A Deadly Week

It's only Wednesday, and it's already been a deadly week.

And it's left many people looking for rational answers for irrational acts.

The week began with the fatal shooting of a Baptist minister during Sunday church service in Maryville, Ill. Terry J. Sedlacek, the 27-year-old man who has been charged with the shooting, may have planned to shoot himself, but the gun jammed. He pulled out a knife and used it on church members who sought to subdue him. In the process, he suffered knife wounds, possibly in an attempt to kill himself.

It has been suggested that, previously, Sedlacek exhibited erratic behavior that has been attributed to Lyme disease, but an expert in Lyme disease at Yale said, "Lyme disease doesn't cause people to shoot people."

Then, on Tuesday, Michael McLendon, 28, shot and killed 10 people, including his mother and other members of his family, in southern Alabama. Then he turned the weapon on himself.

McLendon apparently quit his job last week, but there has been no indication that I am aware of that it had any bearing on his actions yesterday.

And, today, in Winnenden, Germany, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer shot and killed at least 15 people at a school where he once was a student.

At this writing, authorities are still sorting through the carnage in Germany, and more victims may yet die, but the rapid response of the police "means they prevented further escalation of events," said the region's interior minister.

There really isn't much more to say in the aftermath of these events. Those who favor gun control and those who oppose it will find ways to spin these tragedies to support their positions.

I just hope the survivors find peace and comfort wherever they can — even though it is hard to think of anything comforting to say about shootings that kill a minister during a Sunday worship service or a mother in her own home or grandparents sitting on their porch or more than a dozen young people in classrooms with pens in their hands.

That will be the unenviable task of those who must conduct the funeral services.