Man kills family, self over financial crisis

[Lee Chambers]

The main story is here

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A man distraught because he could not find work shot and killed his mother-in-law, his wife and three sons and then killed himself inside a home in an upscale San Fernando Valley neighborhood, police said.

Authorities said the man had an MBA in finance but appeared to have been unemployed for several months and had worked for major accounting firms, such as Price Waterhouse.

The two-story rented home is in a gated community in Porter Ranch, about 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

***

Something similar to this happened several years ago in Houston. I think it was when Enron fell and many people lost their jobs, including this one guy. Fortunately the family managed to escape with a few injuries when he tried to kill them before he turned the gun on himself. These people weren't so lucky.

Not sure if anyone else has posted this yet but I thought it was worth sharing.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I think we're going to hear a lot more stories like these in the near (and perhaps not so near) future.

 

[Lee Chambers]

I think we're going to hear a lot more stories like these in the near (and perhaps not so near) future.

I personally think it's bullshit that anyone would do this. Killing his family instead of leaving them with the burden of dealing with the mess he doesn't want to deal with is bad enough. But even killing himself because things are bad is a fucking cop out.

We're all going through hard times right now and some have it a lot harder than others. But this? I won't accept any kind of excuses for some bullshit like this.

 

[Belegon]

It is a sign of how nasty things are though. Jobs in finance are HARD to get in SoCal. My own position is, according to Cal Jobs, experiencing a 17% unemployment rate.

One in five people with my training and experience are unemployed. And I know from my own contacts that of those that are employed, many are not getting normal raises or have accepted jobs at a rate of pay they would have laughed at three years ago.

 

[BlackShanglan]

It's a hard thing. Economic downturns inevitably seem to lead to domestic abuse, assault, and murder upturns. It's sad to see people turn on the one thing that can sustain people through terrible hardship.

We've thrown the dice a bit ourselves in taking a gamble on a new position for the SO. It's risky and rather intimidating in the current climate. But we talked it through and recognized that at the very worst, we could live through going bankrupt provided that we focused on preserving the things that are most important to us - each other and our loved ones. Once you've looked utter bankruptcy in the face and decided that you can live through it, it's a bit easier to move on and take the risks.

 

[Polarbear57]

Shit happens

Thrughout all the Bullshit, during this Crisis, for me it's looks like a wonder, that not happen more like this.

 

[Belegon]

We've thrown the dice a bit ourselves in taking a gamble on a new position for the SO. It's risky and rather intimidating in the current climate. But we talked it through and recognized that at the very worst, we could live through going bankrupt provided that we focused on preserving the things that are most important to us - each other and our loved ones. Once you've looked utter bankruptcy in the face and decided that you can live through it, it's a bit easier to move on and take the risks.

I so understand this. I've thrown some dice myself, although I certainly don't feel "at risk" relationship wise. But I am moving far away from most of my traditional support structure.

Money? Oh yeah, big risk. Stability? yup.

But I see the goal as worth it.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I cannot help but believe that the financial crisis was just the last straw in a really bad chain of events. There must have been more going on before . . .

 

[rgraham666]

Pride, it's a killer.

 

[shereads]

It's a hard thing. Economic downturns inevitably seem to lead to domestic abuse, assault, and murder upturns. It's sad to see people turn on the one thing that can sustain people through terrible hardship.

We've thrown the dice a bit ourselves in taking a gamble on a new position for the SO. It's risky and rather intimidating in the current climate. But we talked it through and recognized that at the very worst, we could live through going bankrupt provided that we focused on preserving the things that are most important to us - each other and our loved ones. Once you've looked utter bankruptcy in the face and decided that you can live through it, it's a bit easier to move on and take the risks.

Yes, imagining the worst-case scenario and deciding you could deal with can help. So far.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

This is what I hate about human beings, not even much as scares me, but hate.

Someone decides the ending of your future for you because they can't see a continuation for theirs. He's going to have a lot of reckoning to do for those lives in Hell, if there is a Hell.

 

[Katyusha]

I personally think it's bullshit that anyone would do this. Killing his family instead of leaving them with the burden of dealing with the mess he doesn't want to deal with is bad enough. But even killing himself because things are bad is a fucking cop out.

We're all going through hard times right now and some have it a lot harder than others. But this? I won't accept any kind of excuses for some bullshit like this.

People who say that this type of thing is a cop-out do NOT understand what true desperation is and what it can do to people. True desperation destroys your ability to see the world around you. Your vision telescopes all the way down to the one problem that is causing you the most distress and you not only can't see anything else anymore, you can't see any other way out than something extreme. In other words, you aren't even remotely in your right mind anymore. You aren't really thinking at all. You discover a way out and you take it because you're at the point where you'll do ANYTHING to make it stop, to make it go away. And consequences? What consequences? You don't see consequences. You don't see anything but that one way out.

From what I can tell of the article this man had reached that point. Contrary to popular belief, suicide and murder/suicide are not often spur-of-the-moment acts. It's often thought about and worked out in one's head (read: a depressive who decides to commit suicide is often calmer, more at peace, maybe even seemingly happier, in the days or weeks leading up to the suicide) long beforehand.

As to why some do something like this and others who may be going through times that are ten times worse won't? Think about this: why is one person able to keep a cool head in a very maddening situation while another would completely lose it in a situation that's comparatively mild? We've all seen that. I can't explain what makes one person lose it while another can hold it together all the way through. I don't even know if psychologists can.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Exactly, Kat, that's why I said that there must have been going on before. Suicide is predictable if only people will bother to look for it and not go into denial. It is also preventable. But we don't, and it isn't. So sad.

 

[shereads]

P True desperation destroys your ability to see the world around you. Your vision telescopes all the way down to the one problem that is causing you the most distress and you not only can't see anything else anymore, you can't see any other way out than something extreme. In other words, you aren't even remotely in your right mind anymore. You aren't really thinking at all. You discover a way out and you take it because you're at the point where you'll do ANYTHING to make it stop, to make it go away.

You're right.

Wishing this man to hell is pointless. In his mind, he was already there.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Suicide is predictable if only people will bother to look for it and not go into denial. It is also preventable. But we don't, and it isn't. So sad.

I think this is both a bit glib and carelessly cruel to surviving loved ones of suicides. I've known a few who spend quite enough of their time trying to work out what they missed, what they could have done differently, how they could possibly have forseen and prevented it.

There aren't always clear signs. It isn't always preventable. That's a dreadful reality to face, but it's the truth.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I think this is both a bit glib and carelessly cruel to surviving loved ones of suicides. I've known a few who spend quite enough of their time trying to work out what they missed, what they could have done differently, how they could possibly have forseen and prevented it.

There aren't always clear signs. It isn't always preventable. That's a dreadful reality to face, but it's the truth.

To the lay folk, no, it isn't. That is because we don't educate the public about signs that indicate the possibility. We're really good about telling everyone what the symptoms of heart attack are, or what to look for when doing a breast self-exam but where are the public service announcements that tell us what to look for in our depressed family members? There are none. That's what the real cruelty is.

 

[DeeZire]

To the lay folk, no, it isn't. That is because we don't educate the public about signs that indicate the possibility. We're really good about telling everyone what the symptoms of heart attack are, or what to look for when doing a breast self-exam but where are the public service announcements that tell us what to look for in our depressed family members? There are none. That's what the real cruelty is.

Actually, they're on TV, late at night, when viewership is down. I used to work graveyard in master control at a local TV station, and whenever we had to make a 80 minute movie fill two hours, and we didn't have enough commercial spots, we'd run PSAs. TV stations are too cheap to run them during prime time.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

When the pain of life becomes greater than one's resources for dealing with it, suicide becomes a reasonable choice. The usual strategy for dealing with it is to (a) lessen the pain, or (b) increase the resources for dealing with it. These options aren't always available, and they're not always successful when they are.

Clearly the man was deeply depressed, and depression is a mental disorder. It affects your ability to make what most of us would consider rational decisions. Probably the man had reached the stage where he literally had no hope and could not imagine things getting better, so living or dying made no difference. He must have been in considerable mental pain, and in killing his family he believed he was sparing them the anguish he was going through. Severe depression is incredibly painful. It's much more than just a bad case of the blues.

 

[xssve]

Sex is a much better release, organisms under stress typically increase both violent and sexual behaviors: promote debauchery!