Medical examiner seeks genetic clues to shooter

December 19, 2012 in Other

Medical examiner seeks genetic clues to shooter

Enlarge

This undated photo shows Adam Lanza posing for a group photo of the technology club which appeared in the Newtown High School yearbook. Authorities have identified Lanza as the gunman who killed his mother at their home and then opened fire Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, inside an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself. Richard Novia, a one-time adviser to the technology club, verified that the photo shows Lanza. (AP Photo)

(AP)—Connecticut's chief medical examiner says he's seeking genetic clues to help explain why a shooter killed 20 children and six adults in a Newtown elementary school.

Dr. H. Wayne Carver tells The Hartford Courant that he wants to know if there is any identifiable disease associated with the behavior of the shooter, Adam Lanza. He is working with the University of Connecticut department of genetics.

Paula Levy, a mediator who worked with Lanza's parents during their divorce, has said Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, an autism-like disorder.

Carver says Asperger's is not associated with violent behavior. He says he's not considering it as a reason for Lanza's rampage on Friday.

Carver is awaiting toxicology testing results for Lanza and other information.

Lanza fatally shot himself as first responders approached the school Friday morning.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

send feedback to editors
not rated yet  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

BSD
Dec 26, 2012

Rank: not rated yet
Here's a genetic disorder, it's known under different names:

Libertarianitis, Republican Pox, Wingnutosis, Conservativosis and Righwing Pox. There is one more disease only known by it's initials NRA.

Gene therapy should be able to cure some of those, the others may have to be eradicated by an America wide drug programme. Eventually those diseases will be kept in a test tube in a secure location. Similar to smallpox. Unlike smallpox, I cannot see any use for them, not even as a biological curiosity so I would destroy the last surviving samples.
BSD
Dec 26, 2012

Rank: not rated yet
It is important to note, Libertarianitis, Republican Pox, Wingnutosis, Conservativosis and Rightwing Pox are especially deadly when combined with the disease NRA. When these diseases combine, sufferers fire off deadly spores of lead tipped shot called bullets. These spores hit non-sufferers of the above diseases either killing them or badly maiming them, they remain defenceless against the sufferers. The other danger is many non-sufferers can die at the hands of a sufferer whom eventually seems to die from self inflicted spores. The diseases have no respect for the young, the innocent or the old.
Rank not rated yet
Tags

genetic clues, violent behavior, first responders, autism, toxicology
Related Stories
more news
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Early use of tracheostomy for mechanically ventilated patients not associated with improved survival

For critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, early tracheostomy (within the first 4 days after admission) was not associated with an improvement in the risk of death within 30 days compared to patients who ...

Other created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Decisions to forgo life support may depend heavily on the ICU where patients are treated

The decision to limit life support in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) appears to be significantly influenced by physician practices and/or the culture of the hospital, suggests new findings from researchers at the ...

Other created 5 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

People on higher incomes are happier with new knees

Knee replacement surgery is a very common procedure. However, it does not always resolve function or pain in all the recipients of new knees. A study by Robert Barrack, MD and his colleagues from the Washington University ...

Other created 7 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New search engine finds rare diagnoses

Doctors are trained to think "common disease" when they meet patients in their practices, and as they rarely or never meet a rare disease, it often takes many years to reach the right diagnosis. A new search tool called FindZebra ...

Other created 7 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Delayed transfer to the ICU increases risk of death in hospital patients

Delayed transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) in hospitalized patients significantly increases the risk of dying in the hospital, according to a new study from researchers in Chicago.

Other created 9 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Small cancer risk following CT scans in childhood and adolescence confirmed

The gap between life expectancy in patients with a mental illness and the general population has widened since 1985 and efforts to reduce this gap should focus on improving physical health, suggest researchers in a paper ...

Life expectancy gap widens between those with mental illness and general population

The gap between life expectancy in patients with a mental illness and the general population has widened since 1985 and efforts to reduce this gap should focus on improving physical health, suggest researchers in a paper ...

Dietary advice on added sugar is damaging our health, warns heart expert

Dietary advice on added sugar is damaging our health, warns a cardiologist in BMJ today. Dr. Aseem Malhotra believes that "not only has this advice been manipulated by the food industry for profit but it is actually a risk ...

Failure to use linked health records may lead to biased disease estimates

Failure to use linked electronic health records may lead to biased estimates of heart attack incidence and outcome, warn researchers in a paper published in BMJ today.

Iodine deficiency during pregnancy may adversely affect children's mental development

A study of around 1,000 UK mothers and their children, published in The Lancet, has revealed that iodine deficiency in pregnancy may have an adverse effect on children's mental development. The research raises concerns that t ...

New sleeping pill poised to hit US markets

An experimental sleeping pill from US drug company Merck is effective at helping people fall and stay asleep, according to reviewers at the US Food and Drug Administration, which could soon approve the new drug.