Yesterday, University of Texas student Colton Tooley entered the UT library and opened fire with an AK-47. This seems like the act of a “nasty”, “careless” person who would be considered a “bad student”.

However, according to reports, UT Shooter Colton Tooley was much the opposite.

Tooley’s high school principal, Craig Shapiro released a statement saying:
“All of us in the Crockett High School community are shocked and saddened by today’s tragedy at the University of Texas. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Colton Tooley.
Colton, a 2009 Crockett graduate, was an excellent student, who excelled in every subject, and was ranked 7th in his class. His teachers recall him with words such as “brilliant,” “meticulous,” and “respectful.”

“Brilliant”, “meticulous” and “respectful” certainly aren’t what you would expect to hear when describing someone who would open fire in a school library with intent to kill innocent people. However, it seems that over and over again gunmen in school shootings tend to fit this bill.

“You never know. The sweetest, most kind-hearted person might be thinking about mass killing his classmates,” said Jason Ochman of Dallas Texas.

Is there a way to screen out students for psychological evaluation so that incidents like the one at the University of Texas don’t happen again? Apparently not.

You just never know who will be involved, or when an event like this will occur.