Don’t Waste Sympathy on Schoolhouse Shooter

Re “The Only Sense Is of Loss,” Dec. 2: It is hard to figure out why there is almost equal sympathy given in this article to the victims of this monster, Michael Carneal, and the monster himself. Am I supposed to feel sorry for Carneal’s lack of being able to figure out why he was “shooting people”? It appears that his only explanation is that he was bored with life. (“I didn’t have anything to lose.”) It’s more typical now for The Times to go inside the mind of the murderer and find out “why” and “how” and all the other things that make it almost glamorous for Carneal to sit in prison and figure out the unthinkable. Yes, he is excited about getting his buttered popcorn since he keeps his cell clean. Unbelievable. Bravo to Missy Jenkins and her never-ending will to live.

Elisabeth Chatfelter

Lake Hughes

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My thanks to Stephanie Simon for her evenhanded article on the 1997 school shooting in West Paducah, Ky. I have nothing but sympathy and respect for Missy Jenkins, the paralyzed victim profiled, and appreciation of her work on the national campaign to stop school violence. However, I find it more than ironic that these efforts are made within the context of a country whose national policy is one of problem-solving through violence. When citizens pursue that policy on the individual level, we wring our hands and wonder why. Isn’t it obvious?

Will Powers

Santa Maria