James Eagan Holme Massacre

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On July 16, 2015, James Eagan Holmes was publicly sentenced to 12 life sentences plus 3,318 years. He will serve this sentence as a result of the horrendous Aurora movie theatre massacre he committed. The massacre began when an armed 24 year old, James Holmes, entered a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. The massacre began in Theater 9 when Holmes entered wearing ballistic gear, a gas mask, and a helmet and began randomly shooting at the moviegoers. The theatre was showing a midnight show of “The Dark Knight Rises” and ended when James left the theatre and surrendered to the police while his actions left 12 dead and 70 wounded. (O’Neill, 2015) In an article written by Ann O’Neill for CNN, she writes that during his trial, “Holmes …show more content…

(O’Neill, Weisfeldt, & Cabrera, 2015, para. 24) On the opposing end, a defense psychiatrist found that Holmes was psychotic and he had a warped view of reality. The psychiatrist, Raquel Gur, said, “The severe defect in his brain made him incapable of distinguishing right from wrong by societal standards” (O’Neill, Weisfeldt, & Cabrera, 2015, para. 25). I believe that James Holmes is a psychopath and according to the DSM-5, suffers from antisocial personality disorder. Holmes obviously has a disregard for other lives and lacks empathy. He felt that with each life that he ended, his life began to add value. In an interview with an appointed psychiatric, Holmes said “he gained nothing from injuring people or leaving them behind to grieve for the dead. He spoke of the 70 people wounded as ‘collateral damage’” (O’Neill, Weisfeldt, & Cabrera, 2015, para. 42). With the ending of his romantic relationship before the massacre, that is also an example of James lacking the ability to maintain relationships. It is believed that along with the ending relationship with Lynne Fenton, he had few relationships. I also think that moving at the pivotal age of 12 created depression and most likely anxiety in Holmes and began to create the personality disorder. Holmes did not …show more content…

The massacre also affected society and the knowledge that no place is safe from people like James Holmes. I do not think that insanity should be a legitimate defense for Holmes, and agree with the court verdict that he was of sound mind during the massacre. I hope that while serving his time, James can receive the help he so needs through psychiatric help and

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