“Who are you?” asks the woman to the mysterious looking man approaching her as she was on her way home after working late, walking through the empty dark lobby of her office building.  “It doesn’t matter”, he responds as he pulls a knife from behind him.  In a panic, she looks around looking at her options to escape, then catches a glimpse of his face when the moonlight shines on it as he walks across a window while approaching her.  “It’s you!  But why!” she responds with a look of extreme confusion.

Earlier that day Sara was walking into her office in the morning getting
ready to start her work day.  As she passed the security guard at the
lobby, she couldn’t help but marvel at his physique, and this was every time
she saw him: 6’8”, arms bigger than her head, and a massive chest that made the buttons on his shirt look like loaded springs, ready to pop out at any second.  “Are you sure your real skin color isn’t green, James?” she asked him with a smile while passing him by.  “I’m more of a Captain America guy.  Have a good day, Miss Sara“, he responded with a smile.  Sara
gave him a wave as she continued towards the elevator.

As soon as she got off the elevator and to her desk, she got the news that
some changes were coming to her organization.  She didn’t like those types
of announcements as it usually ended up being bad news for somebody, and she feared that one of these days that somebody would be her.  About one year ago a new President of her division had stepped in, Brian, and about six months after that these organizational changes had started to come often.  She didn’t have anything against the President himself.  On the contrary, she thought Brian was the best thing that had ever happened to her company.  He was extremely sharp, very humble, and an extremely kind individual.  What amazed her the most about him was the genuine interest he would show everyone, to the point that he not only knew the name of the mail carrier that would only show up for a brief minute every day, but he knew his wife’s name and the name of his two daughters.  “It’s no wonder everyone loves him”, Sara told herself when she found out about this.

“What do you think the announcement is going to be?” Sara’s co-worker, Ted, asked Sara after she sat down at her desk.  “I don’t know but that just
about ruined my day, can’t wait to get through it and just go home and sleep
for the rest of the day” Sara responded.  “Life isn’t about waiting for
the storm to pass.  It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” Tim told her.  “Nice quote, where did you find that one?” Sara asked.  I’m learning to be an insider when it comes to the stock market so I started reading a book called Money Master the Game by Tony Robbins.  I don’t think he’s the first to say that, but I read it in his book and I liked it, so it’s a Tony Robbins quote to me.” Tim responded.  “Well, when you become a millionaire don’t forget about me, maybe you can get me out of this hell hole of constant changes” Sara said.  Tim responded, “The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.”   “Let me guess, Tony Robbins?” Sara asked.  “What can I say, I’m a fan!” responded Tim.

The announcement came out later that day and it was announcing a promotion, but at the corporate level.  As typical, it did mean bad news for
somebody.  The IT manager for Sara’s division was named Jim.  He had
been there for over 20 years.  Several months ago they announced they were going to create an IT Director position to whom all the IT division managers would report to.  Jim was excited about the opportunity and figured he was a shoe in for getting the position.  As it turned out, the announcement showed they had given the opportunity to an IT manager from another division, someone much younger than Jim and with less experience.  It was clear to everyone why Jim didn’t get the opportunity; he wasn’t very easy to work with and had a big problem accepting when he was wrong.  But he didn’t see it that way and was furious.

“Sara, if you have any requests for Jim, I suggest you hang on to
them.  He’s lashing out at everyone after he read that announcement.” Tim
told Sara as she was coming back from getting coffee.  “Somebody from
management really needs to go talk to him, or at least they should call security to keep them on stand-by in case things get out of hand” Sara mentioned.  “I doubt they will do either”, Tim responded while shaking her head, “The only one that would actually talk to him would be Brian and he’s traveling on business.”

Five o’clock came around and Tim came over to Sara’s desk.  “Ready to
head out?” he asked Sara.  “Sadly no”, Sara responded, “seems like these announcements of changes put everyone on edge and they don’t get me what I need to do my job until late in the day.  I probably have four more hours of work before I can get out of here.”  “Bummer”, Tim responded, “I would offer to help but I promised my son I would be there for his soccer practice today.”  “No worries Tim, thank you anyway.  Have a good evening”, Sara responded then proceeded to getting back to work as Tim gave her a wave and walked away.  After several hours, Sara completed her work, grabbed her things, and started heading out of the office and on her way home.  She never would have imagined what was waiting for her in the lobby.

There she was, standing in front of a man who was approaching her with a
clear intention of killing her.  She couldn’t believe what was happening,
and who she thought it was confused her to a point of driving her mad. 
“Was this a practical joke?  Did I fall asleep at my desk and this was
just some horrible nightmare?” she thought to herself.  The only thing
clear to her at that point was that she needed to do something.  As she
continued to look for her options to escape she saw a side exit door she could make a run for.  She grabs her purse, swings it and throws it at the man approaching her as she makes a run for the door.  She gets to the door but at first push it doesn’t open, seeming more like it being stuck and not locked.  She continues to push it in a panic and the door finally gives.  As she puts one foot outside, she gets grabbed by the arm and pulled in violently, and turned around to face her pursuer.  It was clear now that it was him, that it was Brian, the President of the company.

“I’m sorry Sara, this isn’t personal.  You just happen to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time”, Brian tells her as he’s holding her tightly by
the arm.  Knowing she could be stabbed at any moment, she knees Brian in
his groin, making him release his hold.  She then quickly turns around to
the main exit while looking back to see if Brian was approaching, only to find that she had turned towards the elevators, disoriented in the struggle. 
Brian looks at her and starts approaching, realizing he has her trapped.
She looks for her badge to open the elevator, knowing that it’s her only way to escape now, but soon realizes it’s in her purse. She looks at where her purse is, trying to determine if she would have enough time to grab it and get the elevator door closed before Brian reached her, when all of a sudden she hears a loud thump. She quickly looks up and sees Brian flying across the room then hitting the wall with such force that he bounces back halfway. Confused, Sara looks over towards where Brian was and sees James, the security guard.  James walks over to Brian, who was left unconscious after the impact, and secures him with some zip ties. He then runs over to Sara. “Are you OK, Miss Sara?” he asks.

Sara was taken home after she had been checked by the first responders and questioned by the police. She had so many questions herself; still questioning if anything that had just happened was real. Soon after she arrived home, she received a call from her corporate office, offering support on anything she might need and letting her know to take two weeks off and check back in afterwards to discuss if she would be ready to come back to the office. Sara didn’t sleep much that night, getting up several times to check her doors and windows and even calling the police station a few times to make sure Brian was still in custody. And she knew this was not going to change until she had answers.

As soon as morning came, Sara put in a call to the police station again,
this time asking if they themselves had more answers. She gets optimistic about getting them after she gets transferred over to the detective in charge of the case. “Hi Sara, I hope you are doing much better this morning. How can I help you?” he asks. “I wanted to know if you already had a motive for
the attack”, she asks. “I’m sorry Sara, I’m not able to disclose any
information at this time. Please be sure that you will eventually have the
answers you’re looking for”, he responds. “I understand. Thank
you”, Sara responds then ends the call. “I can’t give up that
easily”, she tells herself.

After several days and much thought, she decides to call Brian’s wife, as
uncomfortable as that might be. Sara had met her before at a company party, and they had gotten along pretty well that they exchanged phone numbers. As she was about to dial her number, her phone rang and to her surprise it was Brian’s wife. She quickly answered it. “Hello Sara, this is Michelle, Brian’s wife”, she says. “Hello Michelle”, Sara responds with a shaky, nervous voice, thinking about how to best ask her big question. Michelle continues, “I can only image what you have gone through, I’m really really sorry”, she says as she’s fighting back going into a cry, “I feel as
much responsible as Brian for what happened. He had been complaining about having violent thoughts, thoughts he couldn’t explain. And he had been seeing a psychologist. What Brian hadn’t disclosed to me was that he had also seen a neurologist recently and they had found a tumor in his brain. After I visited with several doctors from different fields, they said it’s very possible the tumor was the cause of his behavior that night. Sara, please know that I’m in desperate need of answers as much as you are I’m sure”, she continues, now breaking into a full cry, “I feel I didn’t support him enough, if I would have done more none of this would have”. Sara interrupts her before she could finish her sentence, “Don’t do that to yourself Michelle and thank you so much for the call and explanation. I of course don’t know Brian as well as you, but these of course were extraordinary actions coming from him, and so it’s not hard to believe it would have been caused by something extraordinary.
I know this must be very hard on you and your family as well. I hope Brian is able to get a fair trial and gets the help he needs.” “Thank you
Sara”, Michelle responds, “And please let me know if there’s anything
you need. I can only imagine how hard it’s going to be to go back to the office and I’m here for support if you need it.” “I really appreciate that Michelle”, Sara responds, “Good luck to you and your family.” They both say
good-bye and Sara hangs up the phone while starring at the wall, trying to make sense of the information she had just received. Talking to Brian’s wife had certainly made her feel better. As far as knowing why Brian did what he did, she decided she would wait for the results of the trial.

-end of story

Just after midnight on August 1, 1966, a man by the name of Charles Whitman drove to his mother’s apartment and killed her. He then returned to his home, where he killed his wife by stabbing her three times in the heart as she slept. Later that day, at approximately 11:35 a.m., Whitman arrived on the University of Texas at Austin campus. He falsely identified himself as a research assistant and told a security guard he was there to deliver equipment. He then climbed to the 28th floor of the UT tower, killing three people within the tower, and opened fire from the observation deck with a hunting rifle and other weapons. Altogether, Whitman killed fourteen people and wounded thirty-one in the 96 minutes before he was shot and killed by an Austin police officer.

It was soon discovered that Whitman had left a suicide note, in which he
wrote the following: “I do not quite understand what it is that compels me
to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I
have recently performed. I do not really understand myself these days. I am
supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur, and it requires a
tremendous mental effort to concentrate on useful and progressive tasks.”
In his note he also requested an autopsy.

An autopsy was done, and a brain tumor the size of a pecan was found.
Although never concluded, forensic investigators have theorized that the tumor pressed against Whitman’s amygdala, a part of the brain related to anxiety and fight-or-flight responses, and that this was the cause of Whitman’s actions that day.

Trying to attribute the actions of a criminal to some brain dysfunction is
of course a very controversial topic since it’s seen as relieving the criminal
of any responsibility.  As David Eagleman mentions in his book, Incognito,
these people do need to be put away from the public to prevent them from
harming anyone else, but understanding the cause can be of tremendous value to help those that might be at risk of committing criminal actions due to those same causes. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning more about this topic.