In the past year, there has been devastation all over the United States. The details of these devastating events are now known to the public, leaving us all to wonder: Why?

In the late summer of 2012, in Aurora, Colorado, at a midnight premier of the new movie The Dark Night Rises, James Holmes came through the back emergency exit door of the theater. People thought it was it was part of the opening act until he started to shoot, hitting innocent people. Twelve people lost their lives and more than 50 were injured. He was later arrested and charged with first degree murder and attempted murder. It is likely that Holmes will receive the death penalty.

In the month of December, 2012,  less than two weeks before Christmas, Adam Lanza shot his mother killing her with her own guns, then headed to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Lanza broke the glass door of the school and started to shoo, taking the lives of innocent children and teachers. Twenty-six lives were lost in the elementary school, including Lanza himself. After this situation, the country has been involved in a debate over the easy availability of assault weapons.

In Boston in April, 2013, during the Boston Marathon, two bombs went off close to the finish line. The injured were carried, wheeled in wheelchairs or on stretchers to the medical tents, which were on the other side of the finish line. More than 140 people were injured, 13 of the injured had to have limbs amputated, and sadly three lives were taken. Two Chechen brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were thought to be the suspects in the bombing and were on the run. They drove to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where they gunned down MIT Officer Sean Collier. Later that night, the suspects were in a fire fight between the state police and Tanerlan was shot and died in the street. Younger brother Tsarnaev was later arrested and sent to a local hospital and then arrested. So far, there is no possible explanation into why they bombed the marathon.

After hearing about the terrorist attack in Boston, in Washington DC, letters which contained the poison Ricin were sent to President Obama, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, and a Mississippi judge Sadie Holland. CNN reported that a Mississippi James Everett Dutschke was arrested and charged with sending the Ricin.

These events make all Americans wonder why so many innocent lives have been taken in such bizarre ways. Without knowing the why, we must fear that such an event is likely to happen again.