Kid in Tampa

[knowltok3]

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

A 15 year old stole a small plane in Tampa, Florida and crashed it into the Bank of America building on Saturday. He had a note that said it was in support of Osama. No one was in the office he hit, the plane didn't explode, and no one other than this kid was hurt (He was killed). His statements beforehand indicated that he had been planning something for a few days. He had been training as a pilot by washing planes in exchange for lessons, and this is how he stole the plane.

His teachers said the same nice things they always say, and other than being a loner, his classmates didn't have anything bad to say about him.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Seems to me to be a standard screwed up loner teen, who just had access to non-standard means of suicide. There was some discussion of his expressions of sympathy for Bin Laden, and his possible Palestinian ethnic background, but I do not believe that amounts to an ironclad case of terrorism. Just one of many disturbed, sad and lonely people in society.

 

[Lefty Scaevola]

People have been commiting suicide by vehicle crash since each modern vehicle has been invented.

 

[Apollo]

Originally posted by Lefty Scaevola
People have been commiting suicide by vehicle crash since each modern vehicle has been invented.

Has anybody tried Ginger yet?

Most suicides go unnoticed by the world community. The only reason we all heard about this kid's suicide is because he crashed into a building and claimed to support bin Laden. I think his only real goal was to make the headlines.

 

[amadeus]

I'm just glad the kid killed himself now, instead of waiting until he learned how to fly commercial aircraft.

One less Al-Qaeda sympathizer we have to deal with.

 

[Maj]

I'm just glad the kid killed himself now, instead of waiting until he learned how to fly commercial aircraft. One less Al-Qaeda sympathizer we have to deal with.

Sounds more like one less severely depressed teen crying for attention that 'you' need to deal with.

-Maj

 

[VoodooAce]

Saw an interview with one of his buds on tv this morning and he said that not only had he not expressed any al qaeda sympathies, but rather, sympathy for the victims of 9/11.

His friend also said that he'd tried a couple of other stunts to get on the news....to get attention.

Dude was probably just very sad and depressed and wanted to end it. I do have some sympathy for the kid, but just the same, I have a lot less sympathy for him because he was willing to take others with him.

You want to kill yourself, fine. I have no problem with that. I believe that that is everybody's right. Just leave others out of it.

 

[Case]

Originally posted by Apollo

Most suicides go unnoticed by the world community. The only reason we all heard about this kid's suicide is because he crashed into a building and claimed to support bin Laden. I think his only real goal was to make the headlines.

I'm not sure what the situation is in the US, but here in Australia the media makes a point of not reporting suicides unless they have major news value (eg a celebritiy, or a murder-suicide). Basically, the aim is to prevent suicide being glamorised, and to prevent people considering taking their own lives from seeing methods by which they can kill themselves.

 

[knowltok3]

Originally posted by Case


I'm not sure what the situation is in the US, but here in Australia the media makes a point of not reporting suicides unless they have major news value (eg a celebritiy, or a murder-suicide). Basically, the aim is to prevent suicide being glamorised, and to prevent people considering taking their own lives from seeing methods by which they can kill themselves.

Come to think of it, that may be the case in the US too. I certainly can't think of too many stories about regular people commiting suicide.

Now here is a question:

Many have responded that this may well have just been a lonely and depressed teen that wanted a little publicity in his ending of things. Is this sort of thing on the rise, or is it just the media's coverage of it? What about the school shootings of a few years back? Also, is there anything that could be truely effective in stopping these "outsider" kids from feeling this disenfranchised?

From my observances there are always going to be kids that don't fit in, and there will always be parents that don't pay enough attention to their children. There will always be unfortunate family circumstances, from divorce all the way to abuse. When all of these combine it seems that we develop a few powder kegs. What if anything can be done?

 

[ACM]

At least nobody will blame computer games for that crazy suicide.
Someone could blame the Flight Simulator series (just like the September 11 tragedy), but the kid was very clear as to how he learned to fly.

 

[Blackadder]

It sounds like a case for the Darwin Awards. What a waste of life for such a small result.

 

[knowltok3]

Nah, the Darwin awards have to be funny. This isn't really funny at all. Now the guy who strapped a JATO unit to his car and flew into the side of a cliff....now that's funny. It has to be people who didn't intend to die. Not that I am an official or anything .

 

[scorch]

I figure he was an alternative type that was going to kill himself anyway, and wanted everyone to feel sorry for him. 'ooooh, i should have been nicer to him'.

I was very suicidal 8-9 months back, I can understand how suiciders feel.

 

[Padma]

Responding to Case and knowltok3, when I first heard of this, the announcer on the radio mentioned something like:

"If this had happened before September 11, it would have been just another tragic suicide and buried somewhere on page 7."

 

[amadeus]

When a plane flys into a building, it is still serious news.

 

[scorch]

I agree with Padma, it would probably have made 'its a weird world' or something.

 

[amadeus]

Come on, the kid crashed a plane into a 40-story building...

If this happened in Nowheresville, New Mexico, I'm sure nobody would have cared...but this is downtown Miami.

EDIT:

Also, I'd just like to say -- how come nobody's been paying any attention to Flight 589? The one that exploded over New York (Queens).