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EXCLUSIVE: Fear of being committed may have caused Connecticut gunman to snap
Foxnews ^ | 12/18/12 | Jana Winter

Posted on 12/18/2012 9:11:28 PM PST by KansasGirl

NEWTOWN, Conn. – The gunman who slaughtered 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school may have snapped because his mother was planning to commit him to a psychiatric facility, according to a lifelong resident of the area who was familiar with the killer’s family and several of the victims’ families.

Adam Lanza, 20, targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown after killing his mother early Friday because he believed she loved the school “more than she loved him,” said Joshua Flashman, 25, who grew up not far from where the shooting took place. Flashman, a U.S. Marine, is the son of a pastor at an area church where many of the victims' families worship.

“From what I've been told, Adam was aware of her petitioning the court for conservatorship and (her) plans to have him committed," Flashman told FoxNews.com. "Adam was apparently very upset about this. He thought she just wanted to send him away. From what I understand, he was really, really angry. I think this could have been it, what set him off.”

A senior law enforcement official involved in the investigation confirmed that Lanza's anger at his mother over plans for “his future mental health treatment” is being looked at as a possible motive for the deadly shooting.

Flashman was told Nancy Lanza had begun filing paperwork to get conservatorship over her troubled son, but that could not be confirmed because a court official told FoxNews.com such records are sealed. The move would have been necessary for her to gain the legal right to commit an adult to a hospital or psychiatric facility against his will. A competency hearing had not yet been held.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: lanza; nancylanza; newtown
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To: itsahoot
Neither do doctors and judges I guess.

If they are acting in their professional capacities, legal constraints and the crude realities of the family court system may prevent them from doing what they would personally prefer to do.

Friends and family are often more useful than the professionals. It helps for an adult without a financial motive to say to the kid, "I see exactly what you are going through. That sucks. Let's change that."

(Of course I do not know if that would have worked in Adam Lanza's specific case.)

21 posted on 12/19/2012 12:24:52 AM PST by TChad
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To: TChad
That is the most inane psychobabble crap I have read in a long time. And I am very careful to parcel out measured use of that word.

Perhaps you should review the definition of insanity.

It is quite similar to the definition of cognitive dissonance.

22 posted on 12/19/2012 12:27:23 AM PST by publius911 (Look for the Union Label -- then buy something else)
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To: publius911
That is the most inane psychobabble crap I have read in a long time.

Well, I hope you at least got a laugh out of it, as I did from your post. Of course all this is just speculation.

Perhaps you should review the definition of insanity.

I have no problem with the notion that Adam Lanza may have been clinically insane and completely unreachable. But I don't know, and insanity should be a last-resort diagnosis. It would not necessarily be a sign of insanity for Lanza to have reacted strongly to the threat of being committed.

23 posted on 12/19/2012 12:47:12 AM PST by TChad
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To: TChad
It was an eye-opener...

≡≡8-O

24 posted on 12/19/2012 12:54:51 AM PST by Does so (Dims don't think ... they PLOT!)
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To: TChad

That’s probably pretty much it in a nutshell. The one thing you left out was that he had some serious mental/emotional issues to begin with.


25 posted on 12/19/2012 12:58:09 AM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: TChad
It would not necessarily be a sign of insanity for Lanza to have reacted strongly to the threat of being committed.

If by 'reacted strongly' you mean what he actually did I'll have to disagree with that. His acts were pretty much the definition of a psychotic break which is certainly a form of insanity.

26 posted on 12/19/2012 1:07:08 AM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: TigersEye
The one thing you left out was that he had some serious mental/emotional issues to begin with.

Sure. And even if my guesses in post #7 are correct, most kids could have handled the stress.

27 posted on 12/19/2012 1:09:56 AM PST by TChad
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To: TigersEye
His acts were pretty much the definition of a psychotic break

And if he had not been threatened with commitment, would he have had that psychotic break?

28 posted on 12/19/2012 1:12:23 AM PST by TChad
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To: TChad

What difference does that make?


29 posted on 12/19/2012 1:13:38 AM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: TChad

You know you already answered your own question in post #27.


30 posted on 12/19/2012 1:15:01 AM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: KansasGirl
Adam Lanza, 20, targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown after killing his mother early Friday because he believed she loved the school “more than she loved him,” said Joshua Flashman, 25, who grew up not far from where the shooting took place

Did the mother work at the school? I've heard conflicting stories.

31 posted on 12/19/2012 2:08:59 AM PST by palmer (Obama = Carter + affirmative action)
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To: Lake Living
Where was the boy’s father?

I have not heard anything about him other than he had no contact except writing $25k / month checks. Not that there's anything wrong with $25k / month but money can't buy happiness.

32 posted on 12/19/2012 2:13:17 AM PST by palmer (Obama = Carter + affirmative action)
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