I think we all are struck on occasion by news stories that move us, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Carnell Moore was a 29 year old man who entered the Huston Airport earlier this month with three loaded weapons. After warning those around him he shot into the ceiling. Homeland Security officers rushed to the scene and fired at him wounding him in the arm. He then raised his own revolver and shot himself in the head.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/04/carnell-moore-houston-air_n_3214636.html

In a note he left he had written ““The monster within me was getting stronger and while I could not save myself I could spare others,"

I have found myself continually thinking about him and what he did.

Was he a hero? Can we permit ourselves to consider him such?

In most circumstances if a person through their personal intervention were able to save the lives of numerous people at the cost of their own we would rightly regard them as heroes. Why not Carnell, even when the evil he fought were his personal demons?

Even if one baulks at the label hero I think we should be able to thank him for the lives that were spared.

I however find myself constantly contemplating the internal struggle that must have occurred in his mind and his world. Good triumphed over the evil within Mr Moore because a brave man intervened, his name was Carnell and I choose to think he was indeed heroic.

Rest in peace mate.

Dear csteele,

From the little I know of the case I would not
classify Carnell Marcus Moore as a "hero."
A troubled soul, certainly, but a hero - no.
Whatever demons he had we have no way of knowing.
I'd need more information about this case,
before I could claim as to the "heroism," of his actions.
Had he killed any one at all? Did he have a record as
a killer, what "monster" was he referring to and why?
Too many questions and not enough answers.

csteele,

I don't know that we should tag someone as a hero who sees fit to walk into an airport with three loaded weapons and who starts shooting....even if it was into the ceiling.

What he did was induce absolute terror to those around him at the time.

How is that heroic?

What an interesting post, thanks.It seems to me that this was a basically decent person who for various reasons was under a lot of emotional strain that he couldn't cope with.

I'm not sure that I agree with the characterisation of his actions as
"heroic", given that he had kidnapped a co-worker in the days prior (http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-police-say-airport-shooter-kidnapped-4486592.php?cmpid=hpfsln)and was facing probable imprisonment, but it can't be disputed that he could have caused a great deal of harm to other people and chose not to, which is commendable in itself.

What he did choose was to make himself noticed in his mode of dying, which suggests he felt largely ignored in his living, or possibly was unable to connect meaningfully with people. He worked in a menial job with few prospects, he seems to have been socially isolated, he was obviously severely depressed and no doubt there are other background factors. He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, which may well have been a factor in his choice of a passive-aggressive final act.

It seems to me that Thoreau got it right when he said "most men lead lives of quiet desperation" and that this is inevitable. However, most of us manage to find ways to deal with our existential angst without such a public display. If we characterise Moore as a hero, it seems we are eulogising passive-aggression. Surely the genuinely heroic path is to just "hang on"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntm1YfehK7U

Csteele, was Carnell Moore a hero? Firstly we need to define "hero" then we have to determine what was his "monster within" and what could society expect from that monster. On balance I tend to agree with Poirot's comment, why not just wonder off into the desert and neck yourself after posting it all on Facebook, or some such place. Did Moore crave dramatic attention, by staging it all amongst a crowd of people, if not he certainly got it. That is not passing judgement on Moore, obviously a tormented human being, more to be pitied than branded a hero.

He obviously had a conscience. You can look that up on the net. I think it was heroic to give his own life to spare others. Others lose their live on the job & automatically become heroes.
We must be running short of good, decent, home loving, family loving, would do everything for everyone kind of people soon because they have just about been killed off.
About time we put the mongrels up for cannon fodder & give the good ones a chance to live.