# A school shooting just happened in Madison, Wisconsin \[Dec 16, 2024\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [December 16, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721 "2024-12-16T19:02:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/61 "2024-12-18T03:36:25Z")

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Isla Vista is the other place a kid of mine went to college. And my cousin who grew up in Madison worked for the Onion. Eventually everyone will have these connections to a shooting.

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/62 "2024-12-18T03:47:51Z")

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When I think of mainstreaming, I think of kids who have visual impairments, cerebral palsy, deafness, etc. but normal intellect and behavior going to school with non-disabled kids, and the more severely mentally disabled kids - the type who have Down syndrome, lower-functioning autism, etc. joining them for classes like gym, music, or art.

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**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/63 "2024-12-18T12:46:50Z")

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This is at risk of turning into a significant hijack - what to do with “challenging” youth, who ought to do it, and how much should be spent on it.

It was easy when the general idea was that schools prepared youth to be contributing members of society - even though folk attending certain schools might be expected to contribute at a lower “rung” of the social/economic ladder. The troublemakers, impaired, or different would drop out or be kicked out at some point, and either be institutionalized, cared for by family, or stumble along in relative poverty and neglect.

I’m not advocating that approach, just saying that it was “easier” in many respects. And, at least, the goals were understandable and achievable.

Today, I really do not know what our society aims to accomplish by mainstreaming certain youth. In too many respects, the youth who receive considerable special services are simply spit out of the system at age 18 or 21. I suppose there is a benefit to exposing the more mainstream youth to the existence of different people in society. But how to do that in a way that does not detract from the education the mainstream youth receive, while also providing meaningful benefit to the challenging youth? IMHO, our system asks far too much of our schools.

How to deal with those who are “different”, who should do it, and how much are we willing to pay for that? All I can say is that it is a very difficult issue, which I’m not persuaded out society has figured out.

An interesting discussion, but I’m not sure how germane it is to this thread.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/64 "2024-12-18T13:01:07Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> IOW, the only way to ensure anything approaching a decent education for minorities or the poor is to force the problem white kids in with the normal white kids. Which will drag the minorities and poor in with them.
> 
> Which as risible as it sounds actually has a decent basis in historical truth in our benighted racist shithole of a country.

Like this?  
[![](https://i.imgur.com/SLH79PA.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/SLH79PA.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/65 "2024-12-18T13:07:08Z")

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Yep. Like that. If you have a society, not just an economy, nice things like that are possible.

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**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/66 "2024-12-18T13:26:44Z")

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Because Straight Dope …

[**Private education is not prohibited in Finland**](https://www.aacrao.org/edge/emergent-news/private-education-is-not-prohibited-in-finland)

TL;DR:

> Since August 2020, more than 18,000 users have shared on social media claiming that private education in Finland is “forbidden” , “eliminated” or “abolished” . In September 2021, it circulated again, but it is false: Finland does have private schools. What is prohibited is basic education for profit.

[For which I’d gladly settle]

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/67 "2024-12-19T05:43:54Z")

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The student and teacher who died have been identified, and the shooter, not surprisingly, had a very unstable home life. Her parents married and divorced each other twice, and at least at one time, she was in court-ordered therapy.

There’s also a new report that she was corresponding online with a 20-year-old man from the San Diego area who was planning to do something similar, and he’s been arrested. This could get very interesting.

> **[Victims killed in Madison school shooting identified as 14-year-old student,...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHGOIesxXsg%2F)**
>
> Both the student victim and teacher killed in the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison Monday have been identified. https://www.cbs58.com/ne...

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**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/68 "2024-12-19T08:37:15Z")

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> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> There’s also a new report that she was corresponding online with a 20-year-old man from the San Diego area who was planning to do something similar, and he’s been arrested. This could get very interesting.

Yeah, I’m curious about this, myself. What does the law allow, jurisdiction, could a case be made for the felony murder rule? Guess we’ll see.

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/69 "2024-12-19T08:49:36Z")

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Most likely, he’s going to be charged with making terroristic threats; he was planning to blow up an unspecified government building, as a suicide bomber.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/70 "2024-12-19T10:29:44Z")

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> [@outlierrn](#):
>
> Yeah, I’m curious about this, myself. What does the law allow, jurisdiction, could a case be made for the felony murder rule? Guess we’ll see.

If he had been involved in planning her attack - or had simply known about her plans - could he be charged with conspiracy to commit murder?

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/71 "2024-12-19T10:56:28Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> If you have a society, not just an economy, nice things like that are possible.

This is a wonderful, applicable quote.

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**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/72 "2024-12-19T16:26:09Z")

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And it’s always “too soon” to talk about gun control. But if it’s _ever_ talked about it will have to be after a mass shooting, because there’s no end to mass shootings.

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