I won't pretend to understand at all what was going through Stephen Kazmierczak's mind when he killed six people and wounded more, then took his own life, at Northern Illinois University this week. It does sound, however, as though he was suffering from mental illness and had recently stopped taking his medication. What a tragedy. I mourn for Ryanne Mace (pictured) and the other five dead, as well as everyone else who has been traumatized by this event. This goes back to Dawdy's post about mental illness and violence: The vast majority of us who have mental illnesses do not commit mass murders, and those who do must be held accountable. Kazmierczak held himself accountable -- which is another tragic piece of the picture.

Also, read this about Latina Williams, who killed two and took her own life. Not because it represents what people with mental illnesses do, but because as readers who are interested in the way the media represents these issues, we need to be aware of what's happening out there. Two school shootings in one month by people with alleged mental "problems" -- you'll be hearing about this for a while.