Suspect In Texas School Shooting
Alleged gunman’s family speaks out after Timberview High School shooting
The alleged gunmans family says they are not justifying him bringing a gun but hope the investigation will reveal more about the circumstances.
The gunman, identified as 18-year-old Timothy George Simpkins, turned himself in Wednesday afternoon with his attorney.
Arlington police said Simpkins was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They recovered the .45 caliber gun.
“We had some communication with his attorney,” said Arlington Police Asst. Chief Kevin Kolbye. “He did report to an attorney he was talking to our homicide detectives he drove him to our police station we took him in to custody.”
Simpkins is currently being held in jail on a $75,000 bond.
The alleged gunmans family says they are not justifying him bringing a gun but hope the investigation will reveal more about the circumstances.
Arlington SWAT entered Simpkins home hours after police say he shot multiple people at the high school.
The Grand Prairie police chief says the alleged gun the shooter used was found in the street a few miles away from the campus.
All afternoon, Simpkins mother waited outside while police searched the family’s home. She declined an on-camera interview, but she stood by with other relatives as a family spokeswoman gave a brief statement and answered a few questions from reporters.
Behavioral Issues And Social Media
Cruz had behavioral issues since middle school, and, according to the Washington Post, he was “entrenched in the process for getting students help rather than referring them to law enforcement.” He was transferred between schools six times in three years in an effort to deal with these problems. In 2014, he was transferred to a school for children with emotional or learning disabilities. There were reports that he made threats against other students.
He returned to Stoneman Douglas High School two years later but was expelled in 2017 for disciplinary reasons. As he could not be expelled from the Broward County School system completely, he was transferred to alternative placement. The school administration had circulated an email to teachers, warning that Cruz had made threats against other students. The school banned him from wearing a backpack on campus.
In February 2017, Cruz legally purchased an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle from a Coral Springs gun store, after having passed the required background check. Prior to the purchase he had similarly obtained several other firearms, including at least one shotgun and several other rifles. At the time of the shooting, in Florida, it was legal for people as young as 18 to purchase guns from federally licensed dealers, including the rifle allegedly used in the shooting. The minimum age requirement has since been raised to 21.
Attitude To Other People
Eric stated on one occasion “I hate almost everyone” and ah yes “I wanna rip his head off and eat it” in a “flat voice”. . After a fishing trip he talked about going back to “shithead society populated by automatons too dense to comprehend what was out there”. . Eric also wrote “if you have a problem with my thoughts, come and tell me and I’ll kill you” . Another one of his rants was “I hate”. . According to p.216 Eric’s “only internal struggle concerned which stupid bastards was more deserving of his wrath”. He saw himself as an avenging God. Before the massacre of course he was a petty criminal. ) noted that Eric “savoured the idea heroic opportunities to obliterate alien hoards. His dreams were riddled with gunfire and explosions” and “he was always dazzled by fire”. Eric made “death threats” to another student. p.88. Eric wrote on his website that he wanted to “mow down” the people of his area and that “I donât care if I live or die in the shootout…”all I want to do is kill and injure as many of you pricks as I can”. p.216. p. 219 notes that Eric “described going to some random downtown area….and blowing up and shooting up everything he could. He assured us he would feel no remorse, no sorrow, no shame. He would make them pay”. This shows an incredibly deep hatred of the human race and he did not have a traumatic childhood. Again we are dealing with a personality and with problems largely coming from inside him.
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Psychopathy Autism And School Shootings
Overlap of Autism Additional information is available at the end of the chapter http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58882
6. Conclusion School shootings and mass killings are not uncommonly committed by persons with neurodevelopmental disorders i.e. Criminal Autistic Psychopathy/Asperger’s Syndrome with often a good deal of warning based on writings on the internet and elsewhere.
Students And Parents Fear The Worst
Shocked parents race to find children after shooting
Just minutes after the first reports of gunfire at the school, parents raced toward Timberview High but were advised to stay away. A nearby arts center became the official meetup spot for families.
Just minutes after the first reports of gunfire at the school, parents raced toward Timberview High but were advised to stay away. A nearby arts center became the official meetup spot for families.
The Mansfield Independent School District said the campus was placed on lockdown during the active shooter incident. All students and staff were locked in their classrooms and offices and no visitors were allowed on campus.
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Parents desperate for information clung to their cell phones.
“I had her also text me the names of all the kids that were in the closet with her,” said parent Jacinta Mitchell.
The lockdown was followed by a monumental task of moving more than 1,500 students safely from the campus to a designated meeting point.
“I just got back from work. I was trying to relax when I got this text message from my daughter,” said Akhere Isenalumhe, whose daughter is a sophomore. “We are all confused. We just don’t know what’s going on. This is just too close to home. We never thought something like this would happen right here in our backyard so.”
“I love my baby. I love my baby girl,” Frank Earl said.
Chasity Turner was in the classroom next door.
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Earlier Warnings To Law Enforcement
Sheriff Scott Israel said that his office received 23 calls about Cruz during the previous decade, but this figure is in dispute. CNN used a public records request to obtain a sheriff’s office log, which showed that from 2008 to 2017, at least 45 calls were made in reference to Cruz, his brother, or the family home. On February 5, 2016, the calls included an anonymous tip that Cruz had threatened to shoot up the school, and a tip on November 30, 2017, that he might be a “school shooter in the making” and that he collected knives and guns. On September 23, 2016, a peer counselor notified the school resource officer of his suicide attempt and intent to buy a gun the school indicated it would do a “threat assessment.”
In September 2016, three peopleâa sheriff’s deputy who worked as a resource officer at Stoneman Douglas, and two of the school’s counselorsâstated that Cruz should be committed for mental evaluation.
On September 24, 2017, a person with the username “nikolas cruz” posted a comment to a video that read, “Im going to be a professional school shooter.” The person who uploaded the video to YouTube reported the comment to the FBI. According to agent Robert Lasky, the agency conducted database reviews but was unable to track down the individual who made the threatening comment.
Hints Of Suspicion And Discomfort Arise After Parkland School Shooting For Children Who Are Different
FORT LAUDERDALE In the aftermath of the Parkland massacre, some students with disabilities are being taunted or callously pegged by others as being the next school shooter, parents and experts say.
Theres been a lot of bullying going on in our schools, said Kelly Busch, a South Florida advocate for children with autism.
School and mental health records show thatNikolas Cruz, who killed 17 and wounded 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on Valentines Day, was reported to have numerous conditions, including autism and severe behavioral and emotional problems.
Slapping Cruz with an autistic label has increased the angst of parents of children with the neurological disorder, who already struggle to foster acceptance and compassion for their children.
Experts say some people with autism, especially children, may find it hard to communicate or to control their emotions. They can experience sensory overload, or become frustrated when unable to express themselves and may become aggressive or irritated. Their outbursts such as throwing a chair occur in flashes, however, and typically are minor and over quickly. Premeditated acts of violence are not a symptom of autism.
Yet Valerie Herskowitz, of Jupiter, who has a grown son with autism, said shes heard from parents that some students have asked autistic children: Are you going to kill us?
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Autism Society Statement On Parkland Florida School Shooting
The Autism Society of America extends our thoughts and prayers to the families of the 17 innocent adults and children who were killed and those injured in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. We cant imagine the grief and sorrow of all impacted by these shootings. We thank the first responders and teachers who were there to help students through this horrific tragedy.
Some media outlets and social media messages are suggesting the individual arrested for these killings may have autism. In some news reports, the reporting of his diagnosis may imply a linkage of an autism diagnosis and committing violence. No reliable research has found that a person who is autistic is more likely to commit violence than a person without an autism diagnosis. In fact, existing research finds that autistic individuals are more likely to be victims of violence than those without an autism diagnosis. There is no confirmation of the diagnosis of the individual arrested.
We ask that those reporting about this tragic event not suggest or imply any linkage of autism and violence. Implying or suggesting that a person who is diagnosed with autism is violent is not only wrong but hurtful to the over 3.5 million individuals living in the United States and any other individual with an autism diagnosis.
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About 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is more prevalent in boys than in girls.
Attorney Jeff Kasky of Delray Beach, whose son Cameron co-founded the #NeverAgain movement, has another child, Holden, who is autistic. Both boys attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and were hiding in a classroom in the freshman building during the shooting.
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Jack Bradley is a high school junior at The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics at Morehead State University in Kentucky, the Inclusion Ambassador for the student voice team of the Pritchard Committee for Academic Excellence and chief storyteller for jackbenimble.org.
The Myth Of The Autistic Shooter
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INEXPLICABLE violence is the hardest kind to accept. The human wish to insert logic where there is none often drives bystanders to psychic violence of their own. This happened again last week, after it was reported that the shooter at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, Christopher Harper-Mercer, who killed nine people and injured several others, may have been autistic. Although there is no established connection between autism and murder, some eagerly leapt to causality and scapegoating.
The killers diagnosis was based primarily on posts on Yahoo made over the last decade by his mother, Laurel Harper, in which she characterized both herself and her son as having Aspergers syndrome a category no longer in medical use that describes autistic people with advanced verbal skills. Mr. Harper-Mercer attended a school that caters to children with special needs, including autism. While Ms. Harper is not a doctor, her descriptions of her son across his childhood are consistent with the syndrome.
A Facebook page called Families Against Autistic Shooters ranted about the soulless, dead eyes of autistic children, and characterized them as cold, calculating killing machines with no regard for human life! Its author announced: What do all shooters over the last few years have in common? A lack of empathy and compassion due to Autism!
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Talk To Your Children
Parents are sometimes afraid to bring up school shootings with their children, because they dont want to scare them. But children will have often heard about a school shooting that is getting a lot of attention in the media, and bringing it up can actually alleviate any anxiety they might be feeling. Avoiding potentially scary topics can make them scarier to children.
These discussions are a chance for you to answer questions that they might have and provide some reassurance. While you cant promise that their school will never have a shooting, you can in good faith tell them that school shootings are actually very rare and remind them that they practice drills at school to keep them safe.
If you arent sure what to say, you can always ask your kids if they have any questions. Use common sense about how much detail to go into, and try not to use euphemisms or fuzzy language, which can make a young childs imagination run wild.
You can also take this opportunity to share important messages that you want to communicate. For example, Dr. Howard suggests saying, If a classmate of yours is struggling, we dont do nothing. We dont gossip about them. We tell a grownup so they can get help. Or if your child is a teenager, and another student says or writes something scary, the same advice holds: they should let an adult know.
Is There A Link Between School Shootings And Developmental Disorders
It has been suggested that Chris Mercer, the shooter in the Oregon community college incident, had a developmental disorder . Are people with autism more prone to violence than the general population? What can be done to address any potential violent tendencies early before tragedy strikes? What are the pros and cons of medication in these cases? I have so many other questions We have a teenager with Aspergers who has exhibited aggression, not only toward us, but with a few of his classmates as well. So, I believe we are justified in our concern at this point. More resources for parents of children and teens with High-Functioning Autism and Asperger’s:
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How Can We Prepare Our Kids With Special Needs For A School Crisis
The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., started after the fire alarm went off for the second time that day. Its this detail that I keep thinking about because my son with autism, at his school in Chicago, hates unexpected noises and changes in his routine.
Would he have calmly followed his teacher out the door again? Once they realized it was not a fire drill, would he have quickly gone back inside and hidden like they had practiced? Would he have stayed quiet, which is difficult for him even under typical circumstances?
In the two weeks since the deadly mass school shooting, I cant get these questions out of my head. My son, who is 6, hasnt seen the news of the shooting and probably would not be able to process it, anyway. Hes an intelligent and literal child who needs tangible, visual evidence to understand how the world works or doesnt. Because of that, I am struggling with how to prepare my kindergartner and his 3-year-old brother, who is also autistic and in preschool, for any number of emergency scenarios that could happen at school, including an active shooter.
We really have to make sure weve planned for our students, particularly for these students who wouldnt necessarily survive on their own, she tells me.
Im asking now.
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Developmental And Mental Health Problems
Lanza presented with developmental challenges before the age of three. These included communication and sensory difficulties, socialization delays, and repetitive behaviors. He was seen by the New Hampshire Birth to Three intervention program and referred to special education preschool services. Once at elementary school, he was diagnosed with a sensory-integration disorder. Sensory-processing disorder does not have official status by the medical community as a formal diagnosis but is a common characteristic of autism. His anxiety affected his ability to attend school and in 8th grade he was placed on “homebound” status, which is reserved for children who are too disabled, even with supports and accommodations, to attend school.
When he was 13, Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome by a psychiatrist, Paul Fox. When he was 14, his parents took him to Yale University’s Child Study Center, where he was also diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder . He frequently washed his hands and changed his socks 20 times a day, to the point where his mother did three loads of laundry a day. He also sometimes went through a box of tissues in a day because he could not touch a doorknob with his bare hand.
Yale’s recommendations for extensive special education supports, ongoing expert consultation, and rigorous therapeutic supports embedded into daily life went largely unheeded.
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