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Medical examiner seeks genetic clues to Adam Lanza's motives
Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver II told the Hartford Courant Tuesday that he has teamed up with a geneticist from the University of Connecticut for his investigation. / CBS News
HARTFORD, Conn. Connecticut's chief medical examiner says he's seeking genetic clues to help explain why a shooter killed 20 children and six adults in a Newtown elementary school.
Can a mental disorder make someone violent?
Dr. H. Wayne Carver II tells The Hartford Courant that he wants to know if there is any identifiable disease associated with the behavior of the shooter, Adam Lanza. He is working with the University of Connecticut department of genetics.
Family friends Mark and Louise Tambascio told CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley on last Sunday's 60 Minutes that Adam's mother, Nancy Lanza, had told them that her son suffered from Asperger's syndrome, and it was a full-time obligation to take care of him.
Paula Levy, a mediator who worked with Lanza's parents during their divorce, also said Lanza was diagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder.
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Carver however says Asperger's is not associated with violent behavior, a point many experts and advocates have been raising in light of the reports of Lanza's condition. He says he's not considering Asperger's as a reason for Lanza's rampage on Friday.
Is there a link between Asperger's and violent behavior?
Asperger's "is simply not on the menu, in terms of what is wrong with this kid," he told the paper.
Carver is awaiting toxicology testing results for Lanza and other information.
Lanza fatally shot himself as first responders approached the school Friday morning.
A total of 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S history.
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My guess is that she believed that her son would enjoy shooting (and she enjoyed the sport, of course) and that this would be something they could each relate to and enjoy spending time together, being out and doing something.
However, it's too bad she didn't choose hiking or golf or race cars instead.
Disclaimer:
I am not a Psychiatrist or anything even close, but I have taken Psychology, Sociology, Marriage and Family Relationships, Human Relations in Industry, and Educational Psychology. This does not mean that I know anything, only that my mind has been broadened and I am able to see some things I would not without that education.
Besides the tragic events and the lost of so many precious lives, it is incredible there is almost no information about the person who commit this despicable act.
Reading the news, we hear about everyone. But , about this young person , it seems like he did have :
* No human contact ... even close family, like his brother and father for at least 2 years.
* No friends
* No group to talk, no doctor to talk.
* No social networks.
* No game pals
Only a wealthy mother , that provides distractions(games, cars, arms) to his son, but... it seems like her love ended there. He was isolated with a mother that never reached out for help for her or her son.
Isolation.. years of isolation ... It takes a community to raise a child.... Where was the community for this young person? How it comes no one knows anything about him?
May be the change needs to happen in each of us. Get to know , show human interest, care for others, try to help/listen/ pay attention.
- Judge Terry Chandler, Judge Sarah Simmons, Commissioner Margaret Maxwell ordered 50/50 custody
- Mother had drug and alcohol problems
- Mother could not hold a job or consistent residence
- Father was ordered to pay greater then $1,200.00 per year to the mother
- Father was the hardworking consistent and stable parent
For 7 years three children had been vulnerable and damaged by the court.
Result: child was damaged and did not become a productive adult!
For example 2 Pima County Superior Court Case Number D71706.
- Judge Terry Chandler, Judge Sarah Simmons, Commissioner Margaret Maxwell ordered 50/50 custody
- Mother had drug and alcohol problems, stabbed the father with a knife with medical and police rec.
- Mother could not hold a job or consistent residence
- Father was ordered to pay greater then $1,200.00 per year to the mother
- Father was the hardworking consistent and stable parent
For 10 years two children had been vulnerable and damaged by the court.
Result: child was damaged and did not become a productive adult!