April 17, 2019

"The massive search for Sol Pais is over. She is dead from possible self-inflicted wounds..."

"The 18-year-old female suspect was on the run after after making threats that led to the closure of school for more than half a million students on Colorado’s Front Range Wednesday.... The 18-year-old was from Florida and made some comments about the Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999, that apparently caused great concern. She was apparently 'infatuated with the perpetrators of Columbine.' Authorities haven’t said exactly what she said, and it’s not clear if those comments were made before or after her purchase of a pump-action shotgun once she arrived in Colorado on Monday night. She apparently wasn’t specifically threatening any specific school in her comments."

CBS4 Denver reports.

72 comments:

mockturtle said...

The authorities did the right thing by playing it safe and closing schools. No doubt we'll find out more about this young woman but it sounded like she was serious and determined.

Yancey Ward said...

And thus is born the new bomb threat ploy. Make a vague threat and shut down a large fraction of schools in a state.

We are losing our fuct minds.

Bay Area Guy said...

Very sad, didn't know she was so young.

But.

"She was apparently 'infatuated with the perpetrators of Columbine.'"

That sounds a tad crazy. Probably shoulda been a cheerleader or played women's soccer - something like that.

madAsHell said...

That woman was just 18??

Anonymous said...

She looks considerably older than 18.

madAsHell said...

“a naked woman matching the description with a gun was spotted in the area running through the woods.”

Y'all never met my Prom Date.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, didn't mean to echo madAsHell. But I'm hard put to believe she's that young.

mockturtle said...

Yancey, she traveled all the way to Denver from Florida and purchased a firearm on arrival. She's probably mentally ill but the thread was in fact credible.

mockturtle said...

There's another photo of her with no makeup where she appears much younger.

Kevin said...

The 18-year-old was from Florida

Florida woman.

wendybar said...

Good. One less threat we have to worry about.

Ann Althouse said...

She looks very depressed.

Being depressed can make you look a lot older.

Earnest Prole said...

Those familiar with criminal profiling will know how exceedingly rare it is for a young woman to engage in this behavior.

JohnAnnArbor said...

Being depressed can make you look a lot older.

I guess. But DANG.

A lesser issue. Her name. Hippie name or something? "Sol" for sun?

Anthony said...

I feel very sad for her, despite the threats. Clearly she had some pretty severe psychiatric problems.

walter said...

I see snow still on the roofs. Seems a bit cold for a naked romp with a gun.
But seriously, gotta wonder if meds/change in meds is involved.

Darrell said...

PaĆ­s is a leftist political party in Chile. El Pais is that Lefty Spanish newspaper that used 9/11 for their subscription drive--If you can do this in one day, just think what you can do in a week. They were giving away a free one-week subscription.

JohnAnnArbor said...

If that was a black-and-white picture you'd think it was out of a 1977 yearbook.

Birkel said...

A murder-suicide that gets the order of operations correct!
Now she is free to murder as she pleases.

Nonapod said...

I tend to feel more sympathy for a female psychotic who threatens a school than a male one. Am I sexist?

iowan2 said...

How is she different than any other mentally unstable person that fixates on some person, place, or thing?
This happens to be Columbine. But it's random. Endless media talking heads dissecting the mind of a person that has mental illness is much more detrimental than ignoring it as we all should

Ann Althouse said...

If Adam Lanza had killed himself before going on his murderous rampage, we would look at the photograph of him and feel very sorry for him.

Yancey Ward said...

"but the threat was in fact credible."

Threats are easily made to appear credible. With that number of schools shut down, expect this to happen over and over now.

Ann Althouse said...

Why was she naked?

traditionalguy said...

A good guess would be that in the crisis of Deep State revelations coming out this week, the CIA needed another of its special school shootings done to distract the News coverage. But this drugged lady was spotted and was being tracked by the Trump's agents for arrest and interrogation. So her CIA handlers had no choice but to terminate her mission and her.

If you don't like that guess, please explain what we know so far another way.

Fernandinande said...

Echo Lake is > 10,000' elevation.

Florida woman.

They're going to need a lot of Affirmative Action to catch up with "Florida Man".

walter said...

What we know about the woman besotted by Columbine shooting

A man who answered the door of her home who identified himself as her father said he last saw her Sunday evening, according to the Herald. “I think maybe she’s got a mental problem,” he said. “I think she’s gonna be OK.”
--
Maybe?

walter said...

Althouse,
"The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says Pais is approximately 5'5" in height and has brown hair. She was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots."

mockturtle said...

If Adam Lanza had killed himself before going on his murderous rampage, we would look at the photograph of him and feel very sorry for him.

No, we wouldn't.

Fernandinande said...

Florida Man tries to avoid court appearance by claiming he has Ebola.

Florida Man announces he's exploring presidential run.

mockturtle said...

Nonapod asks: I tend to feel more sympathy for a female psychotic who threatens a school than a male one. Am I sexist?

Yes.

Birkel said...

It is not sexist to realize the female is much less likely to commit murder than her male counterpart.
Females are less dangerous.
Therefore it is not sexist to feel more sympathy.

Unless, of course, you think reality is sexist.

Michael K said...


Blogger Ann Althouse said...
If Adam Lanza had killed himself before going on his murderous rampage, we would look at the photograph of him and feel very sorry for him.


Mockturtle beat me to it. He looked like a psychotic serial killer.

Yancey Ward said...

"Unless, of course, you think reality is sexist."

Reality is a social construct of the patriarchy, and thus sexist.

Birkel said...

Naturally, Yancey Ward.
:-)

Ann Althouse said...

"Mockturtle beat me to it. He looked like a psychotic serial killer."

He looks like a child in unimaginable torment. If he just killed himself and no one else, you would be horribly cruel to say "He looked like a psychotic serial killer." You should say "That poor child." I think many people in that condition do simply kill themselves and, as a result, many murders do not take place. But hoping such people just kill themselves is wrong. Yes, I'd like the message to get out: If this is where you find yourself, it would be better to kill yourself than to kill anyone else. But that can't be our message.

Geoff Matthews said...

If Adam Lanza had killed himself before going on his murderous rampage, we would look at the photograph of him and feel very sorry for him.

I would. I'd make up a story about a guy who had internally suffered, and was detached from society and was crying for help.

Instead, I now see a child killer. Whatever pain he may have experienced beforehand, doing what he did evaporates any sympathy I may have been able to have for him.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

News stories called her white, but if she had done something good I'm sure Sol Pais would have been a Latinx of color.

It's easy to say Adam Lanza looked like a serial killer after knowing he was a serial killer. Now try predicting who will be a serial killer BEFORE the killing.

Michael K said...

Now try predicting who will be a serial killer BEFORE the killing.

Did you see his photo ? Billy the Kid looked similar.

Kirk Parker said...

mockturtle,

The authorities did the WRONG thing. All this will do is increase the number of fake phoen threats.

Birkel said...

"...our message."

I speak for myself.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"Did you see his photo ? Billy the Kid looked similar."

You even predicted Billy's killing spree! Are you a wizard?

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Makes me think of the girl that inspired the Boomtown Ratas song, I Don't Like Mondays.

rhhardin said...

why was she naked?

She wanted anonymity.

Francisco D said...

She is at the right age for schizophrenia symptoms to rapidly surface.

She may have taken off her clothes because they were some kind of threat to her.

Anonymous said...

Althouse, why are you publicizing this person? Copycat behavior is a real thing.
Mentioning the event (nutso person commits suicide after threatening mass murder) without the picture, heck, without the name, would have been the responsible thing to do here.

StephenFearby said...

Ann Althouse said...Why was she naked?

Slate MAY 29, 2012
Why do allegedly psychotic people such as the Miami face-eater take off their clothes?

"A naked man now identified as 31-year-old Rudy Eugene was shot dead Saturday after he refused to stop eating another man’s face. Police have speculated that the man may have suffered from psychosis, perhaps induced by cocaine or LSD. In March, during what was also deemed a psychotic episode, “Kony 2012” director Jason Russell ran around San Diego naked. Why do psychotic people strip naked?

Many times it’s because the voices in their head told them to. Public nudity by the mentally ill seems to occur most often as part of other hallucinations and distortions of reality. Some feel that God or some other powerful entity has commanded them to reveal the radiance of their whole body, or they suddenly believe themselves to be an exotic dancer. After such an episode is over, many will remember having those thought processes, while others find the urges inexplicable. It is widely accepted that drugs like LSD and methamphetamine can trigger psychotic episodes. Such behavior is not surprising among psychotic individuals, but psychotic nudity may seem more common in the public’s eye than it actually is because the displays are so shocking and offensive.

Among those with mental illness, sudden and uncalled-for nakedness is most closely associated with catatonia. Catatonia is usually an expression of mental disorders like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, but it could also come from other medical problems, such as a brain tumor. Nakedness is not among the top symptoms associated with catatonia (more often catatonics are thought to be waxy or frozen or have other difficulties with motor control), but a person unexpectedly found to be running around naked in public is likely to suffer from that condition. In the case of each of these illnesses, the behavior occurs in a very small percentage of sufferers.

In other cases, people with dementia may also strip down in public and at unsuitable times; this behavior is usually unrelated to any kind of psychosis. Rather than being delusional, dementia patients seem to just be confused. Additionally, bipolar people experiencing a manic episode may simply lose their inhibitions, which can result in flashing or streaking or other inappropriate nudity, but that seems to be a less common cause than delusions."

https://slate.com/technology/2012/05/naked-face-eater-why-do-psychotic-people-strip-nude.html

Also, from her photograph, she appears to have a significant myopia correction in her glasses.

Of course, not all people with glasses corrected to a -6 or higher are psychotic.

But it seems to occur quite frequently with mass murderer psychotics.

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2014

Diagnostic and treatment implications of psychosis secondary to treatable metabolic disorders in adults: a systematic review

"...Patients appear normal at birth but display a progressive disease course if left untreated. Eye anomalies include ectopia lentis (in 85% of cases) and high myopia."

https://ojrd.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1750-1172-9-65

Maillard Reactionary said...

AA said: "But hoping such people just kill themselves is wrong."

I didn't hear anyone say that but you.

That said, I have had the misfortune of knowing some people who would have done many others a great favor by removing themselves from the world before they caused so much destruction to innocent bystanders.

The only suicides I feel sorry for are those who are driven to it after being tormented by psychopaths.

mockturtle said...

He looks like a child in unimaginable torment.

Althouse probably would have been like a few of the jurors in the Menendez brothers* trial who were stirred by the brothers' tearful fables of sexual abuse by their father.

*who shot their parents in the backs of their heads with a shotgun for the money.

Achilles said...

mockturtle said...
The authorities did the right thing by playing it safe and closing schools. No doubt we'll find out more about this young woman but it sounded like she was serious and determined.

Do you for see any negative consequences out of closing all the schools for a 1000 miles every time some teenager wants a little attention?

Gospace said...

In the meantime, what has completely disappeared from the news?

44 year old man who ran down pedestrians in Philadelphia.

Why?

mockturtle said...

Achilles, can you imagine the outcry had this woman shot a bunch of schoolkids and the county had not responded to credible threats? Like the mayor said, they are used to getting threats all the time that don't close the schools. They believed this to be serious.

Birkel said...

First best option: magical cure for crazy people.
Second best option: removal from society.
Third best option: murder/suicide in which the suicide happens BEFORE the murder.

The first option does not exist.
The second option has been foreclosed.
So I'm a fan of the third best option.

Rae said...

Well, good on the authorities for being somewhat proactive in this case. So the kids missed a day in school. Too bad somebody couldn't have helped Pais before it came to this, though.

Achilles said...

mockturtle said...
Achilles, can you imagine the outcry had this woman shot a bunch of schoolkids and the county had not responded to credible threats? Like the mayor said, they are used to getting threats all the time that don't close the schools. They believed this to be serious.

I can imagine the outcry from millions of parents that had to go find babysitters because the public schools refuse to provide security.

And you didn't answer my question.

This person wanted to copy the Columbine attack. How many times are we going to make heroes out or people like this girl who got school canceled?

Arm the teachers. Hire guards. Stop cowering in corners and canceling school.

For that matter just get rid of the public school system.

Achilles said...

We need to stop teaching our kids to be cowering pussies.

We are raising generations of kids that have never broken a bone, had a bloody nose, or had to work a day in their lives before the age of 26... or 35.

Curious George said...


"The massive search for Sol Pais is over. She is dead from possible self-inflicted wounds..."

Atta girl. No muss, no fuss.

Birches said...

Agree with Yancey. And the Denver mothers on my fb feed make everything rhardin says about soap opera women appear correct.

Mark Jones said...

"Why do...psychotic people take their clothes off?"

A friend of mine, who worked for 17 years as a deputy sheriff in the local jail, and now writes books and does seminars on violence and dealing with violent people, referred to this as "Sweaty naked man syndrome" and it's apparently very common. In his experience (and his reading of the literature) these people often have body temperature spikes which tend to lead to them stripping down. Some who didn't survive, I'm told, had body temps high enough to have killed them even if the drugs (often) or violent altercations (oftener) didn't.

bagoh20 said...

"Why do...psychotic people take their clothes off?"

In many cases I assume they are thinking: "you can't take them with you."

Howard said...

Blogger Achilles said...

We need to stop teaching our kids to be cowering pussies.

We are raising generations of kids that have never broken a bone, had a bloody nose, or had to work a day in their lives before the age of 26... or 35.


Who is this "we" shit, kemosabe? You need to get out of your Trump bubble once in a while.

glenn said...

The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 20% of our general population is walking around with a diagnosable mental illness. Glenn estimates they are way light in the pot.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Gospace @3:24 PM: The police haven't released the perp's name, but he was apparently known to the victims and was a local.

To summarize, just another incident of black-on-black violence in the hood. Hardly newsworthy. On the bright side, the perp, apparently lacking a firearm in hand, used a Buick instead. No fatalities, though. I would have expected more from a General Motors product, but there you have it.

The local news had video and comments from some of the residents of the area, including a couple who had been treated and released from the hospital, and views of their environs. It didn't look like a typical jihadi attack target to me. Not a neighborhood where a paleface would want to walk unescorted, shall we say.

Kirk Parker said...

Well, I don't quite agree with Achilles that we should arm teachers (actively) and hire a bunch of armed guards.


Both this (and the mockturtle-approved method of shutting everything down) are just government-overreach answers to a problem caused by .... wait for it ... government overreach.

The real solution here is to get rid of the "gun free zone" nonsense, and let the responsible adult self-select their own self-protection like the outside the GFZs. We didn't hire armed guards to protect our kids at home, why should they need hired guards at school?

mockturtle said...

Why do psychotic people take their clothes off?

Because they can.

Bruce Hayden said...


The shutdown, etc, apparently worked like a well oiled machine. JeffCo Sheriff’s office wasn’t going to look like they did 20 years ago during the Columbine shootings, where they did similarly to what the Sheriff’s deputies did recently in AFlorida, which was to sit on their hands until the shooters ran out of ammunition. JeffCo has typically been Republican, which means, in my view, far less tolerance of police inaction.

I should note that my four brothers and I all did K-12 in that school system (JPS), my kid grew up in the same county, but went to private school instead (a couple miles due north of Columbine) and likely would have gone to Columbine HS if they had gone to public school, since it has the IB program. Still have two brothers living in JeffCo. I was trying to figure out where they found her body from the video. It looked familiar. Turns out it was Mt Evans, due west of Denver. Last time I was up there, maybe 7 years ago, I was taking my kid and a couple friends back up to the top where they had left their cars, having chosen discretion over valor, in the face of a lightening storm, and thus they had diverted to a place above Georgetown below tree line. Visibility was maybe 10 feet going up the mountain, and they were a bit worried with the several thousand foot drop offs to the side that they could no longer see, but knew were there from the trip up the mountain earlier. Reality was that the drop offs were never that steep, so likely would have survived if I had driven off the road, which, of course, I was never close to actually doing.

Paul said...

Well at least in the end..... she did the sort of right thing. Self execution solved a lot of legal and financial problems for the taxpayers. Liberals can just consider it a form of self abortion since they don't mind killing babies even at birth.

May sound cold but these nutjobs drain so much $$$ out of society after they do their terrible deeds so I don't have much sympathy for them. See unborn babies have not done anything to deserve death but these awful people most certainly have (even Jesus did not complain about the death penalty.)

I don't even mind gangs killing each other. Sort of a good riddance factor. And these mass murderers, and wanna-be mass murderers, most certainly fall in the category of good riddance.

Paul said...

glenn said...

"The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 20% of our general population is walking around with a diagnosable mental illness. Glenn estimates they are way light in the pot."

Well glenn, a diagnosable mental illness can be anything from simple depression to anxiety disorders to eating disorders to erectile disorder.. (yes if your pecker does not come up it can by a mental problem) to insomnia, etc.. Most not dangerous to anyone.

Fen said...

I don't trust the media's narrative on this.

It's starting to remind me of all the obituaries of "Goldstein's Associates".

Imagine how easy it would be if the State decided to detain and execute you. And our media might as well be run by the State.

"Midwestern legal scholar jumps from bridge, drowns. Annabelle Althouse was found in the Wanatobe creek after a three-day search and rescue. Althouse had telephoned the White House with warnings that Aliens were plotting to kill JFK. She was last seen acosting men at the Holiday Inn for wearing shorts."

And everyone would take it at face value, just like we are this.

"She was apparently infatuated with the Columbine shooters" seems like a weasel statement to me. Enough to cause us to dismiss her as a loon without providing any detail.

Something is off.

Michael K said...

You need to get out of your Trump bubble once in a while.

Yeah, and learn to spell corpsman.

Clyde said...

What a wasted life. Good that she didn't harm anyone else. I found it annoying that the news stories kept using the term "manhunt."

Nichevo said...


Michael K said...
You need to get out of your Trump bubble once in a while.

Yeah, and learn to spell corpsman.

4/17/19, 10:40 PM


Mike, everybody, Howard is nothing but a pure piss-taker. If you don't have actual plans to beat him up until he apologizes and promises to change his ways (or just cut to the chase and do him), best plan is probably to let him rave. I understand the temptation to mud-wrestle is high; that's his superpower.

Pointing out his contradictions is mostly pointless. He never has anything valuable or informative to share with the class, so why call on him? Let him sit in the back row and fart. He's just overcompensating.