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Heavily-armed man kills himself, rather than shoot up Colorado amusement park, authorities say
(denvergazette.com)
this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Charles Whitman — Texas Sniper. Killed 14 people in 1966. Autopsy found a brain tumor pressing the amygdala, which presumably caused uncontrollable "fight or flight" response.
I've been wondering if a brain tumor was the Maine mass shooters problem as well. We'll probably never know
In my neurology class Whitman was the only case of the tumor clearly being a major driving factor.
I'm not saying the class was entirely comprehensive, or that the other cases were not medically-driven. The other cases we studied were psychologically driven (mental disorders) rather than physiological (e.g. tumor/cancer/head-trauma). I just wanted to say the tumor case might not be as likely as one might think.
Thanks for your input. Where are you going to school/did you go to school? How did you like your neurology class?
Sidenote: I hope that someday we are able to look at most psychological disorders as physiological disorders. I feel like more people would get the help that they need, (and society would be more accepting of it) if we looked at it through that lense instead of thinking of it like something people have complete control over by themselves. The brain is another organ, after all
It was the University of Texas at Dallas! The class was fantastic. Not only changed my understanding of how brains work, but changed it beyond what I thought was even possible.
I agree I think there is a very very gray line between physiological and psychological. There are some differences to be had, like tumors are actually just straight malicious, while disorders like psychopathy, ADHD, and autism can be argued to be different rather than strictly unhealthy (psychopaths make better soldiers, people with ADHD can be great in emergency rooms, people with autism can have all kinds of prodigy-like gifts). But many disorders like bipolar or schizophrenia are pretty much all unhealthly.
And with the effortless access to firearms provided in the US, choosing the "fight" option was easy.
While thats valid comment for the main post, for the Whitman case, he was in the military. Even with strict laws he would've still had easy access unless we're talking drastic changes of having military personel not having general firearm access.
First off, 1966 was a different time worldwide for firearms possession.
But for my real point, a continuous "activation" of fight or flight will always result in fight being the option, because all the running in the world hasn't helped to that point.
That's a pretty big possibility, hardly would call it a presumption. Either way, humans are too frail and unpredictable to have limitless access to such killing machines.
Probably had nothing to do with a tumor:
This dude in Maine had tried to get a silencer. Wonder how much worse it would have been if everyone didn't hear the reports and start running.
Hard to say. It's not like the movies. With the firearm he had (.308 with ~14-16" barrel), a silencer/suppressor only brings the volume down from "instant tinnitus" to "still loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage". It's far from silent. I'd never thought about it until now but I wonder if a silencer/suppressor could have increased surviveability. When people heard gunshots at volumes they would expect, they might be less disoriented. Verses the muzzle flash and concussion that comes from what he was shooting (basically a semi-auto flash bang).
Hmm, wonder why they are illegal in the first place then. Oh yeah it's so other people can hear the report.
They aren't. Suppressors require a $200 tax stamp and background check to purchase in the US. The only illegal part is possessing one without paying that tax.
Illegal without a permit.*
BRUH, this was his suicide note:
People in the 60's didnt just say "do an autopsy on me" unless something was severely wrong. There was little to no public understanding of neurology, the general public wouldn't even think to guess that a brain tumor could play such a role.
And not like Whitman suspected it a little bit; before the incident he went to many doctors for help. This was his note in his journal
He talked to friends about it and nobody would take him seriously because they just saw him as a respectable person with overblown concerns. His case is part of Neurology classes in Texas universities!
None of this constitutes medical evidence. It reads to me like bullshit conjured up after the fact to assuage a scared public by saying that there was something physically wrong with this man, when in fact he just wanted to hurt people because he was fucked up from years of trauma.
What would consitute medical evidence?
Modern gross pathology of the brain.