Another school shooting. Another bully shot. Another victim in police custody.

[Akoto]

48. In high school, I was bullied so badly that I dropped out.

It literally made me ill in ways I have not yet fully gotten under control. Considering I was destined to become physically disabled later on, I could've done without the extra torment.

I keenly remember a day when a girl hauled me around by my hair (it was long), making it look like we were walking normally, but yanking on it whenever I didn't do what she wanted. Fact is, I don't have a violent bone in my body. It wasn't in me to fight back in that way. As it went on and on in many different forms, I couldn't take it anymore. The students wouldn't change, the teachers didn't care and were sometimes participants. I dropped out, finished my grade at home, and then got a GED.

I wouldn't kill, I wouldn't condone killing, but there were certainly days when I wished I could've fought back. I hung out with people like this kid, the outcasts, the trenchcoat wearers and such. All nice, we just happened to be into things outside of the mainstream. I can understand how someone with less willpower could, under such conditions, snap.