6 Killed in Santa Clara Murder-Suicide

[El Supremo]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/30/BAFN16PCHC.DTL&tsp=1

Six people, including three children, were shot and killed and a seventh victim is fighting for her life in what Santa Clara police are investigating as a murder-suicide, one of the deadliest such incidents in the Bay Area in recent memory.

The suspected gunman, a man, is believed to be among the dead inside a home on Headen Way in the city's upscale Rivermark community north of the Montague Expressway, said Santa Clara police Lt. Phil Cooke.

"We do believe this appears to be a family-on-family murder-suicide," Cooke said.

Dear God, this is sickening.

[runecire]

Very sad. What is it with mass killings lately? Or, are we just hearing more, and they were always going on? Is it the economy, or are people becoming more and more violent?

[El Supremo]

I would imagine there are a lot of factors involved, increased speed and availability of news not being the least of them.

I also have to wonder if our culture has gotten out of hand. Too many people these days are suffering from want and disillusionment. Granted, that is no reason to murder people, but it makes me wonder. We have an extremely high rate of mental illness across the spectrum in this country. I'm sure there's a reason for that, and I'm sure that both the mental illness thing and the increasingly violent and murderous acts of Americans are all related somehow.

[MichaelJCheaney]

I would imagine there are a lot of factors involved, increased speed and availability of news not being the least of them.

I also have to wonder if our culture has gotten out of hand. Too many people these days are suffering from want and disillusionment. Granted, that is no reason to murder people, but it makes me wonder. We have an extremely high rate of mental illness across the spectrum in this country. I'm sure there's a reason for that, and I'm sure that both the mental illness thing and the increasingly violent and murderous acts of Americans are all related somehow.

I think the "Upscale Neighborhood" ends up being the biggest factor.

Dad got laid off. Job prospects are dim. He decides to take out the family to avoid the stigma.

Anybody wanna take me up on that bet?

[El Supremo]

I think the "Upscale Neighborhood" ends up being the biggest factor.

Dad got laid off. Job prospects are dim. He decides to take out the family to avoid the stigma.

Anybody wanna take me up on that bet?

MJC, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Gotta wonder if the cultural/sociological pressures we face in America have anything to do with the fact that a lot of us are miserable or just completely blown our wheels, and some of us are willing to kill people (including our own families) because of it.

I knew a lawyer here in MA who was one of the richest guys in the city. About 2 years ago, after a decades-long career as a major criminal defense lawyer, he blew his brains out after someone discovered he was gay and having an affair with a man. Talk about culturally-imposed stigma.

[MichaelJCheaney]

MJC, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Gotta wonder if the cultural/sociological pressures we face in America have anything to do with the fact that a lot of us are miserable or just completely blown our wheels, and some of us are willing to kill people (including our own families) because of it.

I knew a lawyer here in MA who was one of the richest guys in the city. About 2 years ago, after a decades-long career as a major criminal defense lawyer, he blew his brains out after someone discovered he was gay and having an affair with a man. Talk about culturally-imposed stigma.

The way that I have always seen it is that as long as your happy with who you are and happy with your belief system, and don't let your ego get in the way of good decision making.....thats all that matters.

Putting up a facade doesn't do anything useful. And hurts like hell when it comes crashing down.

There is no one answer, I wish there was. But unfortunately this "Keeping up with the Jones" mentality that most people around the world -and not just in the United States- does more harm than good.

[El Supremo]

There is no one answer, I wish there was. But unfortunately this "Keeping up with the Jones" mentality that most people around the world -and not just in the United States- does more harm than good.

Agreed. And although it is not unique to America, we seem to be one of the few countries that foster and encourage this attitude of materialism to a degree that we tend to base our entire lives (and identities) on it. It's a shame.

[MichaelJCheaney]

Agreed. And although it is not unique to America, we seem to be one of the few countries that foster and encourage this attitude of materialism to a degree that we tend to base our entire lives (and identities) on it. It's a shame.

I don't know that it is necessarily anyones fault per se, the way I look at it you can either follow the crowd.

Or be in the front of it.....or the 3rd option

None of the above, and be happy being your own person.....

I pick C. 100 percent of the time.....I would rather be true to myself and unhappy, than do what everybody else thinks I should be doing and be miserable.....thats just me though.

[Wicked Doll]

Santa Clara police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in a well-to-do neighborhood that left six people dead, including three children.

The killings took place Sunday night in Rivermark, a community northwest of Santa Clara. The gunman apparently roamed through the three-story town house, shooting people in various locations before taking his life on the top floor, according to Capt. Mike Sellers.

A woman in her mid-30s escaped and was found bleeding on the sidewalk. She was in critical condition at a local hospital Monday, Sellers said.

When authorities entered the town house they found the bodies of a girl estimated to be 4 years old, a boy estimated to be 10, a man in his 30s and a woman in her early 20s, all dead of gunshot wounds.

The shooter, a man in his mid-40s, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sellers said. Two handguns were found in the residence, according to police.

A toddler was alive when paramedics arrived, but died overnight at a local hospital, Sellers said.

"We don't know a motive yet and we don't know specifically the relationship between all the people," he said, adding that there were no outstanding suspects in the case.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dead31-2009mar31,0,1124276.story

[GlamourNoir]

Jesus Christ, what is it with all these nutter butters lately who think that their families would be better off dead than poor? I grew up always having enough money, but getting out on your own isn't always easy. I've slept on assorted couches and lived off of Ramen noodles when I had to. Being broke is THE BEST positive reality check a person could have. You realize what REALLY matters (family and true friends, happiness) and what you don't actually NEED (money, material things, fake people.) If these fuckwads could see past their own sphincters and pull their heads out of their asses, maybe they would realize that.

If not, and they're just image obsessed shallow narcissists, they really ought to try the "suicide" part of their plan first. It's how all the rich people do it, dahling.

[Wicked Doll]

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The man who gunned down his two children and three other relatives in an apparent murder-suicide had been helping those relatives settle into the area after a recent move from India, police said Tuesday.

Investigators did not have a motive for Devan Kalathat's rampage Sunday night, which left six people dead and one critically injured at his home in an upscale neighborhood of Santa Clara. They said they were exploring the possibility of a family dispute, but they did not believe it was financially motivated.

Police Lt. Phil Cooke said Kalathat, a 42-year-old engineer for Yahoo Inc., legally purchased a .45 semiautomatic handgun about two weeks ago, around the same that his brother-in-law arrived in the United States from India with his 25-year-old wife and 11-month-old daughter.

Police said Kalathat used that weapon and another handgun purchased in February during the shootings that killed brother-in-law Ashok Appu Poothemkandi, 35; sister-in-law Suchitra Sivaraman, 25; the couple's daughter Ahana Ashok; Kalathat's son Akhil Dev, 11, and daughter Negha Dev, 4.

Kalathat's wife, whose name was not released, survived but remained in critical condition Tuesday with multiple gunshot wounds, Cooke said.

Kalathat changed his name from Raghavan Devarajan after moving to the United States about 15 years ago. He was found on the home's top floor, dead from a self-inflicted wound. Both handguns were found at the scene.

Yahoo officials confirmed that Kalathat had been worked as an analytics engineer since 2004 but declined to comment further Tuesday.

Cooke said there was no reason to believe that Kalathat had been in danger of losing his job.

The family had recently moved from a modest apartment in Sunnyvale to the tony Santa Clara community of Rivermark, a planned community about seven miles northwest of San Jose with a shopping center, playgrounds and a mix of town houses, condominiums and Spanish-style houses that go for $1 million. His children had been enrolled in a nearby private school.

Abhilash Appu, 32, a brother-in-law of Kalathat, told the San Jose Mercury News that he had no idea why the bright, quiet man would turn on his family.

Ashok Kumar Sinha of the Consulate Generals of India in San Francisco said it helped police notify relatives and would be working with the family to claim the bodies.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-calif-home-shooting,0,4363787.story

[Shizz]

I hate when these fucking PUSSIES kill themselves to avoid justice!

FUCK!

:argh: