James had a childhood that would have indicated future success. He grew up in southern California, and his father is a scientist. His mother is a registered nurse. They lived in an affluent neighborhood in San Diego.

But by the time he was in middle school, James began to display some mental health issues. He tried to take his own life at age 11.

But he did graduate from high school, and also completed a bachelor’s degree at the University of California Riverside. He then decided to move to Colorado and work toward a graduate degree in neuroscience. By outward appearances, he seemed to be on the right track.

But he continued to battle depression, and for several years, he was obsessed with the idea of killing. One day, he acted on that obsession. He walked into a movie theater with multiple guns and started firing into the crowd of people watching a movie.

My guest today is Hali. She knows exactly what it’s like to be in that situation, to be the target of an active shooter. On that day, in Aurora, Colorado, Hali was in that theater.

If you’d like to contact Hali, her email is [email protected].

The Silent Retreat that Hali talked about is at dhamma.org.

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/165

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

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