WHY? Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History -- Is this a Retirement issue, or not?

by Wendy, www.retirement-online.com

Mourning Las Vegas Deaths

How can a 64-year old man, having lived a long life but with lots more possibilities... how can he randomly, with totally no regard, take all these lives in Las Vegas?

At this point, 1pm eastern time on 10.2.17 -- 58 dead, 500+ injured.

He was "only" 64 for Pete's sake! He could have had 20 more years. 30 more years!

He appears to have lived an absolutely normal life with no criminal background. He lives in a senior community in Nevada, nothing was found in the house (some firearms but he always owned a few). His brother can't believe what's happening. He leaves behind a 90-year old mother who wonders what the heck happened. Seriously?

Why on earth would someone do this? I know. No answers... but I keep thinking about his age. I don't get it!

Is life so totally worthless (both his own and all the lives he ended)?

Is this just one more person with a breakdown?

Is this a retirement issue?
Is retired life REALLY that bad?

Did he fall into depression in his retired years?

Did he live a silent, sad lifestyle?

Retirees: what do YOU think? I am trying to process what happened.

Comments for WHY? Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History -- Is this a Retirement issue, or not?

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Problem is the ease of gun ownership in the USA
by: Anonymus

26% of Japanese citizens are over 65 compared to less than 15% of Americans. Therefore retirement is not the reason here as Japan has the lowest murder rate in the world.

Mental health issue is not just a monopoly of seniors as it affects all ages.

Yet---only the US has more killings by GUNS than any other countries! According to the news: the Las Vegas killer had legally bought more than 30 weapons and had 23 firearms in his hotel room---to slaughter strangers, for whatever reason! At least 59 people killed and 520 injured in 10 minutes. If he was using a knife, he'd be overpowered in seconds and the casualties would be minimal.

The 2nd Amendment was written in 1791! Unless the American people rise up and have the gut s to go against the NRA and get rid of the antiquated "right to bear arms" law, tragedies happened in LV could happen anywhere, again, in the US. Well?

NOT a Retirement Issue
by: Ben , KY

Please, do not think this is a retirement issue. Sure, some people get depressed during retirement and sure some have mental illness-I don't think this is either one.

As information become available, I think it will come out that this guy was part of an evil group and that he knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.

It's sad but times are changing. Do some research, look at Germany, France, and Italy. They are undergoing a radical change.

This was not your basic 64-year-old retired guy with mental health or depression problems...wait and see. There's a lot more to the story.

What changed?
by: Tony

Something very fundamental has changed in our country. The first of the mass shootings that seemed to "switch on" this craze was around 1986 with the first of the Post Office shootings that then became a well known phrase "going postal". from their, we started seeing shootings in the work place beyond the Post Office, then into the schools, and now it is a fairly regular occurrence everywhere in the US.

We have always had folks suffering from mental illness. We have never had gun control. Yet, despite these facts, it has been since the late 80s that we have been having mass shootings with amazing regularity. This was not te case prior to the late 80s. There were some rare occurrences of mass shootings, but nothing like what we have today.

It seems to me that the root cause needs to be determined (i.e. what changed???), and that needs to be addressed. I don't know what the root cause is, but I am old enough to have seen when these mass shootings became commonplace and to have lived long before then. Our country was not like this prior to the late 80s despite the fact that people had weapons and that there were many folks with mental illness.

Tony

Shooting
by: plp

Mental illness is just not a good enough answer to the parents, spouses, and children of the killed. This shooter planned this shooting with high powered guns! 59 souls are gone and many, many maimed to suffer through the rest of their lives. Pure evil!

Regarding Deadliest Shooting
by: Patricia Murphy - SW Michigan

My understanding is that this guy disappeared, according to his neighbors, for a period of about 6 months. That's about as long as it takes to radicalize someone and turn them into a terrorist.

This has nothing to do with retirement-everything to do with the terrorism that is sweeping the world these days.

This guy had everything going for him. He had no money worries like most of us, his life was good. And his family is dumbfounded, so there is no apparent family mental issue to be dealt with. There is NO logical answer beyond, for some reason, his allowing himself to be turned into a terrorist. Why? We'll probably never know any more than we know why any misguided terrorist finds pleasure in blowing up innocent people.

But don't, for a second, attach any meaning in this to being retired. That is utter nonsense.

Retirement Issue or not?
by: Joe W.

Based on my research for the Seniorpreneur Project I know that men in general tend to have more problems adjusting to their new retirement life versus women. Acts of violence tends to be more predominant in men whether it's committing suicide or harming others. Women have more support groups than men have and they seem to adjust better in retirement and life in general.

It's unusual to have a case where the individual involved possesses all the possible good & bad characteristics i.e. being very rich, living in a comfortable retirement community but at the same time having serious physical problems, mental issues and other adjustment problems. Maybe this will be the event that motivates government at all levels to help seniors more in their quest for a better quality of life in their pre-retirement or retirement life.

Joe W.
Seniorpreneur

Mental Health Has No Age Limit
by: Linda/Nevada

I woke up this morning to the news of the shootings in Las Vegas, NV. I live in Henderson, NV, which is only 10 to 15 miles from Las Vegas so this tragedy happened practically in my backyard. Like everyone else, I wonder why the shooter did such an evil crime.

I believe this man was dealing with anger, depression, and lack of coping skills on steriods. Mental illness, like an infection, lingers until professional help is received. Doctors want your blood sugar and triglycerides to be under control but they do not spend the time to question how your mental state is.

When I first became retired, my primary care doctor made the comment to me, that I was behaving like a lazy teenager who sleeps all day during their summer vacation. I let the comment slide but I was very hurt and offended by her lack of empathy for my sudden turn of events in my life. She couldn't understand why I was not eager to get back out there in the workforce. For awhile, I felt hatred toward her.

We rarely know the mental state of people we encounter but yet we carelessly make unkind or harsh comments. Mentally ill people are fragile and sometimes react to negative situations with aggression, revenge, and violence. We all should be more vigilant about how we deal with people because we never know if someone is about to explode.

Time and many hours of investigation might reveal why this man killed so many people but it could have happened when he was, 15, 25, or 50 years old. The dark, black kettle was probably brewing in his life for a period of time, but unfortunately, no one saw the signs of his torment.

What he did was evil but when mental illness is ignored and given a low priority in our healthcare system, why are we surprised why tragedy strikes?

We are beginning to learn more
by: Anonymous

Hi Wendy,
No this is not a retirement issue.

The autopsy has only begun but this man had a brain tumor he did not know about. That often changes a personality if left untreated (or if the treatment does not agree with his body chemistry) .Also Isis has sais he reently became a Muslim so if that is true together with the brain disease may have triggered this activity It was not a breakdown, it was well planned.

Who knows
by: Sandy

I think it dangerous to try to determine why this person felt the need to kill so many innocent people. Given that many shooters have been young, I don't think this is a retirement issue. I think it is a mental health issue.

As a society, we have never given mental health the priority it deserves, whether the person be 14 or 64. Depression, anxiety and other mental health issues are terrible diseases. And social isolation only exacerbates the problem. Until we begin to address the issues surrounding mental health, we can continue to experience these issues.

Again, this is just an uninformed opinion. And we know what they say about opinions - they are like a bellybutton - everyone has one.