"Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said investigators do not yet know what made Stephen Paddock stop shooting, and they remain perplexed as to why he meticulously planned the shooting in the first place." -Darren Simon, CNN
"investigators, who have scoured Paddock’s life in search of a motive since the Oct. 1 rampage, remain unable to explain why the avid gambler killed 58 people and injured hundreds more before shooting himself in the head." -Mark Berman, Washington Post
So, why?
Why did 64-year-old Stephen Paddock open fire on defenseless Americans that were just trying to have a good time?
A better question would be: "What is going to change when we know his motive?"
Spoiler alert: nothing.
We have all seen mass tragedies many, many times before.
I distinctly remember running out of the house as a 3-year-old with my mom screaming at me to go get my shoes. We had to get away. When we arrived at my grandparents' house, I noticed the calendar clearly read "September 11th, 2001".
I remember curling up into the fetal position watching the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. I was at a club that was a block away from Pulse not long before, and I couldn't believe what was playing out in front of my bloodshot, teary eyes.
I remember waking up on a Monday morning to my local news anchorman screaming at me, "This is terrible. This is the worst thing I have ever covered in my entire career." That was October 1st, 2017. “#VegasStrong” was trending.
The tears that I have shed, the hours that I spent trying to understand these attacks, and the times that I have hugged my family a little longer, just in case, were not devoted to the "why".
I honestly do not care why Stephen Paddock built an arsenal of weapons and killed 58 people and injured countless others.
The reasoning of sick-minded individuals should not attract anyone. Whatever his reasoning is... what can we do to change that reasoning from controlling someone else? Nothing. Will we ban political parties, religious affiliations, etc.? No.
Do you know what really matters? The mothers that are still preparing dinner plates for their child that will never clink their fork on that special yellow plate again. The husbands and boyfriends who will have to take the long way to work, because if he takes his normal route, he will pass that park where he had his first kiss with a girl who is only a searing memory. The wives and girlfriends that will never be able to smell the bittersweet smoke of a November bon fire again, because it will bring back memories of the way their men smelled after a long night. The children that will burst through the front door with a test they aced in-hand, only to remember their mom won't be there to embrace them and take them to the ice cream shop, as she always did. The old high school friends that will drink themselves to misery listening to the old, silly songs they used to sing when they were young thought the world was full of good. Focus on them.
I want a camera in Emergency Rooms, showing the public the kid that just lived through the surgery that "should" have killed him. Show me the woman who took a bullet for her children. Show me the off-duty professionals that sprang into action to save lives when they could have just hidden.
STOP GIVING CREDIT TO THE EVIL.
Every time an over-paid news anchor spews the words "motive", "Stephen Paddock", and "why", they are brewing hatred in someone else. The copy-cat effect is real, and this is what causes it.
We glorify the evil because it is complex.
It is so hard to figure out, right? A challenge? Hearing a man speak, pointing at his shoulder that will always carry a "nearly unnoticeable" chunk of lead, gets boring. The story about Paddock is much more interesting. It develops and changes, just like a novel.
Glorifying this deranged man is never going to make the world change for the better.
If the next press conference reveals his motive, it will not make the pain and suffering he caused any easier to swallow. A motive will only give us closure. Security will increase at and around Mandalay Bay and some other major resorts across the nation. Does that stop a man from attacking a smaller Hotel 6 in the middle of nowhere? What about a stadium tour concert? What about the headquarters of an important business? Again, no, it does not.
People, please stop trying to answer questions about Paddock. Instead, read the stories of those brave men and women who will have gunshots ring in their ears until the day they close their eyes for the last time. Read the stories of the distraught families and friends that will lose sleep until their final rest. Go love your own group of people, and take care of them. If you feel like someone you love is becoming a dangerous individual (to themselves or someone else), get them help. Above all, do not give this dirty, pathetic, sickening man the fame that he was begging for that hot night in Vegas. Push his name from your memory. Do not ask his motive, because he was delusional, therefore his motive is bogus, irrelevant, and a pathetic excuse, no matter what they decide it was. Do not look for his history, because that would be a waste of time.
Giving credit to extremists (for any cause) only makes their ideology more popular. If you blame a group, affiliation, book, movie, music genre, political party, etc., then that makes their view spread. Mass amount of people will start following it.
If you focus on those that will be forever damaged by this, then you may inspire someone to be a cop, nurse, doctor, firefighter, or maybe even just a normal Joe or Jane that will speak up and stop the next awful tragedy.
Stop letting hate breed in our society. Dump it out of your house and mind like a trash bag full of dirty diapers and rotting food. Let love, understanding, compassion, and sympathy fill your house like wildflowers taking over a luscious field.
If you want to see a change in the world, you must make a change in what you do, accept, care about, and encourage. It all starts with you.