OR - Bend teen stabs self to death on-stage after 'open mic' performance

wfgodot

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Shock, Tragedy at Bend 'Open Mic' Night (w/video)
Teen Keyboard Performer Stabs, Kills Self as Crowd Looks On
BEND, Ore. -- Open mic night ended in a horrific tragedy as 19-year-old Kipp Rusty Walker took his own life Thursday night at a Bend coffee house.
---
Strictly Organic's co-owner, Rhonda Ealy, said she was not at the coffee house's open mic night but her staff re-counted what happened.

"It was really unclear at first what was even happening," Ealy said. "You know it is an open mic and it's a performance, people at first thought it was some sort of theater."

Patrons said Walker, who would have turned 20 in a week, stood up, said nothing -- then began stabbing himself in his chest, over and over.

More, with video, at link above. The Sunday Mail also has a go at the story:

A troubled 19-year-old stabbed himself to death on stage at an open mic night after playing a song called Sorry For All the Mess.
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The suicide has split opinion in Bend. Some people are sympathetic to Walker’s plight, others are outraged over his actions.

On the website of newspaper The Oregonian, one reader going by the name of Quashi wrote: ‘As the aunt of a talented young artist who also took his life at the age of 19, I am so saddened that he was not able to reach out to his friends and family for help.

‘We will never know the level of pain he suffered from so deeply that he chose to take his own life. Nor will he ever know the pain felt by those he left behind. This lasts forever.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Walker-stabs-death-stage-open-mic-event.html (more here)

So - are we sympathetic to his plight, or outraged over his actions?
 
So - are we sympathetic to his plight, or outraged over his actions?

Oh, I say sympathetic, wfgodot. Yes, suicide is normally selfish (I think the terminally ill are a different issue), including in this case, but the young man must have been in terrible pain.

And as a lover of theater, I have to give him extra style points. (No, I have no problem joking about tragedy.)
 
Suicide always makes me feel both: anger and sorrow. :(
 
And as a lover of theater, I have to give him extra style points. (No, I have no problem joking about tragedy.)

The act in Oregon a bit chillingly reminds of a Rolling Stones song:

If I could stick my pen in my heart
And spill it all over the stage
Would it satisfy ya, would it slide on by ya
Would you think the boy is strange? Ain't he strange?


---I Know It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) Jagger/Richards
 
You only kill yourself when there is no other way to make the pain stop. Although I'm sure that he had the idea that "Now they'll all be sorry," that doesn't lessen the tragedy any. Tis is another of those that I can't understand, and so I'll take it at face value. The kid had hit the end of his rope, and he wanted the world to know that.

How can I be angry at someone that really doesn't even exist anymore. I think those that are angry are more likely responding to their own internal shock and fear.
 
Wow. I only feel sympathy for the fact that he was obviously incredibly troubled. And he wasn't depressed?? How can his friend say that? He had to be depressed enough to want to die. Why else commit suicide?

Other than that, I feel anger. How incredibly selfish, not only to take your life without regard to how it will affect the lives of the people who love you, but to do it in public without regard to the lives of the people who are forced to witness it. It's basically like saying, "I'm so effed up, I'm going to make sure you are now effed up too."
 
He really was a "performer" that had a lot of pain. I don't agree with the actions, but I guess I don't agree with suicide at all.... At least he went out doing what he loved? Maybe?

I hope everyone that was watching is ok.....
 
More outraged than sympathy from me. Suicide is the ultimate selfishness for all but the truly insane who cannot control their actions. This young man chose to murder himself in a public venue where those who were not expecting anything of the sort were blindsided by horror. He didn't just kill himself, he inflicted pain and terror onto others. His place and method speak volumes about the kind of person he was. If he were merely a troubled soul who opted to end his own suffering he wouldn't have felt the need to inflict suffering on others by his last actions. He chose a stage where all eyes would be on him. IMO, this just shows how selfish he was.

Still, deep down there is a tiny bit of sympathy, or pity, for this kid. I believe most people who kill themselves are sane and choose to kill themselves because they cannot take the pressure. I feel badly for just about everyone in that position. And worse still that if they were able to see past the short term they might choose differently. Such a horrible place to be. So, for the fact he felt his life was so bad he needed to end it I feel sympathy.
 
More outrage than sympathy, though of course I understand a person would not do this without unbearable suffering.

To force an unsuspecting audience to witness your suicide is about as hostile and contemptuous an act as I can think of. Talk about the quintessential "*advertiser censored** you."

His took his personal pain, a real and respectable thing, and ASSAULTED and traumatized innocent others with it. What a horrible thing to do.
 
This is sad, but it kind of seems to me a symptom of the way teens live these days; nothing is done in private, not even suicide, the most private act one can commit? It doesn't shock me as much as it should. It seems like a step up from doing it live on the internet on web cams, which happens more often than it should, to be sure.
 
The act in Oregon a bit chillingly reminds of a Rolling Stones song:

If I could stick my pen in my heart
And spill it all over the stage
Would it satisfy ya, would it slide on by ya
Would you think the boy is strange? Ain't he strange?

---I Know It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) Jagger/Richards
amazing. I thought of that very same lyric.
This poor kid obviously needed someone to listen.
God kid im sure whatever it was would have passed....at least with age we learn that.I wish he could have.
 
is it possible that he was mentally deranged? or on or had been on drugs? im not sure im feeling the depression angle as much as im sensing something along the lines of him being psychotic... of course its really sad, but hes gone now and all those poor people watching his "performance" will have to deal with it. im curious as to who was in the audience? maybe someone he was directing this to rather than everyone? i hope to god it wasnt being recorded...
 
Oh, I say sympathetic, wfgodot. Yes, suicide is normally selfish (I think the terminally ill are a different issue), including in this case, but the young man must have been in terrible pain.

And as a lover of theater, I have to give him extra style points. (No, I have no problem joking about tragedy.)

I am with you, Nova. I can't feel anything other than sympathy for those that are suicidal, as long as they don't take others with them. Humans, naturally have a very strong will to survive. Something is really wrong with someone who doesn't feel that anymore. I feel nothing but sadness, for those that act on it, without getting help. :(
 
More outraged than sympathy from me. Suicide is the ultimate selfishness for all but the truly insane who cannot control their actions. This young man chose to murder himself in a public venue where those who were not expecting anything of the sort were blindsided by horror. He didn't just kill himself, he inflicted pain and terror onto others. His place and method speak volumes about the kind of person he was. If he were merely a troubled soul who opted to end his own suffering he wouldn't have felt the need to inflict suffering on others by his last actions. He chose a stage where all eyes would be on him. IMO, this just shows how selfish he was.

Still, deep down there is a tiny bit of sympathy, or pity, for this kid. I believe most people who kill themselves are sane and choose to kill themselves because they cannot take the pressure. I feel badly for just about everyone in that position. And worse still that if they were able to see past the short term they might choose differently. Such a horrible place to be. So, for the fact he felt his life was so bad he needed to end it I feel sympathy.

While I don't agree with the place he chose to end his life I think what he did shows that he was not only depressed but also angry. I don't see suicide as a selfish act. As someone else said it's what happens when you're at the end of your rope and see no other option. Often the person who commits suicide sees it as lessening a burden for those around. That their loved ones would be better off if he/she weren't around.

Prayers for this young man, his loved ones, and those that witnessed his death.
 
Wow. I only feel sympathy for the fact that he was obviously incredibly troubled. And he wasn't depressed?? How can his friend say that? He had to be depressed enough to want to die. Why else commit suicide?

Other than that, I feel anger. How incredibly selfish, not only to take your life without regard to how it will affect the lives of the people who love you, but to do it in public without regard to the lives of the people who are forced to witness it. It's basically like saying, "I'm so effed up, I'm going to make sure you are now effed up too."

imo, it was wrong to do it in front of other people. Suicide should be a private action. again, imo
 
Wow. I only feel sympathy for the fact that he was obviously incredibly troubled. And he wasn't depressed?? How can his friend say that? He had to be depressed enough to want to die. Why else commit suicide?

Other than that, I feel anger. How incredibly selfish, not only to take your life without regard to how it will affect the lives of the people who love you, but to do it in public without regard to the lives of the people who are forced to witness it. It's basically like saying, "I'm so effed up, I'm going to make sure you are now effed up too."

I'm sure his friend really meant the suicidal kid didn't act depressed. A lot of people still think depression means you mope and look sad.
 
I'm sure his friend really meant the suicidal kid didn't act depressed. A lot of people still think depression means you mope and look sad.

So, true. Depression is missed by medical professionals, so it wouldn't surprise me if his friends didn't know.
 

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