I can’t see how she didn’t notice any difference in Steven there had to be some signs. People don’t just one day up and kill people. There are always things leading up to it that should have been caught. Wasn’t there reports that some people thought he was acting a bit erratic? Well if they noticed then why didn’t she if she lived with him? And why didn’t she try to get him back on his meds? She had to know he was off of them.

Cynthia, Covington, Ga.

This is for Jessica and the parents of Steven.

I understand, all too well, the hurt, the confusion and yes, even the occasional anger, you feel. “He” was young, quiet, loved little kids and never saw a cat or dog he didn’t like ~ or adopt. I knew him for almost ten years without knowing there was anything different to set him apart from others..

Unlike Steven, “He” was paranoid/schizophrenic. One never knew which face would show, or how long it would stay. Hospitalized three times in four years, he left at will. No one could force him. He couldn’t be held in a halfway house, couldn’t work. He wasn’t a threat to himself or another person.

Then it started to change, ever so slightly. Suspicion, anger, extreme exhaustion. Medication? Yes, everything safe to give him. But he hid bottles of it, all over the house, in the vehicle. How could there always be someone to watch? Then came the knives, the odd look. Yet he would comply with anything he was asked to do, the danger past.

I don’t know where he is now, I haven’t seen him in years. He wasn’t uneducated, on drugs, or uncaring. He could map out a game of chess in his head and beat you before you saw it coming. Loved the outdoors, taught me how to fish. the pro way!.

So now I read about Steven, the crosses, the people who loved him. I feel what the friends and families of the victims feel, yet it hurts to see his cross turned backwards, to see him separated from the others. Like a raging fever can take your mind and body in illness, his illness took his.

He loved you, that never changed. Just as you will always love him. He would never had done these things had he not been ill. It’s just that most don’t understand or accept an illness that is mental.

God bless you,

Annz

I feel so saddened for this young woman and all the victims of this tragedy. I cannot imagine what she is going through. I’m just glad she is telling their story. And I pray she is met with compassion as she grieves this loss, not with judgement nor contempt for him. I love the 3 C’s of Al-Anon. ” I didn’t cause it, I can’t control it, and I can’t cure it. ” She didn’t cause his mental illness. As much as she loved him, she couldn’t control his issues or what he did. And she wasn’t able to fix or cure him no matter how much she loved him. His psychiatrist obviously didn’t have a clue, or legally and ethically he or she would have had to report the potential threats. Hopefully, someone will tell her this enough times so that she believes it within herself. And hopefully she will eventually find peace in knowing that no matter what he did, he loved her. No one I’ve ever loved has committed a crime like this. But those I loved have committed suicide (three friends and a cousin over the last 17 years). And I had to realize that their deaths were not based on what we did or didn’t do nor their love for us, but the ending of their pain that no one could not heal no matter how much we wanted to.

My comments are not directed towards this girl friend but to the students that are targets of these killers. I sent the following message to our Illinois Govenor, State Representative and Senator as well as our national senator and all my Illinois email addresses. I don’t know if it will get their attention but if enough people write it may and I encourage everyone to do so. “The time has come, regardless of the lobbist to the NRA and the 2nd amendment, to tighten the gun laws in Illinois and elsewhere. The three day background check now required is useless. The NIU killer had one and got guns. TWO DAYS after this horrific event, it was revealed that he was placed in a mental institution by his parents and other facts that clearly revealed that he should have never been allowed to purchase these weapons. The old saying that guns don’t kill people, criminals do no longer applies. Criminals aren’t killing our young people, crackpots are and the slaughter has got to stop. If veterans can wait months and even years while the VA checks into them for medical benefits, then surely people wanting guns can do the same while their back grounds are being thoroughly checked before they can purchase the weapons. Lastly, everyone effort should be undertaken to stop internet and mail order guns sales. Thank you.”

my main concern is that we spend an enormous amount of money all over the wrld and in wars and trying to help other countries our medical system could be fixed if certain people were really concerned there needs to be support groups in every walk of our lives er phone lines talk phone lines groups religeous and tecnical and medical can we do something yes we all can be a better kinder people our outreach needs to include factories work places churches law enforcement drug rehabs work foundations that will not let these troubled souls go without help ..i know whar=t u think they should help themselves but (all of us) need to at least try to get involved locally and be a friend if we can WE ARE AMERICA AND REMEMBER WE DONT QUIT stop saying to yourselves that we can”t do any thing SURE U CAM CAN:”t u terry b