Yes there are people who are suffering from his HORRIBLE decision to become a vigilante and take matters into his own hands…but that is something the family will have to deal with.

It reminds me of when you see a mother on TV crying that her teenage son has been killed by police and how she and the family are outraged at the police department. If your son sells drugs, stole a car, ran from the cops, was caught and then attacked the police what do you expect? Where were you? Why was your teenage son out at 4 am?

If families in Saint Louis took better care of their family members there wouldn’t be so much crime. And that includes ‘Cookies’ family and all the others out there crying when their family member is killed while committing a crime. He wasn’t innocently being targeted by the city of Kirkwood, he kept violating the law and eventually snapped.

Yes, they are upset and have experienced a loss. But when you don’t teach your children respect for themselves and others you raise a criminal.

I had just started reading an incredibly eye-opening book called “The Gift Of Fear” by Gavin Debecker when the Kirkwood shootings occurred.I mention this because the book is a former best seller around 1997 and deals with the signals of impending violence and how to be aware of them so you can protect yourself.There was a chapter dealing with what Mr.DeBecker,who has worked with governments, universities,and celebrities,and has decades of experience studying violence, refers to as “pre-incident indicators”.These would be actions that lead up to the perpetrator “snapping”.As I read the list of potential warning signs, I was appalled at how many of them were exhibited by Thornton, at least based on the media reports I had seen, notably his feeling of waging a “one-man war”.This is not to say that anybody who exhibits any of the signs will or even may commit violence, but it is a warning that they need help.If someone who knew Thornton or the situation well enough to connect the dots had been aware of the build-up preceding this horrific shooting spree,maybe it could have been avoided.Who knows?

At any rate, it is a book that many more people should make an effort to read.It has a tremendous amount of useful information about street crime, domestic violence,workplace violence,avoiding situations and people that could in result in dangerous behavior.It was one of the most empowering and enlightening books I have ever read,and I’m a compulsive reader.I have recommended it to everyone I know and feel that the knowledge in this book could be instrumental in waking people up to warning signs and in turn helping to reduce violent crime.

My heart goes out to all family members who are hurting from their loss. I believe that we all should try and learn from what happened here, and start help each other in difficult times. Maybe if someone would have just heard Mr. Thornton and tried to help him resolve his differences with the town of Kirkwood, this loss to so many would never have taken place.
Jean
St. Louis

I haven’t read too much more since the shooting, but it sounded like efforts were made to listen to Thornton, but he apparently wasn’t interested in compromise.It sounded like he was unwilling to entertain any offers from Kirkwood unless they agreed to whatever he said. Life seldom works that way.It is sad that all the families had to suffer for his actions, but I wonder if his family, who seemed to agree with his “one-man war”,didn’t in some way exacerbate the situation rather than realize that he needed help.Apparently he was so belligerant at times that there were restraining orders to keep him away from some of the council members.Not what I consider actions of someone interested in an amicable ending to a disagreement.

Untill we take mental health issues seriously in this country we will help no one.