What if you're right?

I didn't rush to write a post about the tragic events in Colorado yesterday because I knew if I did, it would be filled with anger and thoughts of revenge. When you hear of something like that happening, your first feeling is utter disbelief. Then that is quickly followed by anger, and then comes the questioning and finally we, in our humanity, have to find a reason. We have to lay blame. There will be an endless parade of speculation and analyzing in the weeks to come. Since the event took place at the midnight premier of "The Dark Knight Rises", people will draw comparison to that, especially since it has been reported that the shooter proclaimed to the police that he was "The Joker", the arch villain of Batman. People will blame our violent television shows and video games. They want to find a reason that this 24 year old boy would commit these atrocities. New crews are camped outside his parent's home hoping for some tiny thread to speculate on as to why. That's really the question we want answered, WHY? We may gain that insight where we have not been able to in events like these that have happened in the past. So many times in these shootings, after the individual has caused all the death and destruction, they turn the gun on themselves. James Holmes gave up almost willingly. No matter what theories are produced, we know one thing. Holmes' actions were not normal. What he put into motion on July 20th took planning. Lots of it! Everything he was carrying, what he wore, using tear gas, having a gas mask on, not to mention the booby-trapping of his apartment with explosives that law enforcement is still trying to figure out. We know he was smart, very smart, and seemingly normal, so what happened? That, ladies and gentleman, is the $64,000 question, and here is the answer: We don't know! We may never know. Not much comfort in that, is there? Here's the thing. The plain truth is, we don't have any control over what other people do, we only have control over ourselves. We only have control, as parents, to raise our children to be good people and know right from wrong and to have compassion for others. And yes, here's the pill that's a little hard to swallow, we have a responsibility, no, a duty to be honest with ourselves and others. Apparently when all of this hit the news yesterday, ABC news contacted the shooter's mother. Her words to them were, "You have the right person." How many times do we, as parents, friends, co-workers, see some sign, notice some behavior, just have a plain gut instinct that something isn't right, and ignore it? Rationalizing the sick feeling we have deep in the pit of our stomachs, that we are being silly, we are over-analyzing the situation. I can't call this to anybody's attention. What will people say? What if I'm wrong? What if you're RIGHT? How different would the community of Aurora be today if someone had been honest with themselves and told someone about that odd feeling they had around James Holmes?