Colorado Shooter James Holmes family knew he had issues

Hi Kaylene It is not my intention to offend or to attack the family – sorry about that. And you are right about children coming from great homes and turning out not so great. It happens more than we like to admit and the parents are not to blame.

My point though is that in this specific case there had to be signs. You pretty much agree with that too. Had to be because I do not feel that any mother receiving a call like that would so quickly say, “You have the right person” unless there were things in the past. Even the gun club, who didn’t know him described him as bizarre and would not accept him as a member.

His parents are grieving too – I am sure of that but I do 100% believe that in light of this terrible, terrible tragedy that they need to speak and speak truthfully about it, put out whatever skeletons there may be because it will help others, whether it is families going through similar issues with their children and even mental health professionals so that they can better recognize signs and try to take some action to prevent these types of awful tragedies.

By them speaking about what they saw – AND IGNORED – obviously or hopefully never thinking it would turn out this way, their insight will be invaluable.

Thanks for sharing your views.

That’s true David. We’d all be locked up! But seriously, there are major flaws that need to be addressed in our health care system. As Madi mentioned, once you are over 18 years of age, the parents lose a large portion of their control.

I thought the same exact thing. I am sure she was very upset but still – -

Hello Annalise. I did see the statement from the family and I am not sure if I buy it although I am not saying it is false.

Yes, he is a grown man living in another state however he has only been living in that other state (Colorado) for a about a year or so. Since he couldn’t hold on to a job and there is no record of him even having a job in Colorado, it is highly likely that he was relying on his parents for some type of financial support – even if he had some scholarships due to good grades. So he has only been out of the state where his parents live for a relatively short time.

I find that many of the angry-ish and more passionate comments such as yours come from those who had issues with kids and then fall back on that they can’t control what their kids do.

While that is true, in most cases it is not an issue since their kids don’t turn out to be mass murderers. It turns into a big issue and other peoples concern when 12 people are ruthlessly and savagely murdered including a 6 year old child and another 50+ people are injured and some of those people may still succumb to their injuries and die due to this one person’s actions!

So I find it mighty strange for you to say, “his family doesn’t owe you or any of the rest of us anything”.

His behaviors didn’t manifest overnight – that’s a fact. And his actions were also VERY premeditated. Months and months of assembling all his tools for a massacre took intelligence, planning, focus and a lot of money. He received numerous deliveries and was outfitted in protective gear – none of these items come cheap. He also put in tons of research before committing his horrible act.

Were his parents supporting him? Were they sending cash? Were they letting him use a credit card? (If so, that would open a whole other can of worms if they saw receipts) I for one would like to know where all the money came from for him to assemble his deadly and very expensive arsenal.

You know why? Because that would be a sign. This guy did not snap overnight.

And you say his family doesn’t owe us? I beg to differ. Although they are not to blame since it was his actions that caused mass casualties not theirs, if his family can shed any light into what he was like – any obsessions etc, things they may have noticed but didn’t think it was that big of a deal, anything – their insights can be invaluable in research and to perhaps assist other parents to recognize some signs of an extremely disturbed mind. This will help so that action can be taken before rather than after.

If he would have just killed himself, then obviously this would have been a non-issue and if the family did not want to talk, then so be it. Those same rules do not apply to a massacre involving over 70 innocent people!

That does sound reasonable. They are no doubt going through a lot. I just have a feeling that with legal issues and such, it may not happen for awhile.

Hello Deborah – I think you mean me (chellie) instead of Anneliese -I think sot sure.

I’ve repeatedly said that I do not blame the parents however their silence is really baffling. The mother will hold a press conference to clarify her comments about her version of the initial phone call, ONLY after her lawyer was assured that there was no audio recording of that conversation. That just sounds plain fishy and doesn’t present the family in a positive light.

Of course I know that not everyone can be reported to police. And I mentioned that a few comments down.

I do firmly hold that this guy had problems that did not manifest overnight. This isn’t like he freaked out one day and did a really horrible thing.

It took months (and months) of planning. In his notebook recently found, he painstakingly detailed what he was going to do – it’s really sad that the letter sat opened until after the massacre took place.

Where did he get the money from if he doesn’t work? This was not a hundred dollars. This is thousands of dollars. Thousands, How did he pay rent? Living expenses. Maybe he had a trust – I don’t know the answer which is why I am asking. I think it is a very VERY valid question.

Although I am not fishing for a story, I am always open to it. I’d welcome his family to contact me to present their side as long as they would agree to answer questions. (not like Katherine Jackson who makes a one sided statement and won’t answer any questions)

Since his behavior did not manifest overnight, his parents should speak out. Maybe they took him for help and was told he wasn’t crazy? Maybe they were told that unless he does something, their hands were tied? Maybe they even turned a blind eye to his behavior thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal? And maybe, but I really doubt it, he seemed normal to them.

There’s a lot of maybe’s and no answers.

If they could help one family – just one – to possibly recognize signs of a really troubled mind of the killer kind, they would be doing the world a big service in helping to prevent another massacre. And it would help mental health professional too.

Fortunately we do have too many people (that we know of) that are mass murderers. So for the few that we know about, we need to know about the behaviors.

Again their silence is baffling.

Peter – I do think a lot of people are thinking it – you know I am thinking it and saying it. Yes, you sure make a great point about the civil lawsuits that will no doubt be filed. They did “lawyer-up” lightening fast!