The first signs
Re “Kelley ‘got super creepy’ — and then very violent,” Nov. 7
The problems that led a young man to kill 26 people in Sutherland Springs, Texas, had deep roots that were planted long before Sunday morning’s attack.
At so many points along the way, systems and people failed to intervene or did so unsuccessfully. Our investments in preventing domestic violence, improving mental health care and reducing gun violence in California make this story feel particularly familiar and tragic.
In the wake of the Texas tragedy, there is a rush to identify a single problem and then suggest simple, often theoretical solutions. Instead, we need to support programs that address the fundamental causes and explore potential solutions that could prevent this carnage in the first place.
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ decision this week to devote new resources for domestic violence victims and prevention is a step in the right direction. We owe it to the 26 people who died on Sunday and the countless others before them to do that hard work and implement enduring solutions so we don’t repeat this grisly scene next week followed by the same hollow rhetoric. Peter Long San Francisco The writer is president and chief executive of the Blue Shield of California Foundation.