-engineering planners) all doom and gloom. Even the strong and capable are being hit hard by this - what is there for the young and weak?

Smart growth.

Like I said, there's no hope.

Hopelessly vibrant.

Hopelessness. It's renewable and sustainable!

Mojo- Maybe, but it's also just SAD (Sustainable Anxiety by Design).

I refuse to believe that things can't be better. I refuse to give in to the dark forces. It's better to have hopeless hope than none at all.

I remain unvanquished, too, Nolo.

I missed it if there was a source (citation) for the "mental illness" diagnosis. Or if it was only the pop psychology manner of naming the act for the diagnosis.

However if he was being treated or was on meds, there is a seriousness (or severity) in today's pharmacopoeia of mind- and reality-altering chemistry which is not sensibly dismissed out-of-hand with a side-wave.
Some sites on the web have been collecting details of gun-glory atrocities incidents, collecting medical details in particular, publicly told about the shooters. And in the collection is somewhat an apparent pattern -- that the shooters have come to crisis along a trail that went through (1) psychiatric drug dosages, and (2) administered by or incidental to military facilities such as V.A. clinics or to 'government medical' 'research' participation.
Which sounds like foreshadowing conspiracy-theory conjecture ... but then truly examining the evidence on-record, it is a bit uneasy to dismiss the rather pronounced recurring pattern in the facts, case after case. The uneasy feeling is similar to circumspection upon hearing that FBI 'undercover' agents have been talking for a year and 'working with' some figure who pops up in the news as 'caught in the act' of this or that terrible fear scare. And fear promotion or scare staging does suit the purpose benefiting sellers of ephemeral fear-protection.

Just to see the 'cases' I'm refering to, search-engine some phrases like "shooter psychoses brainwashed" or "gun violence mind control." Some TV'commercials' for experimental tests of depression pills, fer gawdsakes, almost sound like they're trolling to recruit on-edge subjects. What's up with that?
And along the lines someone already pointed out, evil mind-control 'doctors' would not necessarily order their 'braindroids' to specifically "get a gun and go shoot," when the same results might be obtained indirectly by building and building a desperation pressure like, "you're jobless, you're homeless, you're useless, you're outcast, you're terminal -- what does that make you feel like doing? ...."

No, I don't have anything to say about today's incident. But I may suspend judgment until (if) hearing some reports of the shooter's medical involvements or medications within the last year or two.

When you do what this person did, you are mentally ill. The act speaks for itself.

The shooter was reported to be a teenager. If you can remember being that young, you know how vulnerable that time of life is to emotional swings - no drugs needed. It's a tumultuous period, made more difficult by contemporary life - growing up too fast, knowing more than they are ready for, being put in positions they cannot handle, making decisions that will affect them for years to come. It is overwhelming for adults let alone beginner adults.

The loss of innocence and the loss of a culture that protects its young (rather than exploits them) has left kids' inner lives in turmoil. If you know a kid, help them to succeed in something and guide them to adulthood where they can fit in somewhere. Every child needs someone to care about them - maybe that person is you, Tenskwatawa.

This one has a personal sting to it, because my brother-in-law made the news earlier this year in much the same way. In his case, he was planning to take my sister and their two kids with him, and his holing up in an empty house and shooting himself as the police drove up was his last bid for the attention he so desperately craved.

I am saddened for those who hurt.
I am angry at the one who did the hurting.
And I am braced for Ginny Burdick and Penny Okamoto to begin their horrid dance that will only restrain the innocent.

It is easier to get prescribed meds (and their side effects and synergistic effects) than it is to get an assault rifle.

And then there's also things like this:

Can Humans Be Controlled by Tiny Parasites?
Study finds common parasite could be influencing human behavior -- More than 60 million Americans carry the single-celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which infects brain tissue.

By Jason Koebler, US News & World Report (December 7, 2012)

Could microscopic parasites have the ability to take control of a human being? Scientists are starting to think so.

A third of the world's population may have a parasitic infection that scientists believe to have an impact on human behavior.

The protozoan parasite, called Toxoplasma gondii, has long been considered to be an "asymptomatic" parasite in humans. But lab tests and a new report suggest that it may cause or intensify severe forms of schizophrenia, could have an impact on how human hormones are secreted in the brain, and may cause personality changes.

Con't at http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/12/07/can-humans-be-controlled-by-tiny-parasites

Police: Ore. mall shooter used stolen rifle
By Steven DuBois and Jonathan J. Cooper | Associated Press – 1 hr 0 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/police-ore-mall-shooter-used-stolen-rifle-181931596.html

"This happens when people lose hope. There's a lot of that going around .... "

Maybe that's a part of it, in a larger (and sicker?) cultural context. But I can think of examples the world over and in various historical times where people lost or had no hope that did not result in irrational violent outbursts against strangers and innocents. This has to tie into expectations and a mediated reality in an individual psyche. Anger and need for attention. Somehow bullets into strangers make a particularly poor cry for help.

Suicide I can half-understand. Homicide is incomprehensible to me. How about this for a horrible question: Can the parents be totally oblivious or innocent?