First and foremost, my condolences to the families of the victims. No words will be able to sooth your pain, but I hope that, in time, you can move on and still live a fruitful, happy life. If not for yourself, than for the memory of the loved ones you’ve lost – they would not want you to mourn forever.

As for preventing acts like this in the future, it’s very difficult. For those calling for stricter gun laws, did you see the murders in California earlier this week? California has some of the strictest gun laws in the land. Did you see the murders in Chicago earlier this week? Chicago BANS the ownership of handguns. Remember the Virgina Tech murders? It was a “gun free zone”.

What is the TRUE connection between these and many, many other mass killings? Insanity. The man who killed these innocents last night was insane. So the real question is - “How do you stop a mad man who is determined to cause harm?” This is a Much scarier question, because there really is no good answer. However, in todays world, there is enough damage being caused by insane people that we need to make a concerted effort to find an answer.

Perhaps TV should have a violence ban, similar to the nudity ban already in place. Our children can’t see a womans bare bottom, but they can watch Jack Bauer torture and kill people on a nightly basis. Perhaps banning violence from network TV won’t have an effect on crime – but have we tried yet? We know that gun bans don’t work, but what if we take the “cool” factor out of guns? Will crime go down? I say it’s worth finding out. We also need to de-stigmatize mental health treatments, and make them more available. If people are showing signs of mental instability, it’s way better to deal with it Before it erupts into violence and murder.

Also, there will be some that call for the relief of poverty, saying that the root cause of this is a pervasive sense of powerlessness. While relieving poverty, and helping the less fortunate is a laudable goal, and worthy of our efforts in it’s own right – lets not confuse that issue with what happened last night. Last night was about a mentally unstable man, who’s untreated inanity drove him to Murder five people over parking tickets. He was not a freedom fighter and he was not fighting “oppression”. He killed people over parking tickets – he was insane.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of those shot and killed or injured in the Kirkwood City Council meeting last night, as well as to the city of Kirkwood itself.

It is tragic something like this can occur in a peaceful town such as Kirkwood. I spent 23yrs. in Kirkwood as I was growing up, and a story such as this hurts very deeply, even though I now live in another state.

Kirkwood is and always has been a strong city. A unfortunate incident like this will bring the town closer, and that much more resilliant.

Rob Gatwood
Claremont, NC.

God Bless each and every one of you.

I know the mayor because I rent a home from him. It is very sad. My condolences go out to all the victims and their families. The police were just doing their job, probably neighbors complained about all the trucks, which I understand, so it’s the city and the police who have to respond. There is no excuse.

Please note that the topic is addressing condolences for the victims. We also invite discussion of the secondary topic: Keeping public meetings safe — while keeping them open. Attacks on the victims, the shooter’s family and racist remarks are inappropriate and off-topic and will be dealt with accordingly.

This just seems so preventable to me.

My overall impression is that city officials and Mr. Thornton were on completely different wavelengths, just were not able to “get” each other.

First and foremost–I condemn the murder and violence that Mr. Thornton committed.
Also, I don’t approve of his reported behavior at council meetings. However, let’s be honest: is there not SOME level of government or other “institution” that each of us has encountered that seems to NEED a large picture of a donkey and the description, “jackass?”

However disruptive and vulgar, Mr. Thornton was at least a PARTICIPANT in our system of law. It does seem as if he explored a number of lawful ways to resolve his conflict with the city. I think it is important to note that his brother has said he did not really understand the legal system. Certainly it seems as if he had faith that it could do what other methods could not in resolving his problems with the city.

Clearly the vulgarity and disruptive nature of Mr. Thornton’s tactics worked against him. But is it not also true that city officials, and the “establishment” (mainstream reporters etc) basically “wrote him off” (for example the mayor saying we won’t stoop to his level, the implication being that Mr. Thornton would continue to be ignored) without much consideration of his complaints?

If (as has been mentioned elsewhere) almost $20,000 of parking tickets were issued for parking his business trucks in front of his own house, that seems to me like a legitimate issue.
My last apartment complex had a policy barring commercial vehicles–including a personal car if it had “advertising writing” on it. I felt they weren’t being reasonable prohibiting lousy Avon window decals, much as Mr. Thornton seems to have felt about the city.

It just seems that it was clear how frustrated Mr. Thornton was getting, and that instead of viewing him as merely a “nuisance” it would have helped if there was some sort of mediation process for people with disputes with the city or an ombudsman who could address his concerns.

What a terrible stretch of news for Kirkwood in the last three years.

RIP

Words only cheapen our true feelings at this time. We all offer our prayers and support to you for your loss. Please seek out someone with whom you feel comfortable sharing your feelings, whether a trusted friend or legitimate professional. Once the shock begins to wear off, more feelings may emerge. Talk is the most healing medicine. Special attention should be given to any children directed affected by this tragedy. Any loss of parent, sibling, relative or friend will mean loss of a sense of security for a child. Parents and caregivers should be prepared to tolerate regressive behaviors and accept the manifestations of agression and anger, especially in the early phases after the tragedy.

I believe anyone in government has to always remember that what they do for the people is not for all of the people. You only have to tee-off one person that will snap to create an event as in Kirkwood. I think of the people pushing for Emanate Domain to build a shopping center. I look at Charles Dooley pushing for county-wide trash pickup. I look at the councilman from Shrewsberry pushing for a ban on smoking.

It’s just my opinion.

My prayers are with the victims and their families.

Sorry I yelled at the TV when you came on to report during tribal council on Survivor. I didn’t realize the magnitude of the situation. My deepest sympathies go out to the friends and families of those lost, wounded and those that had to live through this.

What has happened to Kirkwood? I grieve for the whole community today. There are many problems in town but nothing can be solved by such tragic violence. Despite what the world must think, I have lived here nearly 30 years and the awful things that have happened in the past 3 years haven’t been part of this town’s history. It has been a wonderful place to raise a family. Of all those hurt or killed last night, the one I remember most fondly is Connie. Two summers ago, when our home had been without electricity for four days and no one knew when it would come back on, she came through the neighborhood with bags of ice and water to try to help. She did. We would have voted for her, and this town will miss her.