Analyzing What's Behind Recent Mall Shootings

I always wince a little right before a newscaster shares the name of the shooter who took out his aggression, anger or disappointment with life through the senseless killing of many at a mall, school or a church. I wince not just because I have a tough time hearing of such a tragic event, but I wince with the thought that in the next second, I may hear the name of a young person from a family I know.

I wonder about this 19-year-old kid in Omaha, Nebraska and what his motivation was to shoot and kill 9 innocent people and injure several others in a crowded mall on December 5 --the deadliest mall shooting in US history. Did anyone sense that something like this could happen? Where were the shooter's friends? Where were Mom and Dad? Why did he feel that the killing of others would compensate for loss in his own life? Where did his hopelessness and rage come? Don't you find yourself asking the same questions, trying to "make sense" of it all?

Many of the increasingly common mall, school and church shooting tragedies are met with comments from friends of the shooter that say in some form, "I never knew that this person would do this..." or, "We did all the right things...how could this have happened?" or "This young man was a Christian kid, how could he have....?" These are questions that we probably won't know the answer to this side of heaven. But, I'm convinced of this. We live in a hurting world that hurts people. And those hurt people, hurt other people.

Hurt people, hurt people. And if we can help those who hurt, it will stop them from hurting others.

Hopelessness is a tough state of mind to be in, no matter who you are. And hopelessness left alone can breed depression and even contempt. In a state of depression people just don't think well. They feel isolated. They feel that no one likes them. They feel "dark." They are sometimes consumed with irrational thoughts like, "Why was I even born?" or, "I'm nothing but a failure." Left alone and untreated, these people can justify just about anything....ending their own life, an uncaring attitude about other's lives, and a mindset that "things will only get worse." It's a tough place to be.