By Pamela O'Connor
Lt. William Fitzgerald of the Newport police has disclosed to
the media that the former Navy reservist gunman, Aaron Alexis, was apparently
suffering from hallucinations. In August he had called the Newport Police
Department in response to what he thought to be people following him and
keeping him awake at night through “vibration messages” being sent through his
body. Alexis shot and killed 12 people
in the Washington Navy Yard on Monday morning. He was wielding a shotgun, and
carved strange phrases into the stock, such as “better off this way” or “my ELF
weapon”.
Alexis did not hide his problems. He left his issues in multiple
police reports but no one took notice or decided to get him real help. There
were many red flags and although he was prescribed medication, a generic
antidepressant that is prescribed for insomnia, his illness was not taken as
seriously as it should have been. The mental health professionals seeing him
should have taken into account his hallucinations and delusions and known he
was worse off and a danger to others.
Too many times are mentally ill patients
neglected and become worse and worse until they snap and tragedy strikes. We
have seen this in multiple school shootings, where the child was mentally
disturbed but they were ignored and it ended in a murder spree. This is a large
problem in our society today, and unless we give these patients the attention
they really need, it will only get worse.
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