One of the Worst Massacres In California History

The LA Times summarizes the worst massacres in California jhistory.   Here is an excerpt from the article

“The attack will go down as among California’s worst shooting rampages. Last year, a gunman opened fire at a Seal Beach hair salon, killing nine people. In 1984, James Huberty killed 21 people at a McDonald’s in San Ysidro. In 1976, a former Marine opened fire at the Cal State Fullerton library, killing seven people.”

In 1984, James Huberty killed 21 people.  The account is describe below in the article from Wikipedia

“Huberty used a 9 mm Uzi semi-automatic (the primary weapon fired in the massacre), a Winchester pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, and a 9 mm Browning HP in the restaurant, killing 21 people and wounding 19 others. His victims were predominantly Mexican and Mexican-Americanand ranged in age from 8 months to 74 years. The massacre began at 3:40 p.m. and lasted for 77 minutes. He had spent 257 rounds of ammunition before he was fatally shot by a SWAT team sniper, Chuck Foster, perched on the roof of the post office adjacent to the restaurant.^[6][7]

Although Huberty stated during the massacre that he had killed thousands in Vietnam, he had never actually served in any military branch. Eyewitnesses stated that he had previously been seen at the Big Bear supermarket and later at the U.S. Post Office. It was surmised that he found the McDonald’s to be a better target.

Due to the number of victims, local funeral homes had to use the San Ysidro Civic Center to hold all the wakes. The local parish, Mount Carmel Church, had to have back-to-back funeral masses to accommodate all the death”

What drives a person to unload their resentments and kill so merciless and kill people at random.  The hatred of that exists in these people souls are deep.    It seems that a common case among all of these serial killers that they are loners.  Social isolation becomes a major driver in why these individual kill.  Most of the all shooters turn out to be loners.

How we can prevent such tragedies from happening?  A simple method is to identify and monitor people that socially isolate from society.  Such social isolation is not healthy for them and in society in general.  This kind of social isolation breeds the lone gunman who shoots up a fast-food eatery, a school, or a salon.  

A more nurturing society that provides more nurture and allows individuals to explore and express their feelings in a non-threatening environment could prevent such attacks.  By taking some time out of our day and being a friend to the friendless goes a long way in preventing social isolation and helps individuals to find self-worth.   Countless suicides and homicides could be prevented if our society would go farther to create a environment that creates nurture rather than cutthroat competition which is esteemed by Social Darwinism.