Kristine Levan, PhD

September 2013

On Monday, September 16, 2013, Aaron Alexis opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing twelve people and injuring many others. It has become an all too familiar scene for us: mass gun shootings, including incidents in the past several years at Newtown, CT, Minneapolis, MN, Oak Creek, WI, Tulsa, OK, Fort Hood, TX, and many others. Although these incidents comprise only a fraction of our total murder rate, the American public has become so inundated with the stories and images of these horrific crimes that we can’t help but feel scared and outraged.
    This post is not about gun control. Though many mass killings do involve firearms , that is not the point of discussion here. Like many, as the events have unfolded in this, and the other, mass murders, I received the media messages as updates occurred. They “speculate” on this or report that “authorities currently believe”. But, just as with the other tragedies, before the details of who committed the terrible acts, or how, or how many, I knew one thing for certain:
    Whoever did this was a terribly troubled person.
    Please don’t misread this as an “excuse”, as there is no excuse for taking innocent lives. What Alexis and others like him have done is, in fact, inexcusable. But, it seems that every time an incident such as this occurs, the policymakers, media, and public have the immediate reaction to discuss gun control legislation and whether we need more or less gun control.
    History tells us that many of our mass murderers suffer from some form of mental illness. Although some are killed or commit suicide at the scene, others are captured alive and sanctioned by the justice system. We often hear accounts from family and friends that they “knew something was wrong” (although these sometimes may be retrospective and skewed accounts). Sometimes, the offenders had actually been diagnosed with a mental illness, or exhibited symptoms of a mental illness prior to their crime.
    In the case of Aaron Alexis, news accounts indicate that he was having difficulty sleeping, seemed troubled, was hearing voices, and had reported to police that he was being followed by three people. His family, and the families of his victims, are left with many unanswered questions, and a sense of lives being taken too soon.
    As a society, we have to be more vigilant in providing mental health care to those who need it. As individuals, we have to have to be more caring for one another and try to recognize when someone we know is suffering so they can get the help they need in order to heal and be whole. We have to be willing to acknowledge that there are some major issues missing from our current discussions, and address these issues accordingly.