# FUCK YOU Bruce Pardo, and the "Covina Christmas Massacre" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 27, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811 "2008-12-27T04:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/61 "2008-12-27T21:08:27Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Our actions our brought about by electrochemical activity in our brains. This activity is caused by prior events outside of one “self” and probably by some quantum randomness as well. Taking this into account, X number of people will go batshit crazy in a given year and there’s only so much we can do about it. It’s simply a hazard of life, like tornadoes and lightning strikes. Bullshit. And even if this were accurate, you can protect yourself against tornadoes and lightning strikes, so your analogy is crappy. I will grant you that sometimes people just go insane and there’s no way to predict it, but 1) that does not excuse their actions, as they are fully responsible for their own actions, regardless of what “quantum randomness” (or whatever the fuck) is going on around them; and 2) it’s a natural human response to be saddened/outraged when they hear about something like this. We’re not robots, “Oh, nine people brutally murdered at a Christmas party? Well, people go crazy. It happens. Meep, meep. What’s for dinner?” (3. Hi, **Buckeye!** ) > [@](#): > > Bruce Pardo had no criminal history, he just did this crazy shit out of the blue and apparently wasn’t deterred by the threat of jail or death. There’s probably nothing we can do to stop freak occurances like this, getting worked up about this is simply a waste of emotional energy. Possibly no criminal history, but he did negligently allow his 13-month-old to nearly drown in a swimming pool several years ago, and then reneged on his responsibility for the disabled child afterward, causing his former wife to have to sue him for his homeowner’s insurance in order to help pay the medical bills. I offer this simply as additional information and not as support for some greater point, however. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/62 "2008-12-27T23:30:19Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > The threat of punishment is one factor that can influence peoples decisions, so even if Free Will is an illusion, that doesn’t mean prisons should be abolished. I hate to hijack, and I know this was probably addressed in the GD thread, but if free will is an illusion, doesn’t that mean that any decision is predetermined, and that the “threat of punishment” _cannot possibly_ “influence peoples’ decisions”? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/63 "2008-12-28T03:44:30Z")
What is it with you and free will, anyway, **Blalron**? You basically pulled it out of your ass in responding to me. Is it a [hobbyhorse](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hobbyhorse) of yours? ---
**Author:** ![Floppy\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@Floppy\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floppy_Joe)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/64 "2008-12-28T06:19:41Z")
That’s just freaked out, Ruffian. It feels weird just having it happen in the same city, let alone just down the street from you. Jingo says “Hey”. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/65 "2008-12-28T06:37:21Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I hate to hijack, and I know this was probably addressed in the GD thread, but if free will is an illusion, doesn’t that mean that any decision is predetermined, and that the “threat of punishment” _cannot possibly_ “influence peoples’ decisions”? On the contrary, if our “free” wills were totally uninfluenced by outside circumstances, then the threat of punishment would be completely useless. > [@Beware of Doug](#): > > What is it with you and free will, anyway, Blalron? You basically pulled it out of your ass in responding to me. Is it a hobbyhorse of yours? I kind of did. I guess your post kind of inspired me when you said we shouldn’t get too emotional about these events and should try to understand what causes it. I agree on that point. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/66 "2008-12-28T07:09:21Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Same here. > > According to media sources, this guy went through a bitter divorce, lost his job, and wasn’t even eligible for unemployment. No wonder he snapped. > > If you must Pit anyone, Pit the circumstances that led to this desperate act. Bullshit and fuck you. Should there be a hell, Bruce Pardo will surely be in it. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/67 "2008-12-28T07:54:59Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > There’s probably nothing we can do to stop freak occurances like this, getting worked up about this is simply a waste of emotional energy. Mass murder is pandemic in America. These situations happen so often, they rarely make the news anymore. You have to get _really_ dramatic and creative (such as dressing up as Santa Claus and shooting up your family on Christmas Eve, or that Amish school shooting two years ago) in order to get national media attention. I don’t foresee anything changing, though. While it sucks to be one of the surviving victims, for the rest of us, it’s a winning situation. We get the opportunity to express our recreational outrage and pat ourselves on the back for being morally superior to these perceived sociopaths, while the national media revels in the bloodshed and rubs their hands with glee as their ratings jump through the roof. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/68 "2008-12-28T09:21:49Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > While it sucks to be one of the surviving victims, for the rest of us, it’s a winning situation. We get the opportunity to express our recreational outrage and pat ourselves on the back for being morally superior to these perceived sociopaths, while the national media revels in the bloodshed and rubs their hands with glee as their ratings jump through the roof. You are a truly sick fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/69 "2008-12-28T10:06:09Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Mass murder is pandemic in America. Perhaps you could furnish some evidence that out of the 300,000,000 people who live in this country, enough have been killed in mass murders to qualify as pandemic. I’d wager it’s considerably less than one-thousandth of one percent. (Which is not to say that any murder, mass or not, isn’t horrible. But it does put the lie to the implication that when it comes to mass murder, ‘America is teh suxxor’.) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/70 "2008-12-28T17:00:47Z")
Of course, who cares if America has more mass murder(er)s per capita than other countries. Or why. Shit happens, meep meep, what’s for dinner? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/71 "2008-12-28T17:04:27Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Mass murder is pandemic in America. These situations happen so often, they rarely make the news anymore. You have to get _really_ dramatic and creative (such as dressing up as Santa Claus and shooting up your family on Christmas Eve, or that Amish school shooting two years ago) in order to get national media attention. > > I don’t foresee anything changing, though. While it sucks to be one of the surviving victims, for the rest of us, it’s a winning situation. We get the opportunity to express our recreational outrage and pat ourselves on the back for being morally superior to these perceived sociopaths, while the national media revels in the bloodshed and rubs their hands with glee as their ratings jump through the roof. Not all of us. Some of us are too busy jerking ourselves off for being so enlightened that we’ll glad-hand even a vicious mass murderer as long as he had a bad day at some point. This board has become the Onion parody version of itself, and you’re our Jean Teasdale. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/72 "2008-12-28T17:06:59Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Mass murder is pandemic in America. These situations happen so often, they rarely make the news anymore. You have to get _really_ dramatic and creative (such as dressing up as Santa Claus and shooting up your family on Christmas Eve, or that Amish school shooting two years ago) in order to get national media attention. > > I don’t foresee anything changing, though. While it sucks to be one of the surviving victims, for the rest of us, it’s a winning situation. We get the opportunity to express our recreational outrage and pat ourselves on the back for being morally superior to these perceived sociopaths, while the national media revels in the bloodshed and rubs their hands with glee as their ratings jump through the roof. Hmmm…the possibilities for your posts on this thread so far are whooshing, trolling and stupidity. I was sure the first was a whoosh; after the second I switched to stupidity. Now I’ve moved on to trolling. One more and I’m siccing the moderators. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![mudkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@mudkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudkicker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/73 "2008-12-28T17:19:01Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Narcissists are attention-seekers by nature, no doubt about that. And he sure got people’s attention! Maybe if people had paid him more attention beforehand, this tragedy could have been averted. Um, no. Having been involved with one, I would imagine that it matters not one whit how much attention a narcissist gets, it’s never going to be enough. Saying if this guy had been paid more attention the tragedy might never have happened is exactly the type of self-justifying, self-pitying statement a narcissist would make. (Not directed at you, KGS.) ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/74 "2008-12-28T17:34:53Z")
I completely understand the impulse to say fuck it all, and go on a murderous rampage against life’s inequities. But I don’t. Because it’s like, foreordained that I won’t. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/75 "2008-12-28T17:37:54Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Perhaps you could furnish some evidence that out of the 300,000,000 people who live in this country, enough have been killed in mass murders to qualify as pandemic. Sorry…I meant to say _endemic_. > [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > One more and I’m siccing the moderators. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be that stupid. You don’t think the moderators are reading this thread already?? Besides, all I’m doing is expressing my opinion. I don’t condone what this man did – I’m merely saying that we need to examine the underlying _root causes_ of this man’s behavior, in order to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. Writing him off as a random psychopath won’t solve a damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/76 "2008-12-28T18:03:37Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > On more careful reading of the news, you are absolutely right. It is hard to write off wanting to kill 25 people as a crime of passion. More so if kids are included. I could see wanting to kill lousy ex-wife and maybe a parent-in-law or two, but 25 people is just crazy. > > I retract that part. > > On the guy being nice 10 minutes before, and not wanting to make too much of a point of it since it is not a core issue here, it does seem like he was a nice guy before this whole mess. Many people on the OP’s second link talk of him as a nice friendly guy. > > One can only wonder what makes a likable guy go this bad. A lot of people found Ted Bundy charming and likable. Being likable isn’t always a reflection of the evil going on in their head. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/77 "2008-12-28T18:24:35Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Mass murder is pandemic in America. These situations happen so often, they rarely make the news anymore. You have to get _really_ dramatic and creative (such as dressing up as Santa Claus and shooting up your family on Christmas Eve, or that Amish school shooting two years ago) in order to get national media attention. > > I don’t foresee anything changing, though. While it sucks to be one of the surviving victims, for the rest of us, it’s a winning situation. We get the opportunity to express our recreational outrage and pat ourselves on the back for being morally superior to these perceived sociopaths, while the national media revels in the bloodshed and rubs their hands with glee as their ratings jump through the roof. While I find your wording distasteful, I will agree with a small portion of your post. The national media does thrive on these types of stories and I can almost guarantee that that all sources (television, newspapers, and People Magazine) will be milking this for ratings and every nickle possible. Hell, I wonder how long it will be before a “based on a true story” movie is made. > [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > Not to get all “my penis is bigger than yours” or anything but… actually you know what? Never mind. I’ll just say that I think you are way overreacting and leave it at that. Oh, and a quick “It didn’t have anything to do with you so why are you taking it so personally?” but now I’m done. > > \*\* > Clearly she was on the naughty list.\*\* Ya know, I giggle at tasteless humor, but that comment wasn’t funny in the least bit. What a calloused and vile thing to say. > [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > With equal respect, Shayna, you know absolutely nothing about my life and for you to sit here and tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about with absolutely nothing to base that on is fucking laughable. Oh do tell. What has happen in your life that is comparable? Clue us in so we can better understand how you might “know what you are talking about”. A few years ago something on a much smaller scale and different circumstance (no murder, but a disturbing accidental death) happened just around the corner from my house. It had nothing to do with me and there was never any danger to anyone else. Still, it was very unsettling and affected me, my family, and other neighbors for quite sometime. I can’t imagine the effects from something of this magnitude. I am sorry you are dealing with this Ruffian. ---
**Author:** ![Sequent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Sequent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sequent)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/78 "2008-12-28T18:27:19Z")
The question that troubles me here: did he really just snap or was he an evil fuck all along who just hadn’t been pushed far enough? The former is a more frightening conclusion than the latter, if you ask me. What happens inside the brain when someone snaps? Was it abject rage and hatred all along that just boiled over? What has to happen inside a person that they’re willing to shoot an innocent child in the face? The circumstances don’t really explain it…I think most of us have known people in worse situations who have endured, even shined. And I do have to wonder–and this is in no way meant to shift an ounce of blame or accountability–is there anything that could have been done to stop him, help him, get him to turn off this awful road before it was too late? ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/79 "2008-12-28T18:33:43Z")
Jesus. > **[San Gabriel Valley Tribune](https://www.sgvtribune.com/)** > > The San Gabriel Valley Tribune is the local news source for Los Angeles County's San Gabriel Valley region providing breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, things to do, opinion, photos and more on the SGV ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811/80 "2008-12-28T18:46:52Z")
(In reply to my threat to sic the moderators on **KGS** for trolling because it’s not likely stupidity alone would produce **KGS** ’s comments) > [@KGS](#): > > You don’t think the moderators are reading this thread already?? Besides, all I’m doing is expressing my opinion. I don’t condone what this man did – I’m merely saying that we need to examine the underlying _root causes_ of this man’s behavior, in order to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. Writing him off as a random psychopath won’t solve a damn thing. …whoosh… I’m back to thinking that degree of stupidity can exist, I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-bruce-pardo-and-the-covina-christmas-massacre/478811.md?page=5)