Quote:
Originally Posted by
sonatine
I mean, I was up on the psychosis theory the second I heard about this and it only made more sense to me as it went on, but some actual honest to god gun experts (as opposed to PFA's red state squirrel hunter militia) are pointing out some interesting things, and while they by no means negate the psychosis theory, they point out that there were indicators this was a carefully researched/premeditated operation, and not a spur of the moment meltdown:
He was in the perfect position; a police sniper could never return fire without endangering other guests. He was using shooting platforms recessed in the dark of the room, which helped obfuscate the muzzle flash positions and significantly enhance stability while shooting. Plus, shooting from the dark into the light is essential snipercraft.
The platforms gave him stability as well, and he had two shooting positions with weapons prepared on each so he had redundancy in case one weapon malfunctioned/overheated.
He was shooting onto concrete, at a distance where ricochets maintained lethality.
The targets had virtually no cover available.
A lot of people are stunned that he only killed 59 people, basically. And this sort of premeditation strongly implies that there was not an 'emotional collapse' impetus behind it.
Reading Druff's post about how behaved when he went on a major losing streak recently also lends itself to the theory that his downswing was a symptom of his impending episode, not the cause.
His valium prescription in June paints a picture of someone who may have had an emotional wall chemically torn down by prescription mood altering meds, allowing him to embrace his hereditary psychosis.
The link between mass shootings and psychiatric medication has been the subject of a lot of research/debate in the last few years.
I thought the same about the losing streak week prior.
The aggression that valium causes is similar to alcohol. He ran out of his script in early August. The dose or the length of use wasn't enough to induce psychosis (from use or withdrawal).
I think it's likelier he had been feeling off for a while and was subscribed a fairly mild benzo for it. It likely had no effect for his condition.
He had a gun room in his Nevada house in 2013. So he had been collecting guns for a while. It's not really necessary he had premeditated the attack all that long. It's even possible that the hotel room in his mind was a defensive position and the reason he killed himself so soon was because he realized what he had actually done.
Dunno need more information basically. Autopsy/toxicology report, GF interviews, what was found at the scene and his properties etc. should paint a clearer picture.