What is the Difference between Murder and Suicide?

On the first day of Science class, the teacher asked that everyone do introductions. Trent was the first to go.

“My name is Trent and I’m a writer that’s been published in many underground print magazines. “The Cult Leader” is about a follower that is shot by the leader to set an example for the cult.”

The teacher saw it as an early warning sign that he may shoot up the school. He reported him.

The teacher taught concepts to Science.

After class, he talked to his classmate Bobby who said, “What do you do in your free time?”

Trent said, “I play Counter-Strike. I love the ak-47 in the game, it’s so accurate.”

“I play it too. Let’s play online sometime.”, replied Bobby.

They exchanged phone numbers.

They continued to talk about the guns in the game for twenty minutes. Trent felt for the first time, he had an outlet to express himself in school. But Bobby was uneasy as it was a leak to a potential school shooter.

Bobby reported him.

As the semester went on, Trent told a girl, I got a joke for you. “What is the difference between murder and suicide?” “What?” “There is none, just examine the blast radius. The girl was disgusted. “Get away from me you nutjob.”

During a texting conversation between Bobby and Trent, Bobby typed:

“Stop joking about suicide bombers in school. Don’t you have any light hearted stories to tell?”

“How did you know I was talking about suicide bombers?”

“We’re all working with the FBI. Sorry. Your safety is first.”

Trent got angry and wondered why he couldn’t just be himself without being under surveillance.

He didn’t fit the profile. He wasn’t a loner and had many friends, was married with kids, went to parties, held a job, went to church and volunteered for the community. He wasn’t picked on. He was happy and wasn’t mentally ill.

Trent donated all his money to charity, took his father’s assault rifle, and drove to school. When he got there, a squad car followed him to the parking lot and security was everywhere. He got out of the car and shot the cop. Security reported him and they were riddled with bullets.

The campus went on lockdown. An air horn went off. Text message alerts and tweets went out: “We have an active shooter. Stay in your classrooms.” Law enforcement from all over the county raced to the school.

Trent ran in to the campus and killed students and teachers, while heading to the president’s office.

When he got there, he blew the president’s head off and took his phone out and setup the camera. He spoke in front of it: “I just wanted to goto school to express myself and make friends. You guys created me. I was a peaceful person and the moment you guys thought I was a threat, a school shooter was born. You know the saying if you believe someone is going to do something enough, it will come true? You guys created a monster.”

A flashbang canister flew into the office and exploded. Trent was blinded and heard ringing noises. The SWAT team burst in to the office single file in combat gear and split in different directions and surrounded him. They aimed their MP5s at his head. Infared dots scattered around his forehead. The team leader yelled: “Drop your weapon! Put your hands in the air!”

He listened and thought about church and God.

“Turn around and take three steps back towards my voice! Trent did. Now get on your knees!”

He complied and thought about his family and friends, and the people he touched volunteering.

Trent said, “I guess expressing myself in school is pushing freedom of speech to the limit.”

“Final warning. On your belly now!”

Trent announced, “I got a joke for you guys. What is the difference between murder and suicide?”