Shooter of teens gave off unrecognized signs...

[Musketeer]

Hopefully being about a shooting is firearms related enough. Again I see a shooter being painted as someone who "just snapped" when that is obviously far from the truth. This guy had big problems already and hopefully others will learn from some of these OBVIOUS danger signs... Bold type added by me.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396841,00.html

Mother of Suspected Wisconsin Gunman Says He 'Turned Inward' After Wife Left Him

Monday , August 04, 2008

AP

KINGSFORD, Mich. —
When he learned police were looking for him, Scott Johnson tried to assure his mother that he would take care of the situation.

"He walked out, and that's the last time I saw my boy," Judy Johnson said.

The next morning, her son emerged from woods in northern Wisconsin and surrendered to police who suspect he gunned down a group of young swimmers along a riverbank. Three teens died, and a 20-year-old was injured.

Johnson, who has been held at the Marinette County jail since Friday, could be charged in the slayings as early as Monday.

Judy Johnson shared a home with her 38-year-old son and described him as a once-carefree father who became introverted after his wife left him seven years ago and took their two children to Ohio.

"He kept saying, 'I lost everything; I have nothing,"' his mother told The Associated Press on Sunday. "He just grew heartsick and started turning inward."

She said she didn't think her son had had a girlfriend since his divorce.

Police officers came to the Johnson residence on Thursday afternoon and left a business card. They didn't tell Judy Johnson that they were investigating a complaint that her son had sexually assaulted a woman on Wednesday at the river.

Her son returned to their home a few hours later, and she gave him the card.

"He seemed calm but looked like he was anxious to leave," she said tearfully.

She said he was probably "freaked out" over police interest in him.

According to police, Scott Johnson ended up at a bridge about 3 miles from the river hangout. Authorities allege he jumped out from bushes and opened fire on about a half-dozen young people relaxing by the bridge. Two teens ran to a nearby house, where the homeowner called police.

Killed were Tiffany Pohlson, 17; Anthony Spigarelli, 18; and Bryan Mort, 19. Twenty-year-old Daniel Louis Gordon was wounded. All were from Michigan.

When Johnson surrendered to police, he was dressed in camouflage and carrying a rifle.

Authorities have not commented on a possible motive for the shooting or said whether it and the alleged sexual assault might be linked.

Johnson has not been charged with sexual assault. Authorities have said they don't know whether he has an attorney yet.

Johnson was something of a regular at the swimming hangout, said teens who knew him. He even showed up a few days before the killings to help people off a rope swing over the Menominee River, they said.

"He was always really nice to us," said Conrad LaPointe, 14, who lives in the neighborhood. "But when girls were down there, he would just stare at them from the bridge."

Johnson occasionally built a bonfire near the river and would invite LaPointe and others to join him for warmth.

"Sometimes he'd say stuff like, 'I wish I could get a girlfriend,"' LaPointe said. "Otherwise we'd just talk about life, the world, whatever."

Judy Johnson said she is numb with grief, not just for her family, but also for the victims and their relatives.

As the case develops, "it won't just be him suffering; I'm hurting, too," she said.

Alright folks... When a 38 year old dejected man living with their mommy makes a habit of hanging out at a teen swimming hole, instigating contact with teens and makes reference to teens about he he wishes he could get a girlfriend then SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT!!! I know teens are by their very nature not the brightest creatures. Most have not been exposed to the evils of this world to see all the warning signs so we need to make clear to them what are the warning signs. This guy was already under investigation for a sexual assault. He was instigating far too much contact with these teens. I would bet good money there were a host of other signs he gave off. Anyone want to bet that he gave out booze at his bonfires on occasion and the teens are keeping quiet on that? I am not certain but think it highly likely as a part of his strategy to get closer to them.

While no obvious signs of him being a rampage shooter are seen in the article there are signs of a sexual predator that should have been noted and reported...

 

[b.thomas]

Could of been wacko for sometime and be the reason why the wife left him in the first place?

 

[Bud Helms]

Alright folks... When a 38 year old dejected man living with their mommy makes a habit of hanging out at a teen swimming hole, instigating contact with teens and makes reference to teens about he he wishes he could get a girlfriend then SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT!!!

It is easier to review the incident and all the surrounding evidence (what may be available) in retrospect. In the hours, days and weeks leading up to a violent incident, all these "clues" are mixed in with normal behavior, spread over time and may not all be observed by one individual. Monday morning quarterbacking, as they say.

 

[CraigC]

It is easier to review the incident and all the surrounding evidence (what may be available) in retrospect. In the hours, days and weeks leading up to a violent incident, all these "clues" are mixed in with normal behavior, spread over time and may not all be observed by one individual. Monday morning quarterbacking, as they say.

I agree.

The question I have is, what do you do about those "signs"? How do you know those "signs" are pointing to what you think they're pointing to? You can't deprive an American citizen of his/her freedom because you 'think' they 'may' do something terrible. Fortunately it's not against the law for a grown man who lost his family to live with his mother. Nor is it against the law to hang out with teenagers. I bet there's nothing on the books about being "weird" either.

 

[B.N.Real]

Burn him at the stake.

Those kids were totally innocent and now,all their familes will never ,ever be the same.

I don't care why he killed them.

He killed them.

He should die,now.as soon as he is tried and found guilty as charged.

And no "we can't kill him because he's mentally messed up."

He was'nt so messed up that he was unable to plan an execution of innocent kids was he?

Good bye, blankety blank,you can't die fast enough for me.

 

[LanceOregon]

Divorce, and especially the loss of children, can really mess men up.

It is not uncommon for weaker men to crack under those circumstances.

.