Why are people blaming the gun or the "arsenal" for Aurora? Read before commenting please.

[freethought]

164. Probably "Not My Kid" Syndrome.

The mother may have been aware that something was clearly not right with her son, but probably couldn't get over that last mental hurdle that her son was capable of horrific violence, at least until he actually committed such an act. Despite instincts that may have been raising alarms, she may have clung to "My kid would never do such a thing, despite his problems." Later, he did do such a thing.

However this only speculation on my part. I'm no psychologist.

Everyone wants to think that their child is never capable of bad or deviant behavior, even when their child is an adult.

You may be right on the guy singing like a bird. A number or articles point to an accomplice. Time will tell I suppose.

One thing that did cross my mind was the fact the guy was withdrawing from graduate studies when sources describe him as "very smart" or even "brilliant". Not only that but he was studying neuroscience, hardly a subject for the faint of heart. One that would require a great deal of work and commitment.
I wonder about this because a member of my immediate family went to Cornell Univ. to study for a PhD in economics. More than once she called me up in anguish, sometimes even in tears that she couldn't do it anymore. She did successfully finish the degree, but for some the demands and pressure were to great and some students snap. I would hear about the occasional suicides that Cornell has, on average, every year. Cornell has a tainted reputation for this because students usually commit the act by jumping off of bridges that span over these gorges. Some are well over 100 feet deep and just a few minutes walk from campus. Similar things happen at other institutions like Harvard, Yale and MIT, but the incidents are kept quiet.

I can't help but wonder is something similar happened to Mr. Holmes. Articles point to him having struggled academically in his first year of graduate study. It seems as if his anger turned outward toward others as opposed to inward as deep depression usually does. Rather than commit suicide, he lashes out violently at absolute strangers.