CNN did a brief profile of 22-year-old Blaec Lammers, a convicted felon serving two concurrent 15-year sentences for first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
Lammers, who hails from Bolivar, Missouri, was arrested after his parents found out that he purchased two rifles from Walmart. His mother turned Blaec over to the authorities because she feared that her son, who has a history of mental illness, would take his own life.
Upon interviewing Blaec, authorities were convinced that he was not only a danger to himself, but to others. They felt that he was on the verge of perpetrating a mass killing. So, he was indicted on the aforementioned charges and convicted in a court of law.
“You don’t want to think your son, your own blood, is going to be a shooter, a mass murderer,” Bill Lammers, Blaec’s dad told The Washington Post. “But you’ve got to face the reality that he might’ve been.”
Now he’s behind bars. But many are wondering if that’s the right place for someone like Blaec, including his parents.
The story raises interesting questions about how we as a society handle individuals like Blaec. Do we send them to prison? Do we commit them to a mental health facility? Do we assign them a parole officer an allow them to live amongst us? What’s the solution?