Back in May, Angel Granados-Diaz brought a shotgun loaded with only one shell to Parkrose High School in Portland, Oregon. Before he could do any damage in the school, Granados-Diaz was stopped by the school’s football coach and security guard Keanon Lowe. Lowe is a former player for the Oregon Ducks football team so one can assume he stopped the problem with authority.
Granados-Diaz was clad in a trench coat, of course, when he entered the school and reportedly he was upset over a recent breakup and wanted others to ‘feel his pain.’ The prevailing theory at the time is that Granados-Diaz wanted to either commit suicide or suicide by cop. At the time I said that even with just one shotgun shell he could have unleashed a situation that could have resulted in a lot of bloodshed.
Yesterday, 19-year-old Granados-Diaz pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm in a public building and misdemeanor possession of a loaded firearm in public. As part of a plea deal, he was sentenced to only three years of probation with the provision that he receives mental health treatment.
While I’m relieved to see anyone get mental health treatment who needs it, I still think the sentence is a little bit more than light. After all, Granados-Diaz did dress like a stereotypical school shooter and wanted others to feel his pain. He also wrote on his gun: “The last red pill 5-17-19 just for me.” In some circles, a ‘red pill’ is iconography of incel culture. However, he could have just been referring to the color of the shotgun shell.
Speaking of the shotgun, Granados-Diaz bought the shotgun legally as in Oregon, you can legally purchase a shotgun at the age of 18.
Getting back to Granados-Diaz’s sentence, while he did spend five months in jail awaiting trial, maybe some more time in a mental healthcare facility could have been a better alternative to probation.
Personally, I hope he gets adequate treatment and goes on to live a normal life and not end up back in these pages.
(Sources)
KOIN
The Oregonian
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 