Not sure if this is the right place for this. I want factual answers, but I doubt there is any one catch-all answer, and I welcome hypothesizing and opinions, so IMHO seems right.
I’m wondering what exacty happens in the aftermath of a tragic mass killing, like Sandy Hook or the Boston Marathon.
How exactly are families notified? Do the police just come to the door, deliver the news and leave? Is there some kind of support offered? What about the families of the perpetrators? For example, if Adam Lanza hadn’t also killed his mother, what would have happened to her? Would she have been in any kind of legal situation? Would she be taken into custody? Would she be offered the same support (if any) that other parents got? Would any of the victims have any legitimate civil claim against her? Would anyone in this world be so cruel as to send her hatemail? Would it be intercepted as part of the legal investigation? At what point is it sort of case closed, and the authorities just move on, leaving everyone involved to return to some semblance of normalcy?
It depends. A kid in my wife’s parish killed his girlfriend. The pastor of the church went with the cops to notify the killer’s parents. My wife’s church has a grief support group, and the pastor got her involved with it. He also went to the trial (so did my wife) and did and is doing a lot to support the family.
The girlfriend who was killed had family out of town. I understand the police in that town did the notification. I don’t think they were members of any church, but there are grief support groups all over.
It depends on what she did, if anything.
I am pretty sure the police would want to interview her as a material witness. She would be arrested if she conspired with her son, or broke the law in some other way. There isn’t any law against having a son who kills people per se so it wouldn’t be automatic.
I don’t see why she wouldn’t be just as eligible to join a support group as any of the victims.
I am unfortunately sure that there would be people who sent her hate mail. There are lots of hateful people out there. I don’t think the police would intercept her mail just because her son shot people, and in any event they would have to go to a judge and show probable cause, if she didn’t consent.
Once the case is turned over to the prosecutor’s office, the police are no longer involved unless there is some crime left un-investigated. Social services might follow up, depending on the need of the victims and the resources available.
But eventually everyone has to get on with their lives.
For something like Sandy Hook, I imagine a lot of parents find out from texts from other parents and even some of the kids. Didn’t parents rush to the scene as it was winding down? The community and maybe the Red Cross would set up stations with grief counsellors available.
Missed the edit window, but for the parents of the Columbine shooters, they have been the subject of lawsuits and pretty much went into seclusion as soon as it happened. Although Dylan’s parents stayed in town at least at the writing of the article.
Wow, thanks for the link. I’ve never really thought about what it would be like to be the parent of someone who killed like this, but in reading this article and considering it now, that’s got to be one of the hardest things in the world to deal with emotionally.
In poking around, I found other articles about them. The day of the shooting, the SWAT team showed up at their house, concerned that it was booby trapped. Columbine Mother Susan Klebold's Story