Wm. Freund's Saturday morning began with a black cape and paintball mask; he then entered a neighbor's home, killed the owner's daughter Christina Smith (22), and her father, Vernon (45).
The troubled youth then shot at a nearby home, firing on another neighbor, but his weapon jammed. Freund then walked home and killed himself.
In the weeks before 19-year-old William Freund went on his shooting rampage in the Aliso Viejo neighborhood where he lived, he reached out for help on the Internet.
Asperger's is considered by some as a "high functioning" form of autism; this is just another way of saying it's their problem. No it's not!
Stuff happens in this sin-soaked world, but we really do a lousy job of being friends to those who hurt. We're too busy; our secular prejudices thwart the efforts of those who are different to reach out and touch someone.
That a 19-year-old boy felt so abandoned that he turned to the the impersonal Internet for help is an indictment on us all!
Forgive us LORD, when we fail our neighbor we fail You!
The troubled youth then shot at a nearby home, firing on another neighbor, but his weapon jammed. Freund then walked home and killed himself.
In the weeks before 19-year-old William Freund went on his shooting rampage in the Aliso Viejo neighborhood where he lived, he reached out for help on the Internet.
He wrote more than two dozen online messages in October, asking for a "real life" friend and saying he was contemplating suicide. He also threatened to start "a Terror Campaign to hurt those that have hurt me."Their efforts failed. Society as a whole failed as well ... we all failed.
The messages paint a portrait of a troubled young man struggling with Asperger's syndrome, a neurological disorder described as a variant of autism that hampers people's ability to interact socially. He revealed his anguish and frustration on a website, wrongplanet.net, used by people with Asperger's.
In a prophetic message written Oct. 16, about the "Terror Campaign," he also said, "My future ended some time ago." Other postings included "Everybody hates me" and "I feel like I need to kill myself."
He also disclosed that he had bought a 12-gauge shotgun and had gone online to buy ammunition.
Members of the online community for Asperger's tried to reassure Freund and offer suggestions, and volunteer moderators tried to find his parents.
Asperger's is considered by some as a "high functioning" form of autism; this is just another way of saying it's their problem. No it's not!
Stuff happens in this sin-soaked world, but we really do a lousy job of being friends to those who hurt. We're too busy; our secular prejudices thwart the efforts of those who are different to reach out and touch someone.
That a 19-year-old boy felt so abandoned that he turned to the the impersonal Internet for help is an indictment on us all!
Forgive us LORD, when we fail our neighbor we fail You!
Asperger; Asperger's Syndrome; Autism; Developmental disorders
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