Is this a myth?

I've always heard that if a victim looks at a shooter straight in the eye, the some shooters let the victim live, because they realize they are not cowards?

I’m not sure if it can be surmised it’s because the shooter realized the person was brave.

Though we know Tim Kastle said he looked Dylan in the eye and John Savage spoke to Dylan and they lived.

It "worked" with Dylann Roof, but otherwise I don't think you can generalize it. Some shooters might feel confused but I don't think it would work for most of them because they already are in a state where they can't relate to you.

I bet Breivik would have let all teen lived if they just looked him in the eyes....

False urbans legends in my opinion...

Icarius wrote:

I bet Breivik would have let all teen lived if they just looked him in the eyes....

False urbans legends in my opinion...

He spared Adrian Pracon's life because he looked "right-wing" and saw himself in him so you never know what these shooters can think when they see you.

He said: “Certain people look more leftist than others. This person... appeared right-wing, that was his appearance. That’s the reason I didn’t fire any shots at him. When I looked at him I saw myself."

I’m not sure about just looking but in the case of the CHSM anyone that spoke with the boys was spared really.
John Savage, Val schnurr, Evan Todd, Bree Pasquale, Brooks brown (debatable though since it was before), you get my point though.
If you spoke to them it almost humanised you in their eyes

Wilosophica wrote:

I’m not sure about just looking but in the case of the CHSM anyone that spoke with the boys was spared really.
John Savage, Val schnurr, Evan Todd, Bree Pasquale, Brooks brown (debatable though since it was before), you get my point though.
If you spoke to them it almost humanised you in their eyes

But it didn't work with Chris Harper-Mercer, on the contrary he made people talk before he killed them and shot dead a woman who was trying to reason him.

Wilosophica wrote:

I’m not sure about just looking but in the case of the CHSM anyone that spoke with the boys was spared really.
John Savage, Val schnurr, Evan Todd, Bree Pasquale, Brooks brown (debatable though since it was before), you get my point though.
If you spoke to them it almost humanised you in their eyes

It's an interesting thing to discuss for sure, but I wouldn't consider it a fact. For one, they still shot Val, who thus could've died. Eric told Kacey to quit her bitching after shooting her. Isaiah said something or other to them.  Dylan shot Lance in the face with a shotgun when he asked for help. Not sure how any of that is squared with that idea, especially that last one. Maybe OP would say Lance did not also look him in the face.

Also, they thought the library was going to explode. They thought everybody was going to die in the library except John Savage. That's not an inference, it's what they said, including to Bree. And Dylan said to shoot her, so again maybe it's not just speaking but eye contact as well. I tend to lean towards it having more to do with Eric's nose in that case.  

Evan Todd is the one exception, as Dylan said he'd let him live. Eric also said he wanted to go to the commons, and the massacre ends there, and then they directly mess with the bombs and possibly hunt for the cops. Hence I am inclined to say only then is when they were fully resigned to the fact that the bombs failed.

The other option seems to be that they thought they could make the bombs explode when they messed with them and had the people in the library cornered, but wouldn't they have known about the emergency exit? Wouldn't they have headed straight for the bombs? Why then the change from "everyone's gonna die" to "I'm gonna let this fat fuck live"? Why tell John to run to save his life, but just avoid shooting Evan to save his?

Then again, while I doubt they knew the bombs failed when they began shooting, Dylan entered the cafeteria, and they probably threw pipe bombs/crickets into the cafeteria figuring it would trigger the bombs. Could we be misled or lied to about the timing of the bombs? Are their notes the only source of that? Could one be set for 11:17 or 11:20ish and failed but another for another time such that they think the library is still going to explode? What about the bombs in the kitchen? Eric said he had 6 clocks, so 4 for the car and cafeteria bombs, 1 for the diversion and 1 for the kitchen? Would they think the library was going to explode from bombs in the kitchen?

Sorry to be a broken record and always bring this up, but it influences so much. If the library was going to explode (they said it would, repeatedly) and/or they had them cornered in the library, nobody was being allowed to live except John, and there are witnesses who say that's why he was told to run rather than just avoiding shooting him, which makes sense.

Nice story Neah. Didnt knew that part hahaha