Report: Accused School Shooter Was On Prozac

http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_083075538.html ^ | Mar 24, 2005 6:47 am US/Central

[Nov3]

Report: Accused School Shooter Was On Prozac

WEB EXTRA: Red Lake Coverage.

Mar 24, 2005 6:47 am US/Central Red Lake, Minn. (AP) The teenager accused of killing nine people and then himself on the Red Lake Indian Reservation was apparently struggling with depression.

A cultural coordinator at Red Lake Middle School told the Washington Post that Jeffrey Weise was taking the anti-depressant Prozac and was hospitalized for suicidal tendencies at least once.

A bus driver for a local health center told the paper he once drove Weise 60 miles to a psychiatric ward in Thief River Falls. The boy's grandmother also said he suffered from depression.

Students described Weise as a loner. He apparently posted messages on a neo-Nazi Web site, and a computer animation attributed to him shows a person shooting four people, blowing up a police car and committing suicide.

[Nov3]

This drug causes obsessive behavior. I have seen it with my own eyes. It is an incredibly powerful drug that helps some but the side effects have been hidden.

[Nov3]

Another miracle of modern Psychiatry!

[Semper Paratus]

Giving the kid a feeling of well being sure helped.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Why do they call him an "accused" shooter.

[Dustin Hawkins]

"Why do they call him an "accused" shooter."

Innocent until proven guilty.

[NotchJohnson]

I have also heard it causes brain tumors. In general, the drug industry will be sued into oblivion in the near future.

[Lexington Green]

Almost every school shooting has been Prozac related.

[cinives]

He judged himself and executed himself. Case closed, no longer an accusation.

[epluribus_2]

well, he's not depressed anymore.

(probably rather discouraged reviewing his actions with Dispater about now. Or maybe the Psychiatrist will get that interview while he is held innocent by the supremest court)

[smiley]

oooooh boy...here come the lawyers.....

[sigSEGV]

That's interesting until you discover just how many people are on anti-depressants.

[staytrue]

The question is which came first the chicken or the egg or in other words, was the kid on prosac because he is crazy or was the kid crazy because he was on prosac.

[cinives]

These drugs are overprescribed and overadvertised. Drugs cannot cure the underlying cause of depression if the underlying cause persists.

[Nov3]

Ping

[Fierce Allegiance]

He's dead. He killed himself. He's guilty.

[Nov3]

Too bad his obsession was to take others with him.

[A. Patriot]

And why am I not supprised he was on Prozac? Most all the school shooters and hundreds of youth suicides all across the country have involved these drugs.

[ruiner]

Big whoopy, so is over half the country.

This is the type of thing where most people go, "AHA!!!" and then conveniently ignore the fact that they too take antidepressants (because they're not THAT crazy).

BTW, I do not take antidepressants. Well except for a miller light or two.

[faloi]

These drugs are overprescribed and overadvertised. Drugs cannot cure the underlying cause of depression if the underlying cause persists.

Exactly right. If the "suspect" was prescribed medicine but didn't receive any counseling, which isn't uncommon, then the medicine won't help out much. And there's no guarantee that the "suspect" was even taking the medicine, especially if he was resistant to the idea that he needed help.

[cinives]

Excellent question.