On 3/30/2023 at 1:43 PM, disgruntled said:

I was actually wondering about the nickname just now.

I was told by a relative of his that it comes from St. Herman, and has to do with a renaming during his communion. Some type of Catholic thing. 

I am curious how Fedup and others would get rid of the many liberals in this country. One way would be the Imperial way: beatings, imprisonment, exile, execution. Then there is the Communist way: beatings, reeducation camps, imprisonment, execution. Third would be the fascist way: beatings, concentration camps, execution.

If not any of the above means, then how? 

Then many of these people probably have children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews who are liberal. What would they do with them?

I hope the police release what's in that manifesto. This article says the family didn't approve of guns and didn't want their child to have one. 

 

 

Drake also divulged details about a manifesto Hale left behind, which allegedly included a map of the campus and a plan on how he'd enter the building. The writings also indicated the private Christian school may not have been the only planned target. Family members and a shopping mall were among other possible targets, he said.

Drake said the shooting victims weren’t all in one classroom, but were spread out throughout the school—with the body of Koonce found in an upstairs hallway by herself. The chief said it was possible she was running toward the gunfire when she was hit.

“There was a confrontation, I’m sure,” Drake said. “You can tell [by] the way she was laying in the hallway.”

The press conference, held outside the school in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, came just hours after police released dramatic body-cam footage of two officers shooting Hale dead just minutes after they arrived at the campus.

“They heard gunfire and immediately ran to that and took care of this horrible situation,” Drake said.

Warning: graphic footage

Drake said responding officers were under fire from Hale—camped on an upper level of the school—as they pulled into the school's parking lot. He said this led him to believe Hale “had some training” to be able to get shots off while standing far enough away from the window to not make himself an “easy target” for police from the outside.

Relatives and friends described Hale to The Daily Beast on Monday as a “quiet” former art student who was autistic “but high-functioning.” Drake said Tuesday he would not confirm Hale’s autism.

‘Quiet’ Ex-Student in Nashville Massacre Had a ‘Manifesto’

SHOCKING

https://www.thedailybeast.com/nashville-covenant-school-shooting-suspect-identified-as-audrey-hale?ref=home

 

Audrey Elizabeth Hale is accused of killing three children and three adults after storming a private Christian school on Monday morning.

Justin Rohrlich

Noah Kirsch

Pilar Melendez

Updated Mar. 28, 2023 3:02PM ET / Published Mar. 27, 2023 5:21PM ET 

Photo Illustration The Daily Beast/Nashville Metropolitan Police/LinkedIn

Listen to article8 minutes

The suspect accused of storming a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday morning, killing three kids and three adults, has been identified as a “quiet” 28-year-old former art student who may have been fueled by “resentment” towards their former school.

The Nashville Metro Police Department identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who was shot dead by cops just 14 minutes after The Covenant School called police to report an active shooter. The victims were identified as students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged 9, as well as head of school Katherine Koonce, 60, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and school custodian Mike Hill, 61.

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A source close to the Hale family told The Daily Beast on Monday night that Hale was autistic “but high-functioning.”

“And relatively recently announced she was transgender, identifying as he/him,” the source said, asking to remain unnamed so as to avoid additional family strife.

Mass shooting suspect Audrey Elizabeth Hale seen entering The Covenant School.

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department

While police initially described the suspect as a 28-year-old white woman, a LinkedIn profile, which the source confirmed to The Daily Beast as belonging to Hale, listed he/him pronouns. Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at a press conference Monday afternoon that Hale was transgender.

A search of Hale’s home turned up “maps drawn of the school, in detail, so, surveillance, entry points, et cetera,” Drake said, as well as a “manifesto” and “some writings that pertain to this date, the actual incident... of how this was all going to take place.” Inside a Honda Fit that Hale drove and parked at the church-based school’s campus Friday morning, cops found “additional material written by Hale,” police said in a tweet.

Photos Show Nashville Shooter Personalized Murder Weapons

EVIDENCE PILES UP

Speaking to NBC News, Drake suggested that “resentment for having to go to that school” may have been a factor in the attack. While he did not elaborate on the possible motive, he said Hale “targeted random students... Whoever she came in contact with, she fired rounds.”

Covenant, which has about 200 students in preschool to sixth grade, was the only school that was targeted, he said. A second location was mentioned but later abandoned “because of a threat assessment by the suspect, too much security.”

Minutes before the shooting, Hale sent a series of dark Instagram messages to a friend, who shared them with WTVF. “You’ll probably hear about me on the news after I die,” read one message sent to Averianna Patton, a former middle school basketball teammate of Hale’s. “This is my last goodbye. I love you. See you again in another life.”

Hale arrived at the school armed with an AR-style rifle, an AR-style pistol, and a handgun—and used the guns to shoot through a locked side entrance, Drake said. Two of the guns were “obtained legally, locally here,” he said. Photos and body-cam video from the scene showed Hale wearing camo print pants, a tactical-style vest, and wielding personalized guns, including one that had “Aiden” written on it, a name Hale used on some social media profiles.

Intense Bodycam Shows Cops Confront Nashville School Shooter

HEROIC

Dan Ladden-Hall

Reached by phone, Hale’s mother, Norma Fort Hale, who works at a nondenominational church in Nashville, told an ABC News reporter, “It’s very difficult now, we ask for privacy. I really can’t talk right now, I think I lost my daughter today.”

A LinkedIn profile says Audrey Hale started a freelance illustration and graphic design business last year after attending Nossi College of Art & Design in Madison, Tennessee.

In a statement, the college confirmed Hale was a 2022 graduate but clarified Hale did not work for the college, as social media profiles suggested. “While at our school, she was a talented artist and a good student. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, to the victims and their families and to our city,” the school’s president and CEO Cyrus Vatandoost said.

Richard Cook, who taught Hale at Nossi in the summer of 2015, told The Daily Beast that the graphic design student “would always do more work than asked” and never had any problems with other students.

The suspect used a firearm to shoot through a locked side entrance to the school, police said.

Nashville Metro Police

Hale “was a good student,” Cook said. “[Hale] was an overachiever, from what I remember. If I asked her for 20 thumbnail drawings, [Hale] did 40.”

Cook said that Hale was “on the spectrum” and that he had spoken with Norma Hale at least once during the summer session. At the end of the summer, Hale’s mother took to Facebook to post about her daughter’s time at Nossi—and even mentioned Cook.

“So, Audrey wrote ‘thank you’ notes to all her professors at the end of her summer semester,” Normal Fort Hale wrote in an August 2015 post. “These were some of her words to Mr. Cook, who lost his son in a car accident almost a year ago. ‘Don’t ever let anything or anyone steal your joy. You have a reason and a purpose to be here.’ Amazing, Dre. I love you.”

Cook admitted on Tuesday that he did not remember the note, but wouldn’t have put it past Hale to write him one. He added that he did not immediately recognize Hale as his former student when news broke out Monday of the mass shooting, but said he ultimately remembered after speaking to several people.

“It’s shocking,” Cook added. “But every school shooting is shocking.”

Bodycam released by police captured the moment Hale was shot by officers.

METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE PD

Hours after the shooting, police searched a home just three miles away from the school. A neighbor, Sandy Durham, who is also a family friend of the Hales, said the ATF told her they were there “to see what was going on next door [at the Hale house].”

“I do know Audrey, I’ve known her since she was a baby. I had just gotten out of the shower when all of this started happening. I didn’t really know anything more than that. Something was going on next door. It’s just tragic for everybody. The sweet children that were hurt, killed, the adults. All of it,” she told The Daily Beast.

Asked if there were any warning signs about Hale, Durham responded, “Never. She was very sweet. I don’t know what happened. It’s very scary.”

Another resident of the neighborhood, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Sean, said the Hales were “our neighbors for basically ever on that street. As long as I can really remember growing up as a kid.”

Hale was a “normal, nice person. Maybe a little quiet,” he said.

“If I had to imagine, Audrey’s parents are probably just as shocked as everybody in the neighborhood is… It just doesn’t seem real,” he said. “There’s nothing that would have led me to believe that she was capable of such a thing or that she or anybody in that family would have access to, much less ever used, a gun. They just don’t seem like the family that, like, is around guns. They’re not talking about going to a gun range or they’re not going hunting.”

He said that, growing up, his family had a basketball hoop in their driveway and Hale would come over and shoot hoops.

Cops Release Shocking CCTV of Nashville School Massacre

IN REAL TIME

Justin Rohrlich,

Noah Kirsch

Another neighbor told The Daily Beast they heard a “huge boom” as police entered the family’s home.

“My son and I were having lunch around 1 o’clock, and we heard a huge boom that shook our house, and had no idea what it was,” said Abigail Ashford-Grooms, who said she lives several doors down. “And when we peeked out the door, there were undercover police cars and ambulances and fire trucks blocking the street. And then we noticed all of our neighbors start to creep out at the same time.”

Hale entered Covenant, a school of about 200 preschool to sixth-grade students, through a side entrance just after 10 a.m. Monday, police said. Hale fired multiple shots while moving from the first floor to the second, before a team of five Nashville cops arrived on scene and almost immediately confronted the shooter on the second floor. Police released dramatic bodycam footage of the confrontation on Tuesday morning.

TOP STORIESREAD MORETRUMP’S VIOLENT RHETORIC DESERVES OUTRAGE,NOT YAWNS

1 hour ago, weirdcritter said:

People on here have this fear of Bill Gates and the Globalists (Great moniker for a rock band) will somehow engineer the population collapse, I thought it would be good to remind people that stupid horny teens who don't use birth control will keep the population increasing regardless of what big bad Bill does or doesn't do. Sarcasm? Read into it what you want.

For what it's worth I do not think it's a good idea for teens to be getting pregnant. 

5 hours ago, Illiterate said:

Really hoping this is sarcasm.

People on here have this fear of Bill Gates and the Globalists (Great moniker for a rock band) will somehow engineer the population collapse, I thought it would be good to remind people that stupid horny teens who don't use birth control will keep the population increasing regardless of what big bad Bill does or doesn't do. Sarcasm? Read into it what you want.

8 hours ago, Polo said:

It's really sad.  The poor guy has trouble gathering his thoughts.  I don't think he should be in office right now, but recovering.  I think the Dems just wanted to put anyone in there rather than lose to a Republican.

The big question here is why would the Republicans run a quack TV doctor who lives in New Jersey to run for Senate in Pennsylvania? To me Oz never seemed particularly conservative, The Pennsylvania Republicans just wanted to go for a celebrity candidates. So couldn't they find a suitable home-grown celebrity candidate without New Joisey's Oz's baggage. Not complaining, but it does seem odd. 

I also find it odd that people talk about the problems Fetterman and Biden have without mentioning the Texan who ran for Senate in Georgia during the last election, despite his showing signs of CTE, a common problem for men in his former profession. 
Now, what's the "H" word that people like to throw around here? Second letter is a "y"....

As a person who has been brain damaged from birth-bicameral dystaxia for those in the know-I find the attitude by many here toward those of us who have suffered speech problems to be extremely ignorant. This thread reminds me of what I had to endure at DuBois Middle School way back in the late 60's. Times have not changed so much. Damage to some parts of the brain such as the cerebellum, which is where the brain controls muscles including the tongue, does not necessarily affect the cerebral cortex. When I am stressed out or tired I am sure I sound a lot like Fetterman in this clip. The problems he has speaking has nothing to do with his ability to think or work in the Senate. When people first hear me speak, they usually assume I am a foreigner, gay or mentally challenged, none of which is true, though these accusations have made me very sensitive to what each of these groups face in this country, particularly in these parts. How was Moses described in the Bible? Halt of speech? If Moses did exist and had a halting manner of speaking similar to what Fetterman and I have, then I think John Fetterman and I are in excellent company. 

Two of the nastiest things said to me in middle school were :

"Spit that s**t out of your mouth so I can understand you"

and 

"Take that donkey d**k out of your mouth so I can understand you."

If anyone said these type of things to Fetterman on a call-in show on C-Span, the national blowback would be tremendous. Even from conservative media. 

10 hours ago, Illiterate said:

If biology isnt too important, why do you have to have all these workarounds to overcome biology? 

I have decided to identify as a 6ft 9 in African-American who can perform windmill dunks.  I want to try for a basketball scholarship and eventually the NBA.  The fact I am a 5/8 white dude with no practical basketball skills shouldn't matter?  Hey, my feelings will be hurt.  Everybody and everything needs to adapt around me.  Right?  Well no, I accept my biological/genetic limitations while being able to celebrate their chromosomal advantages.

Uterine transplants have occurred.  Some woman have even grown babies in these transplants.  Nothing about the process is even remotely natural.  From implanting the embryo to extracting the uterus so the baby can be born.  I suppose you could transplant a uterus into a man.  Still not even remotely natural.  Remember, men can't produce eggs.  Probably a lots of risks to the baby..all the added sythetic hormones and anti- rejection drugs.   But, hey, what's the big deal of sacrificing one human so another human can feel good about themselves.

I get it.  You want the world to conform to your view.  Biology is not plug and play...no matter how you wish it to be.  You want to create a synthetic world.

So, you willing to pay for my hair transplants?  My own damn biology is getting in the way of my happiness.

Changing a few inches of flesh to fit how your brain wants to see your body, comparing that to adding feet of height, reversing age, and changing your race...Come on, You are one of the more intelligent posters here. That is a stupid, flimsy argument that is way beneath you. If you and others honestly don't believe it is impossible for a male to sincerely wish to female, or a female to sincerely wish to be a male, then say it. Don't embarrass yourself with such inane tripe. I suspect there are a lot of people on here who have tried on a dress out of curiosity, rather liked the feeling, took it off and never thought about again until this trans issue comes up. Then they panic and wonder, "what if I liked the dress because I am really a woman! That cannot be! Ban the trans!" Well, maybe you liked the dress because you're really Scotch and your parents never told you.

The reason I mentioned uterus transplants isn't because I imagined transwomen getting  pregnant. if the uterus functioned properly it would be the source of female hormones. No more shots of synthetic hormones. Same with a transman getting a penis and testes. The testes would naturally produce testosterone and the added penis would allow the transman to amble up to the urinal and pizz (the preferred spelling here, apparently) like any other man. If transfolk want to have babies, frozen eggs from the presurgery transman, frozen sperm from the presurgery transwoman mixed to grow in an extrauterine device and you have a happy baby with two loving (one hopes) transparents. (which I understand is the name of a TV show).  That of course will be decades in the future. 

If you're concerned about tax money being spent on gender confirming surgery as its called, there are several foundations that will pay for that. Your tax dollars, therefore, will go toward buying private yachts, helicopters and jets for business tycoons who need them for business, and who can then get a tax write-off on them later, just as God intended. 

 To deal with the unhappiness you feel over your male pattern baldness, call this number tomorrow. You will surely find help: (814)375-6379.

I don't know whether I want to create a synthetic world, but I would like to see a world where people are free to pursue their own happiness as long as they don't hurt others in doing so, where bullies are not tolerated, where all individuals are treated as equals, without regard to status or wealth, and where people are ruled by law, not the powerful, and where leaders in any field exist to serve the people under them.

Now, full disclosure: When I was eight I saw some of my sister's panties laying in a drawer. Out of curiosity I tried one on.  As soon as I did I felt very weird, very uncomfortable. Didn't like it. Pulled them off and never did anything like that again. So I can safely say I am not at all inclined to being trans. 😁😜

3 minutes ago, fedup said:

Once again, I AIN'T TALKING ABOUT 18 year old kids.  Can't you read??????

 

CHICAGO - A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.

 

 

A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at age 15 or 17, a year or so earlier than previous guidance. The group acknowledged potential risks but said it is unethical and harmful to withhold early treatment.

 

 

If this is done than those doing it may face major legal problem. We'll have to see what happens. 

20 minutes ago, pennstater said:

And for some reason your diatribes do matter?   This guy knows more about it than you from experience.

 

I am sure my "diatribes" as you call them are more accepted by the broader society than your own views. No offense but I do think there is a lot of anger in this area at the world that is changing more than they want and that is pushing the world they grew up in away from themselves and from their progeny.

For centuries people thought diseases like smallpox and leprosy were cause by demons. Epilepsy and schizophrenia were also believed to be cause by demons. Not to mention impotence and cows not giving milk. 

Have you ever considered glorifying heaven by doing what Jesus told his disciples to do in Matthew 19:12? I think Jesus and his disciples, along with other early Christians (Origen being the most famous example) not to mention such groups as the Skopskys, did exactly that. Of course Jesus may have been talking figurately, not literally. What does that verse mean to you if you don't mind me asking. 

And since you advised Fedup not to argue with me, why are you doing it?

3 minutes ago, fedup said:

Your Liberals are allowing small children's johnsons to be cut and their body pumped full of un-needed chemicals and here you are making excuses as usual. 

Once again, 18 year old men are not small children. You keep making these insane denunciations because of what I consider a pathological hatred, much like the hatred that Kanye West has for Jews and the late Elliot Rogers had for women. 

At the end of Don Quixote the title character is a broken man at the end of his life, realizing that he had been fighting giants, enemies, that were not there. I hope you have a better ending than he did. 

27 minutes ago, fedup said:

From your article. It says it all. Once again a liberal is trying to change the definition of something to make it what they want to believe. 

 

"“We’re trying to change the understanding of gender,” says psychiatrist Murat Altinay, MD. “That’s one of my big goals. The main question I’m asking is, ‘Where is the gender?’"

 

 

age 25

 

Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years Under most laws, young people are recognized as adults at age 18. But emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don't reach full maturity until the age 25.Oct 10, 2011

The brain may not be totally mature at 18. But it is mature enough to make most decisions. Frankly a lot of people don't show many signs of mature thinking when they are 75. 

This Murat guy, whose opinion means to me personally, never heard of him, what does he matter?

Turns out I was wrong. Biology is very important. Brain biology that is:

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/research-on-the-transgender-brain-what-you-should-know/

Back when I was living in a house I wanted neighbors who would mind their own business, not have loud parties in the middle of the night, and if their kids were hoodlums I wanted them to keep their hoodlum ways off of my property. I was lucky. All my neighbors were nearly perfect and I have no idea whether they were Christian or not, conservative or not.

1 hour ago, Illiterate said:

Being called a man or woman already embraces a wide range of characteristics.  There are very masculine women and very feminine men.  Whether you like hunting and rebuilding transmission or prefer needlepoint and flower arrangements doesnt make you a man or a woman.  Biology does.

I get it where you would like to discount or ignore biology.  It is something you cannot control or change.  Sure, you can cut off parts a manufacture parts to create reasonable facsimilies, but it it will never be or function like original parts.    You can also take drugs to suppress natural hormones or mimic hormones you cannot produce, but you are actively choosing to alter your biology. You will never be a biological father without testicles nor a mother without ovaries.  Sure, you can change the words all you want, but it's not going to change reality.  Painting it red and slapping on a Porsche insignia does not make an old Cavalier a sportscar.

At any age?  Really?  You want a 6 yo to be able to alter their physical and chemical biology by their own choice, long before they are capable of creating a true understanding of, well, anything?  A group that changes their favorite color from week to week, you think they should be able to make life altering decisions?

If you are self-identifying, you should be self-paying.  Self-identifying implies you are making a choice.  No one should pay for someone else's choices.  I would feel more manly and virile with a full head of hair.  You willing to contribute to my hair transplants?  How about paying for implants for women that would feel more feminine with bigger boobs?

I really dont care how you desire to self-identify.  I will even use your preferred  pronouns.  However, stop trying to pretend there is no difference between men and women.  Stop pretending biology doesnt matter.

Any surgery should only take place only once the trans child reaches adulthold, age 18, and only after lots of therapy establishes that this desire isn't a whim.  Many trans persons elect not to get surgery at all. However I have no objection to a trans child living as the opposite gender. Or really any child. If a boy identifying as a girl wishes to dress, act and be called by a girl's name I have no problem with that. Surgery and hormones would be a nono until that kid is older. Same with a girl who identifies as a boy. From what little I've read if a toddler has these desires the kid is likely trans because gender/sexual identity is hardwired at birth. If a tween or teen suddenly expresses this desire it is more likely than not one of those phases a kid goes through that they grow out of. 

As for parenthood, within a few decades extrauterine devices that can carry the unborn from conception until birth will likely become common. Also scientists are working on developing biological wombs that can be transplanted into women of any sort that lack one or have an unhealthy one. I would not be surprised if similar research isn't being done to create biologically accurate penises and testes. The future promises to be amazing. Biology is important but not that important.

As for who pays, in decades to come politicians will be under more pressure to use public money to pay for these procedures as trans people become more accepted by society.  Plus future politicians will themselves be more inclined to support these procedures. Then there are the various philanthropic foundations that will likely pop up to pay for them.

I have some bad news for you too. It is your very virility that is making bald. Alas it is the same for me.

3 hours ago, Gator11 said:

Probably get in trouble for making this observation but is Santa Claus trying to get Biden pregnant?

1 hour ago, fedup said:

just about every one of your posts are excuses you make because you can't address the truth with any facts, just your Liberal opinions on how things are. 

You wish you could come up with some hard core facts to back up what your opinions are. 

Just like all Liberals, the life you want to see is full of dreams containing unicorns and flower gardens where no liberal does any harm. It's only the non-liberals that cause any problems. 

 

Even after all this time you still don't want to see what this subject is all about. You keep twisting things around like I and others are just blaming liberal crooks for doing bad things. That is not the problem, the problem is simple, your liberal's who are in charge of protecting the public from harm are not doing their job. 

It starts right at the top with your brain dead choice for president. Every day hundreds or thousands of invaders invade this county at his request. For generations free Americans will have to worry about how many bad people came in with the others. Then it all goes really downhill fast. The DOJ does not protect Americans from the DOJ. Liberal gov., mayors Da's and AG's just let the bad boys and girls back out on the street.  Your Liberal heath department cuts little boys and girls at will and deforms them for life. They also cut bad boys iand girls that they managed to keep in prison, at the tax payers expense. A lot of your military wants to start wars in other countries so they can play soldier and pretend they are compassionate. 

 

ON AND ON AND ON IT GOES

Thanks for not answering my question!  Most of those issues you bring up deserve separate threads and cannot be solved outside of a Rambo or Dirty Harry movie. ( I consider those types of films to be ad unbelievable as any film featuring unicorns.)

1 hour ago, fedup said:

Nothing but excuses, wishes and dreams as you continue to avoid the truth. 

Do you actually believe in what you just posted????

If so, you are a very scary person.

ThanksI I go for scary. Bwaaahahaha. 

But please be more explicit. What in this text is an excuse, what is a wish, what is a dream? Don't say all of it either. That would be a cop out and show you have nothing.

53 minutes ago, fedup said:

Well you have hit the bottom of the barrel.  It didn't take you very long did it?  It won't be much longer before you just run away. 

Right now I'm laid up with a broken arm so I have plenty of time to post here. Didn't go out anywhere for Christmas so I thought what the hey. Do something on godubois. When I return to work next week I may cut way back again. But I won't run away. I'll be watching you. 

56 minutes ago, fedup said:

Of course. Always deny the truth. Make up your own truth, then you are always right. 

And we all know that Liberals are always right. 

Uhh Disraeli was a conservative Prime Minister under Queen Victoria. But you knew that.

Gee, THX must have woken up this morning and found some down votes wrapped in a bow under the tree, Better than coal, for sure.

On 12/24/2022 at 7:27 AM, fedup said:

I want to see a time when the damned liberals ain't controlling or trying to control every aspect 

I am so tempted to go into your daily routine, from Barack Obama waking you in the morning and dressing you to Adlai Stevenson making you go to bed, reading you a bedtime story then turning the light out promptly at 9 o'clock but I don't have the time or the interest to do it justice.

3 hours ago, weirdcritter said:

This story would have to be one of the biggest potential nightmares for anyone who is a parent. Some would blame Liberalism for this kid's decision to murder his parents and kid brothers. Some would blame Satan. The biggest contributor to Nicholas Browning's crime would probably be hormones and restlessness that comes with adolescence. But the only person I would blame for this horror is Nicholas Browning himself:

Oh, and Merry Christmas

Police say Maryland Boy Scout killed his family while they slept

Kasey Jones - Associated Press

Monday, February 4, 2008

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. -- Police say a 15-year-old Boy Scout charged with killing his parents and two younger brothers shot them as they slept, then returned a day later after spending time with friends to stage the discovery of their deaths.

Friends of the Browning family, many of whom held a candlelight vigil Sunday evening at the half-million dollar farmhouse-style home where authorities say the killings happened, said they were shocked. Someone hung a small, silver-colored crucifix on the mailbox.

The father, John Browning, was "beloved and well-revered. I'm told this is not the kind of family that this could happen to," said the Rev. Frances Dailey, pastor of Timonium United Methodist Church, where the Brownings' Troop 328 met in the suburban Balitmore community.

Officials believe the teen, Nicholas Browning, had shot his father, mother, and brothers with one of his father's guns Friday, then tossed the handgun in some bushes and left.

Authorities said friends dropped Nicholas off on Saturday, and soon after, he came out of the house to say he had found his father's body on the ground floor. He then called 911.

"A caller reported to 911 that a 45-year-old male was lying on the couch with blood coming out of his nose. He was not breathing," charging documents said.

Shortly before 5 p.m., officers found Nicholas' father dead in a ground-floor room and his mother and brothers' bodies in upstairs bedrooms. They also found the gun. The victims were John, 45; Tamara, 44; Gregory, 13, and Benjamin, 11.

Police said Nicholas confessed early Sunday and was charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.

Nicholas had not been getting along with his father, police said in a news release, but investigators offered no other details. There was no sign of a confrontation Friday at the house, police said.

John Browning, a real estate lawyer, had worked in Baltimore County's oldest law firm for nearly 20 years. He was a scoutmaster and a church leader.

Nicholas, who was tall and gangly, was working toward becoming an Eagle Scout, and had built a prayer garden at his church to meet one of the requirements. His high school was one of the best in the county.

Browning led camping, rock climbing and whitewater expeditions for his Boy Scout troop. The family also hosted meetings for scouts' parents at their home.

"John was a wonderful man. He and his wife, Tammy, were very much in love. Together they were caring and loving parents to their children," Browning's law partners said in a statement. "John was also a man of much faith. And he so much enjoyed the outdoors."

Two of Nicholas Browning's schoolmates drove past the house Sunday afternoon. They wept when they were told Nicholas was charged in the killings.

"It's hard to believe someone could do this," said Brooke Kebaugh, 16.

Liz Lazlawbach, 17, said Browning complained about fighting with his father, but "not about anything violent."

Nicholas was formally arrested at 1:05 a.m. Sunday after admitting to the killings, Baltimore County Police spokesman Bill Toohey said. He was denied bail Sunday morning at a hearing. He was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center in Towson in a special section for juveniles.

His bail will be reviewed Monday in Towson, the county seat, six miles from the family's home.

The county had 37 homicides last year, compared with 282 in nearby Baltimore. Toohey said there had not been a similar incident in the area since 1995, when a man killed his wife and three children before killing himself.

Resident Mike Thomas said one of his sons had been in scouts with one of the Brownings' sons. The Brownings would go out of their way to help others, even stopping to pick up debris in the street, he said.

"These people would do anything in the world for you — just incredible people," he said.

Thomas said he recently sold John Browning a trailer that Browning planned to use for Boy Scout outings. It was parked Sunday in the family's driveway.

Whaaa! Did they run out of thumb down votes THX? Gee didn't know they were rationed.