RIP young Draylen Mason, killed March 12 when bomb detonated in his kitchen

[Leghorn21]

Bombing suspect's death brings closure to Draylen Mason's family

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The family of the 17-year-old who was murdered in the second Austin bombing says with news of the suspect's death, they say they can finally have "some sense of closure that our beloved has received justice."

Draylen Mason was killed and his mother was injured when a package exploded in their kitchen in east Austin on Monday, March 12.

snip

Mason is described by those who knew him as an exceptionally talented student who was accepted into the selective Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mason's funeral will be held on Saturday, March 31 at 11 a.m. at Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church at 4301 Tannehill Lane.

http://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/bombing-suspects-death-brings-closure-to-draylen-masons-family/1066460042



I know I am too too late in posting this, but - -

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Were all the victims black?

[Leghorn21]

5. The two who died were, yes, Eliot - I have been terribly remiss, here is the first victim:

Anthony House, killed March 2:



The first person killed in the Austin bombings was 39-year-old Anthony House, on March 2, according to authorities. The package that exploded at his home that day was the first in the series of blasts.

Married with an 8-year-old daughter, House was the stepson of a well-known Austin pastor. He was a project manager at Texas Quarries and, as a former high school track team member, had volunteered to mentor young athletes in his free time....

...The blast that took his life (Draylen’s) also seriously injured his mother. A 75-year-old Hispanic woman was hurt in the second bombing....

...In addition to Mason’s mother and the other woman injured on March 12, two white men, 22 and 23 years old, were injured in a fourth bombing on Sunday...

http://people.com/crime/who-are-austin-bombing-victims-anthony-house-draylen-mason/

RIP Mr. House

[Eliot Rosewater]

6. Hate crimes, the usual racism that is systemic and very very alive in America.

[HipChick]

2. What a talented young man...

May he RIP...

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. ...

[John Fante]

4. Right-wing terrorism strikes again.

RIP Draylen.

[0rganism]

7. our society associates violent death with justice and/or closure for victims of violence

i feel like this phenomenon is at the root of a lot of our problems with violence, but i can't quite put my finger on how...

sure is difficult trying to do this whole democratic open society thing when the most irresponsible and ill-tempered among us can easily acquire semi-automatic weapons and explosives. i, for one, don't feel any sense of closure, as we will continue to address such systemic problems mostly with variants of "thoughts and prayers" every time the symptoms manifest, and nothing really changes with respect to causality.

but no one asked me, and if i'm very lucky, no one ever will.

[appleannie1943]

10. Having lost a son, I don't think closure exists. You just learn to live with the hole in your soul.

[0rganism]

11. that's kind of what i figured

fortunately for me, my immediate family remains in adequate health, but i don't think any amount of perpetrator abuse could bring me a sense of "justice" and/or "closure" should one of them be murdered.

seems like people don't really get over these things for a very long time, but there's a lot of social pressure for people to claim that we're "over it and moving on" or similar. i think this artificially truncates the grieving process in an unhealthy way, but have no supporting data to point at.

[Leghorn21]

13. I took it to mean that the fact that the perpetrator was no longer at large brought a sense of

“closure”, O. If the bomber had been arrested and put in lock-up, surely that would have provided “closure” as well...as much, as you point out, as is possible under these horrific circumstances.

I don’t know it, but there’s a 50-50 chance the families just wanted the bomber off the streets, and never wished him a violent end (though I will never know, of course).

[appleannie1943]

14. Everyone handles it differently. I still had my last two kids at home and I got paranoid about

where they were. If one of them was 5 minutes late coming home, I made my hubby go out looking for them. I worked two jobs for two years to keep busy so I would not think. I hardly slept and lost weight. Gradually I learned to live with it but my kids tell me I am a different person than I used to be. Some parents never learn to live with it so I am one of the lucky ones. It was in 1988 and I am still not sure if it was an accident or he was killed. If he was killed, it is up to a higher power to do the justice thing. Someone else dying only brings more grief to another innocent mother. I would never want that and it sure would not bring my son back. So, my choice to survive is to accept that it happened, that he is still with me every day and some day, he will be waiting to greet me on a different plain than this one.

[Leghorn21]

12. Oh, appleannie, ((((())))

[Ilsa]

17. I think the "closure" is just knowing that the

Perp can't hurt any more family members or anyone else. The parents may never get over losing their son.

[malaise]

8. K & R

Victims barely make the news these days - promising young folks slaughtered for no good reason.

[MaryMagdaline]

9. Senseless killing by an animal.

When will our president call the killer an animal?

[appleannie1943]

15. Don't hold your breath. He will never call him a terrorist either.

[MaryMagdaline]

16. You are probably right

[Zen Democrat]

18. Right. Especially since the creep was part of his base.

[smirkymonkey]

19. Such tragic, senseless deaths.

It's just so heartbreaking to hear about these victims. Especially such a promising young 17 year old. I really hate this world sometimes.

My condolences to their families.

[Hortensis]

20. Glad of anything that can ease his family's misery

even a bit.

[misanthrope]

21. And the world is robbed of the art he would have created

"Senseless" doesn't begin to describe it.

[oasis]

22. Thanks for posting. Sad, but people should know just how accomplished

this fascinating young man was, and what he and family were looking forward to.