The Colorado shootings: Why?

Rain falls today as if heaven itself is in mourning, each drop a tear from the Creator for the lives lost in Friday’s shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

They are tears for the living, tears for the wounded, tears for the dead, tears for the innocent lives lost in senseless violence by the hands of a cold-blooded mass murderer. It was an unspeakable act that has many such as myself asking the same question over and over again. It is only one word.

Why?

This question is the very heart of this whole nightmare. Media will go over everything and then some by the time this column comes out, at least six ways to Sunday. It will be over-analyzed in some cases. I can guarantee that. This has touched us all in some way or another. Frankly, it may be the one question that never will be answered to anyone’s satisfaction.

What we do know at this time is people went to the theater to see the new Batman movie premier at a special midnight showing. These were people like you and me, families and friends gathering together to watch the latest installment in the saga of the Batman, one of my favorite comic book heroes of my childhood. I’m still a big fan, and I love the latest movies about him. I have them on DVD. So were these people fans, too; excited about the latest thrilling tale to explode onto the big screen.

What happened next was a nightmare. A man dressed head to toe in tactical body armor burst into the crowed theater, armed with two Glock handguns, a shot gun and a AR-15/M-4 type carbine. The man tossed two gas grenades that exploded in the theater. Then he opened fire. He shot at anyone who moved.

Overall, 70 men, women and children were shot. The toll? Twelve dead, 58 wounded. The numbers are cold, heartless. They read like a casualty report from war. Yet this was not an action of war. The people involved were just plain, everyday folk. Even the alleged shooter himself was not a soldier. He is, or was, a college student studying for a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Now he sits in a jail cell awaiting his fate.

So how does a horror like this happen? What drove an intelligent person to commit such an act?

Why?

Some say the line between genius and insanity is very thin. I don’t buy that the alleged shooter, James Holmes, was insane.

He methodically planned the entire thing, from booby-trapping his apartment with tripwire-triggered fire bombs, the purchase of body armor and weapons (nearly all can legally purchased), gas grenades and purchasing that fatal movie ticket, which gave him inside access to that fire exit door to prop open for his entrance into infamy. In my opinion, these actions were not that of an insane person. This must be determined by a court of law as to real truth of what really happened. As to the why? Well, I hope that is found out, too.

When something like this happens there’s often a knee-jerk reaction concerning existing gun laws on federal and state levels. No gun law either in existence now or in the future could have prevented this. No one could have foreseen this from taking place, unless one hires psychics to work in gun shops. The laws on the books may not be perfect. None are. But they are adequate for the time being.

How do victims cope with all of this unfolding in their lives? How can they find some measure of peace from the violent chaos that one determined person was bent on delivering in that packed theater? They only wanted to see a movie, have some fun at a midnight showing.

No harm in that at all. Instead, they received a mega dose of bullets, mayhem, terror, searing pain from bullet wounds and in some cases, death. This is not what anyone wanted when buying their tickets. This is not part of the admission, nor should it ever be.

Rain continues to fall outside. Wind rustles the trees as if they, too, feel the sadness of it all. They have been the guiding light writing this. Tears from heaven fall for those affected by this tragic horror. As they fall, prayers go up, where they meet the Creator who spreads the well-wishes and heartfelt prayers back down to that town in Colorado in the hopes that some small measure of peace and healing graces the wounded, the living and the families of the innocent dead.

Maybe someday that nagging question haunting us all will be finally answered — why?

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.