If You’re Going to Blame Mental Illness for Shootings, Then Stick To It [OPINION]
You can't blame mental illness and then call BS when they actually DETERMINE that a suspect is mentally ill.
It was reported yesterday that Central Michigan University shooting suspect James Eric Davis, Jr., who is accused of killing his parents, James and Diva Davis, has been found incompetent to stand trial at this time.
He shot them at his dorm room on March 2nd, after being hospitalized the night before. He was showing "erratic and alarming" behavior and was under observation, and had fled the hospital shortly before his parents arrived.
His court-appointed attorney says that he was found incompetent on March 23rd, and will be in treatment until he regains competency to stand trial.
That doesn't mean that he's off the hook, people - it means that he's not well enough to understand what he's being accused of. And, after treatment (which isn't a day spa, mind you - he's not a free man), he will stand trial.
Of course, I went to the hellish depths of the internet to see peoples' reactions to this: online comments. And the majority of people are calling bull****. If you dare, here's a sample (click on the comments section):
So let me get this straight: guns aren't the problem; it's mental illness. Yet, here we are - a shooter has been found to be, in fact, mentally ill...and it's bulls***?
Nope. No way. Knock it off.
Mental illness is very real. And it's a PROBLEM. We need to talk about it more. We need to admit that they are REAL diseases. And we need to get people help for it.
So, because this young man was in college, he was smart and should've known better than to shoot his own parents? Can you imagine what must've been going on in his head to carry this out? He's CLEARLY not well. Whether it was drug-induced or not, he's NOT okay.
You can't have it both ways - if the problem isn't guns but mental illness, you MUST be in support of people actually BEING mentally ill and receiving treatment. And, as his lawyer states, after he has been found competent, he will stand trial. We don't get to decide if somebody is mentally ill or not from our phones or tablets. People who are medically trained get to decide that.
This guy doesn't get to roam free, going to get massages and take yoga until they deem him to be competent. Have you ever been to a state psychiatric facility? It's not a pleasant place.
Let's be honest - if any of us had the answers to solve this problem, it would've been solved already. There's a lot of opinions out there - I have mine, and you have yours. And that's fine; we don't have to agree. BUT - if you want to take the mental illness route, you can't call BS when somebody is actually diagnosed as mentally ill.
Don't be part of the problem; be part of the solution.