@ Oompa: Don't even try to make a connection between the Aurora shootings and Columbine. It is exactly this kind of ignorant and uninformed commentary that contributes nothing useful to the discussion. Littleton is on the opposite side of Denver from Aurora and the Columbine tragedy was thirteen years ago, committed by two high school students, and was months in the planning. There is no evidence that the Aurora shootings were anything like this. A lone gunman has gone on a murderous rampage. Right now that is all we know.
I lived in Colorado for more than thirty years and have far more familiarity with metropolitan Denver than you have or ever will, evidently. Yes, Littleton and Aurora are only "minutes" apart--if you speed like hell along I-70 that is. Otherwise, you're not talking about some quick and convenient drive from one city to the other. And if you don't travel the freeway, then at least 40 minutes will pass before you cross the distance. The two cities are very, very different. Your words imply that their cultures are the same and so it should come as no surprise that similar tragedies would take place.
Let the police and the courts do their jobs before we draw conclusions about the reasons for this tragedy. A suspect is in custody and the circumstantial evidence found at the scene seems conclusive. Doubtless, as was the case with the Columbine massacre, more details will be revealed as the investigation and subsequent trial unfold. I make no apology for being angry about your comment. I'm hearing the same kind of bullshit from the media in Alabama where I'm currently living--comments from people who have never set foot in Colorado and yet talk like they're experts on the state. I wish they would remain silent or if they must say something limit their remarks to expressing sorrow and pain for this tragedy rather than turning it into something that it isn't.
Quendi
