Reflection on William Freund

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Welcome to WrongPlanet, a community, made up of people from all walks of life, of all ages, all personalities and all nationalities. It is a community much like any other, with the exception that the majority of people have Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition on the Autism Spectrum. There is no one symptom of Asperger’s, nor is there one diagnosable characteristic this condition, and subsequently it affects everyone in a different way. As a consequence, each member of WrongPlanet has a different way of dealing with their Asperger’s. Some people embrace the condition, recognising the importance of neuro-diversity, and celebrating some of the positive attributes of Asperger’s Syndrome, such as the ability to approach situations with a fresh, creative approach, seeing solutions that would not occur to most people. Some people are still coming to terms with a diagnosis, and are in a state of confusion and anxiety over what it will mean for them in the future. Some people are frustrated by their loneliness and are exhausted because of the amount of energy they expend, trying to fit into a world that they do not understand.

One such person was William Freund. Will was a member of WrongPlanet, as well as a lonely, frustrated young man who had Asperger’s Syndrome. Like all the members of WrongPlanet, Will had the choice of how to deal with his feelings. Tragically, his choice was to take the lives of two other people, before ending his own life. Such a choice has undoubtedly had a devastating impact on all who knew the Freunds and the Smiths, as well as many who now know of them. Our deepest sympathies are with Will’s family and friends, as well as the family and friends of Vernon and Christina Smith.

This tragic event has also had a major impact on WrongPlanet, as we too cared for Will. Although we had no personal connection with Vernon and Christina, we were devastated to find that they had become innocent victims of William's uncondonable behaviour. As a grieving community, emotions are running rampant. We all deal with grief differently; some of us are still in shock, some are angry at Will’s actions, some are as yet unable to come to terms with the events and some of us are deeply experiencing the loss. Many of us have experienced feelings of guilt and self-blame, filled with ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys’. Others have sought to place blame elsewhere. However, we are each of us grieving in our own different ways. We are aware that newspaper coverage has linked Will Freund to WrongPlanet, and subsequently there has been a large influx of visitors as well as a sudden increase of new members. We understand that these people are also grieving the loss of Will, and as such will endeavour to be of support in any way possible.

We do ask, however, that people exercise awareness of the fragility and vulnerability of many people at this time, and refrain from the desire to cast blame. When Will’s distress came to be known, members of WrongPlanet made every effort to support him, including attempts to track his IP address and get in contact with someone in his area who could give him the help he needed. Sadly, these attempts were in vain. At present, we are giving careful consideration to strategies that will enable us to better assist our members in the future. Whilst the majority of people here will never follow in Will’s footsteps, we recognise that one such incident is one too many.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. We appreciate your understanding, and again extend our fullest sympathies to all affected by this tragic event.

Annelise
On behalf of the WrongPlanet Moderators

I would like to add that victims of this devestating tragedy, are in the prayers of all of us here at WrongPlanet.net.

I don't pray, Alex. It's a futile exercise, praying.

being in someone's prayers means you're thinking about them and hoping they're ok. It doesn't mean you have to believe in god. Its a figure of speech to those who don't believe in god, but an action to those who do.

Very well stated and I concure.

Y

Very well done. Maybe we should make this sticky.

In my humble opinion, there was something else going on with that poor man. That will come out in the weeks to come. However, it served to publicize a site that is the first place I've seen where I can read posts and listen to people who have the same problems my son does, and know that we are not as alone as we thought we were. One of the biggest problems for parents of Asperger's syndrom children is maintaining perspective. "Why is this happening to me?" Well, it's not. It's happening, I believe to about 30 million people in the U.S. alone, and many more worldwide, and it is a comfort to know that we are not alone.

We would not have known about this place without that whole horrible chain of events, and while we mourn for the three people who died, we rejoice for the light at the end of the tunnel.

RES

I have mixed feelings about the quoted part of your post, but I agree with the rest. As I said in a gun forum that I'm on when they brought this up:

"...I have read all of Will Freund's posts on Wrong Planet and he fully understood what he was doing and the consequenses thereof, and he should be thought of more like some crackhead that killed people in a liquor store robbery! The only thing I'm still wondering about is why no neighbors returned fire?...".

I agree that there was something seriously wrong with him, and he didn't even bother to hide it here. However, whatever was going on in his head had no bearing on his ability to understand that you don't shoot people.

it may have, sean - that's why we have something called "diminished responsibility". some people - whether due to age, or physical/mental condition, cannot be held responsible for their actions. i'm not saying whether this applies to Will or not, but there are a number of instances in which it is appropriate, if not vital, to apply such a thing.

Maybe Nt's should reflect over the fact they see abuse and killings of disabled people as a lesser crime and tend to let the killers off. One such case happened in Britain yesterday where a mother killed her autistic, downs syndrome adult son. She walked on the grounds of diminished responsibility and the judge and media gave her all the sympathy without a thought for the dead person. Having relatives who are much more disabled than me i know how hard it is to raise them but she should have asked for help, how can they be seen as anything less than full lives?

They and we should also reflect on the bullying, mob ruled culture that is prevalent in society before we start making scapegoats out of individuals who 'flipped' after years of bullying and killed others and himself.

Will seriously needed to go to the hospital. He was also on Geodon, meaning his pdoc recognized some sort of psychosis, whether it was Bipolar or Psychotic Depression, etc. But this really isn't the time to think about blame since nobody's around to make that even an issue. Prevention is the most important consideration, for any future circumstances.

I agree. Aspergers, I suspect, wasn't the only thing going on with Will. Though I'm sure his social difficulties and isolation didn't help his situation in the least and probably helped to make it worse.

Will seemed to think it was the meds that made him feel bad in the first place (Geodon can trigger aggression and violence)

I don't have Asperger's and until I read the story about Will Freund this morning, I had no idea that there was such an affliction. Since reading the story I have done about an hours worth of research and learned a few things that might help me be more understanding of people I encounter in the future. Maybe others will learn something from this tragic event as well.
I would offer to help in some way but don't have a formal education......I am open to chatting with other females who might like a new friend.

I am very sad at this turn of events. I remember Will very well and how so many people tried deparately to help him, Especially Kevv. I feel so bad that we couldn't have done more to help him. Sometimes Messageboards make me feel totally powerless. There are so many who want to help and don't know what to do to help. He was so very depressed.

I think the victims (including Will, since he is a victim of sorts too) are on all of our minds. No one really expected something like this, not at this level.

It has shaken me a little into thinking that my problems aren't that bad afterall.

Excellent, Annelise! Where have you been?