What's Wrong With This Picture? Knoxville Church Shooting

What's Wrong With This Picture? Knoxville Church Shooting

WBIR channel 10 reported yesterday that neighbors of the killer:

A neighbor told 10News Adkisson described himself as a "Confederate" and a "believer in the old South." She says Adkisson self-identified in this way to her on more than one occasion, but that she didn't know what he meant by it.

At this morning's press conference, the police chief indicated that from a letter found in the killer's home:

1. He had been unemployed since 2006. (He had an associate's degree in mechanical engineering.)

2. He blamed liberals and gays for his inability to get a job--hence, his decision to attack the Tennessee Valley Unitarian-Universalist church.

3. He was upset about his food stamps being reduced.

4. His criminal record was two DUI convictions, one in California, and one in Tennessee.

5. He thought that he was having trouble getting a job because of his age.

This guy sounds like a mass of contradictions. You know, most rational people who hate liberalism aren't taking food stamps (a liberal program) or whining about age discrimination (a liberal concern). And somehow, blaming gays for his inability to get a job seems a bit bizarre to me--especially in mechanical engineering. There are some occupations that are stereotypically gay, but mechanical engineering isn't one of them.

This guy does seem pretty atypical, in many respects. The vast majority of murderers have one or both of the following characteristics:

1. Substantial violent crime histories before committing murder.

2. Histories of severe mental illness that was inadequately treated, or often not treated at all.

Murderers with just a couple of DUI convictions, and who have managed to get to such an advanced age without a violent criminal history, are pretty unusual.

According to the police chief's news conference this morning, he was planning to kill people until the police arrived and killed him--and had brought 78 rounds of shotgun ammunition with him. The police were there three minutes after the 911 call--excellent performance. But by then members of the church had overpowered this guy. Remember: when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

If I correctly heard what the police chief said, it appears that the killer only managed to fire three rounds before he was disarmed. It would appear that this guy wasn't smart enough to figure out how to position himself to do what he claimed he intended to do. Be glad that he wasn't terribly smart (which might better explain his employment problem than blaming liberals and gays).

It would also appear that the shotgun was purchased from a pawn shop a month in advance of this incident, demonstrating that a waiting period wouldn't have helped.

UPDATE: A bit more detail, just adding to the mass of contradictions, from the July 27, 2008 Knoxville News:

The man accused of a mass church shooting this morning was described by his Powell neighbors as a helpful and kind man, but one who had issues with Christianity.
Jim D. Adkisson, 58, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, which killed one and injured eight others.
He is being held on $1 million bond.
"He had his own sense of belief about religion, that's the impression I got of him," said neighbor Karen Massey. "We were talking one day when my daughter graduated from Bible college, and I told him I was a Christian, then he almost turned angry.
"He seemed to get angry at that."
According to Massey, Adkisson talked frequently about his parents who "made him go to church all his life ... he was forced to do that."