An Alarming Summer Trend: Another Shooter’s Mother Says Son Had ‘Mental Difficulties’

It is becoming an increasingly troublesome and disturbing trend this summer. Another week, another mass shooting, costing innocent lives and wreaking havoc on communities all over the country. And oddly enough, another mother who knew that the shooting involved her son from the minute the story was released.

Yesterday’s comes from College Station, Texas, near the Texas A&M Campus. Thomas A. Caffal, 35, shot police and bystanders when a local constable came to serve him with an eviction notice. Three died, included Caffal who was taken down by police force, and four more were wounded. Now, the assailant’s mother is speaking out about her son and his mental “difficulties.”

Caffal’s mother, Linda Weaver, spoke with The Huffington Post after the shooting. “The minute I saw the TV I knew it was him,” she said. “I’ve been that worried about him.” Apparently the mother and her son have been estranged for several months while she was dealing with illness. But she obviously knew that her son was having problems. “We are just devastated. He’s been very deeply troubled.”

Richard Weaver, Caffal’s stepfather, was even more straight-forward than his wife. He referred to his stepson as a “ticking time bomb.” He also said that he was scared for their personal safety before the deadly shooting took place. “He was crazy as hell,” Weaver said. “At one point, we were afraid that he was going to come up here and do something to his mother and me.”

It is oddly reminiscent of James Holmes‘s mother, who eerily said, “You have the right person,” when asked about her son’s possible involvement in the Batman theater shooting. Later, Arlene Holmes said that her comment was miscontrued, but ABC stood by their reporting.

Caffal, whose Facebook profile shows an extreme affinity for weapons and guns, owned assault rifles, including a Czech-made version of an AK-47. Police have not identified if that was the weapon used in the murders. Obviously, his deadly spree will revamp political discussion about assault weapons, which has become a contentious topic in wake of the recent shootings.

Just last week a man attacked a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, killing six and wounding three more before dying in the fight. And of course, it it impossible to forget the Aurora, Colorado murders where 12 died and 58 more were injured.

It has been an extremely deadly summer with many cities seeing terrifying levels of gun violence. Sadly, this latest example seems to feel more common place than it should. The media surrounding the Texas A&M shooting seems almost fatigued.

And yet, three more people are dead. More are wounded. Families are missing their loved ones. Like in the previous mass shootings of the summer, we may never know what exactly happened to Thomas Caffal to make him commit such a horrendous act. It’s impossible to guess, and the answer will die with the perpetrator. But his mother made a very poignant statement about what seemed to be the obvious end result to such an act. “If you’re going to commit suicide, why take all these other people with you?” she said.

Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones and the community at Texas A&M. We wish them healing in this difficult time. And we hope that this is the last such mother who will have to give an interview this summer about her child’s difficulties and how it all ended up so badly.