It is looking like he shot himself.

The man shot himself in despair or hopelessness, therefore, ban the encampment.

Sheesh!!!

this is so sad , such a waste of life

My heart goes out to his family and friends

Shouldn't a more accurate headline for this story be: "Man Dies of Apparently Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound at Occupy Burlington, VT?"

I say this only because I turned to this article fully expecting a story about police overreacting to non-violent protestors.

As the Occupy movement grows I think folks are starting to see the reality of the long term unemployed. Josh did have a 1st and last name, a place of orgin, a mother an father. Yesterday I had the prividlege of helping an Occupier in D.C. at Freedom Plaza build a structure to put a tarp over. He is an Unemployed Plummer. He served in the Naval Seabees and learned his trade. I m also a veteran. I served just after Viet Nam in the mid to late 70s. I saw Veterans and the effect that war can have on them. God rest Josh's soul, my prayers are with him and his family. Good Luck Josh.

"His death was a tragedy of society"

That's a warpig lie.

His death was not tragedy, it was another crime against humanity and nature, perpetrated by warpigs. He was a veteran. Therefore all warpigs share to some extent responsibility for the problems that led to the man's suicide. Use you own logical and moral abilities. Don't let warpigs think/decide for you.

The police in Burlington are trying to use this vet's suicide as a reason to stop the encampment. The whole situation is a microcosm of why people are there in the first place; that we live in the richest country in the world which does not take care of its veterans, its homeless or its mentally ill. This man got likely got more support from the occupiers than he has from the rest of society. Now the police are trying to use his death as a reason to shut down the occupiers when it is the State that is responsible for misery enough to drive more than 18 vets a day to commit suicide. The Occupiers are the truth tellers in our society so naturally the palace guard wants to get rid of them.

Even Common Dreams uses the inflamatory header on the home page of "Man dies of gunshot wound". Only if you click through do you learn it was self inflicted. This is a sad day for the committed activists in Vermont.

He may have shot himself accidently.... It isn't all that uncommon, even well trained soldiers and police do it... People unload a weapon's clip and there is still a round in the chamber, squeeze the trigger and BANG... If the bullet hits a vital they can die.... It happens.... We don't know what happened here and can only (assume).

We have a relative who heard someone snooping around his house one night, he went outside carrying his fully (cocked) revolver, tripped over his son's red wagon, the gun went off, BANG and he shot himself in the leg. .. It could have been a lot worse, the bullet didn't hit any bones or his kneecap.. He was lucky,,, and unlucky.

A few years ago a neighbor of ours accidently fired his (*unloaded*) hadgun and damn near shot his wife in the head with a 357 magnum. The bullet went right throuh her hair but very luckily didn't' hit her head.

He had cleanded his gun, loaded it and then went to answer the telephone.. He forgot he had loaded it.. He checked the firing action, which worked perfectly. BANG! Gun accidents do happen.

If this fellllow Josh shot himself accidently it's a real shame for a couple of reasons. One is he's dead, the other is he'll likely forever be listedd as a suicide.

The incident is actually a very good reason to keep the encampment going. I read that there is a real dearth of mental health professionals available to vets and the plethora of psychological issues they have to deal with.

I say, by all means, continue, and continue with more awareness of these matters for veterans. The journey was not meant to free of other people's problems -- if you wanted that, you might as well go back to regular society where it's each for his own. Instead, you got Scott, and then, a question:

Am I ready for this?

Well, to each to their in that answer .. But the question of whether more Scotts can come in, AFAICS, is already resolved.

The real question is in each person for themselves and how prepared they feel for the road ahead. Take heart, though, suicides are not that common, especially in a supportive community. And if the person is talking with you about it, that's a good sign.

Emma Goldman could have given him an idea or two of where he should have aimed that gun instead.

Just sayin'.

I saw no where a mention of this person being a veteran. You all made that assumption. Maybe he was someone who needed health care and in Vt he should have had access. He may have despaired over the continuing events of the world, the possibility that Israel will drop bombs on Iran, that American soldiers will return from Iraq with problems we can't begin to comprehend, that the money/job loss in this country is destroying families and relationships, that education requires paying forever, or maybe he found out his girlfriend wasn't willing to believe as strongly as he did. Just like those who starve or set themselves on fire, Josh is another victim of the system, hero to the Occupiers, and martyr to the cause. May he rest in peace.

Maybe it was an accident,,, maybe he committed suicide??? __ Asumptions are assumptions

Anyone here know Josh? __ Anyone here see the weapon fire? Let's (*assume*) his girlfriend was mad at him, shot him and snuck off,, murder! ....Maybe it was a hit by the CIA? ... (*Assumptions*) >> Yak yak yak.

One thing is correct,, Gulf War vets who are suffering from PTSD, or actually radiation poisoning from inhaling DU dust have a very high incidence of suicide.

Google __ (gulf war vets du poisoning)

Maybe it was an accident, it happens when hand guns are around.

We need solutions to change the system!!! not bullets or aggressive behavior (self imposed or done by others).

Please post solutions... win - win solutions!!

That poor man must have been in incredible pain. I've struggled with suicidal thoughts for a long time, in a weird way they do sometimes "guide" you to help. Or to another point of view, or to a new lover. Sometimes, but not always. It is so hard for creatures such as us to grapple with feelings of meaninglessness, and we phase ourselves out of life very slowly, in stages almost, until there is almost nothing left of ourselves to hurt, so alien have we become to our own reflection. But all of us, all of us, whether in pain now, or in the past or whenever, all of us were loved into being. Remember that: You Were Loved Into Being. The complex beautiful arabesque of your body is loved, wanted and needed, shared, enjoyed and cherished. You were loved into being.

In the same news broadcast that reported this death, it was also reported that a man was shot and killed in a hunting accident. There is no talk about eliminating hunting - it is a big part of the Vermont culture. The denial of free speech rights is a common and official practice in Vermont. Google "Dennis Steele arrested" and see what happens to a candidate for governor who is not a dem/repub. Some in OWS are working to have the First Amendment recognized in Vermont.