School shooting: Difference between revisions

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Several school shooters were inspired by Columbine, with copycats appearing as soon as a month after it. Copycat shooters donned black trench coats and even imitated the dialogue of the Columbine shooters during their sprees (for example, some shooters asked their victims whether they believed in God before shooting them). The copycat effect is in part due to the excessive focus of the media on the background of the shooters, and the easy availability of journals/manifestos written by previous shooters online.

Among the deadliest of school shootings of the 21st century are the [[Virginia Tech Shooting]], the [[Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting]], and the [[Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting]], all of which surpassed Columbine in the terms of numbers of deaths. Each of these shootings resulted in debates about firearm possession and increased background checks during gun purchases in the United States of America.

Among the deadliest of school shootings of the 21st century are the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting Virginia Tech Shooting], the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting], and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneman_Douglas_High_School_shooting Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting], all of which surpassed Columbine in the terms of numbers of deaths. Each of these shootings resulted in debates about firearm possession and increased background checks during gun purchases in the United States of America.

From the mid-2000s onward, copycat attacks have been perpetrated in other countries as well. Incidents of shooting and stabbing sprees in countries like Finland and Russia have been perpetrated by people inspired by Columbine.

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== Typology ==

Dr. Peter F. Langman, an expert on school shooters, provides the following typology for rampage school shooters:

# Traumatized School Shooters: This category consists of shooters who come from broken homes. Shooters from this category are likely to have been physically and/or sexually abused. Dr. Langman found that all of the subjects from his study sample who fell into this category had at least one parent with a history of substance abuse, and one parents who had been incarcerated. Shooters in this category include [[Evan Ramsey]], [[Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden|Mitchell Johnson]], and [[Jefferey Weise]].

# Traumatized School Shooters: This category consists of shooters who come from broken homes. Shooters from this category are likely to have been physically and/or sexually abused. Dr. Langman found that all of the subjects from his study sample who fell into this category had at least one parent with a history of substance abuse, and one parents who had been incarcerated. Shooters in this category include[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_Regional_High_School_shooting#Perpetrator Evan Ramsey], [[Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden|Mitchell Johnson]], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Weise Jefferey Weise].

# Psychotic School Shooters: School shooters from this category come from intact families and have no history of abuse or parental substance abuse or incarceration. These shooters exhibit signs of schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disorder, including paranoid delusions, delusions of grandeur, and auditory hallucinations. Shooters in this category include [[Kip Kinkel]], [[Michael Carneal]], and [[Andrew Wurst]].

# Psychopathic School Shooters: Shooters who fall into this category also come from intact families. They demonstrate signs of narcissism, a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, and sadistic behavior. Shooters in this category include [[Eric Harris]], [[Andrew Golden]], and [[Robert Poulin]].

# Psychopathic School Shooters: Shooters who fall into this category also come from intact families. They demonstrate signs of narcissism, a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, and sadistic behavior. Shooters in this category include [[Eric Harris]], [[Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden|Andrew Golden]], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Pius_X_High_School_shooting Robert Poulin].

== Signs of a School Shooter ==

No one attribute (such as having a mental illness) or experience (bullying) can be considered the primary cause of a school shooting. However, research shows that there are several signs that an individual might be contemplating and/or planning an attack. Some of these signs are:

# "Leak" of intent: Several perpetrators leak their intentions to peers. This may happen through efforts to recruit other students to help in the attack, or through social media posts.

# Obsession with past shootings: Several aspiring shooters show an almost fanatical interest in past school shootings, sometimes going as far as visiting the sites where previous shootings occurred. Aspiring shooters might also be active on online discussion forums dedicated to previous shootings.

# Concerning behavior: Aspiring shooters might engage in behavior that causes other concerns prior to their attack. This might be anything from efforts to obtain firearms, to disturbing writings, and self-harm.

# Victims of bullying: According to the ''Safe Schools Initiative Report, ''roughly 71% of perpetrators of school shootings are the victims of bullying, with 87% leaving evidence that they were victims of severe bullying.

# Suicide ideation/attempt: Individuals planning attacks often exhibit suicidal tendencies. Several perpetrators leave behind journals and online posts that reveal that they are contemplating suicide. In fact, some shooters perpetrate attacks in an attempt to commit suicide by cop.

# Other psychological factors: According to the ''Safe Schools Initiative Report, ''10% of school shooters that had been diagnosed with a mental illness had failed to comply with their prescribed psychiatric medications. In addition to showing symptoms of depression, several perpetrators also struggled with narcissistic tendencies, rage, and tended to rely on the psychological strategy of 'splitting' (having extreme ways of thinking/ black and white thinking). Splitting is observed in certain personality disorders, and can even contribute to rationalizing homicide.

While no one of these signs is the definitive sign of a school shooter, the presence of several or these, simultaneously, might help identify an aspiring perpetrator.

==Examples==

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 Several school shooters were inspired by Columbine, with copycats appearing as soon as a month after it. Copycat shooters donned black trench coats and even imitated the dialogue of the Columbine shooters during their sprees (for example, some shooters asked their victims whether they believed in God before shooting them). The copycat effect is in part due to the excessive focus of the media on the background of the shooters, and the easy availability of journals/manifestos written by previous shooters online.
-Among the deadliest of school shootings of the 21st century are the [[Virginia Tech Shooting]], the [[Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting]], and the [[Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting]], all of which surpassed Columbine in the terms of numbers of deaths. Each of these shootings resulted in debates about firearm possession and increased background checks during gun purchases in the United States of America.
+Among the deadliest of school shootings of the 21st century are the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting Virginia Tech Shooting], the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting], and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneman_Douglas_High_School_shooting Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting], all of which surpassed Columbine in the terms of numbers of deaths. Each of these shootings resulted in debates about firearm possession and increased background checks during gun purchases in the United States of America.
 From the mid-2000s onward, copycat attacks have been perpetrated in other countries as well. Incidents of shooting and stabbing sprees in countries like Finland and Russia have been perpetrated by people inspired by Columbine.
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 == Typology ==
 Dr. Peter F. Langman, an expert on school shooters, provides the following typology for rampage school shooters:
-# Traumatized School Shooters: This category consists of shooters who come from broken homes. Shooters from this category are likely to have been physically and/or sexually abused. Dr. Langman found that all of the subjects from his study sample who fell into this category had at least one parent with a history of substance abuse, and one parents who had been incarcerated. Shooters in this category include [[Evan Ramsey]], [[Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden|Mitchell Johnson]], and [[Jefferey Weise]].
+# Traumatized School Shooters: This category consists of shooters who come from broken homes. Shooters from this category are likely to have been physically and/or sexually abused. Dr. Langman found that all of the subjects from his study sample who fell into this category had at least one parent with a history of substance abuse, and one parents who had been incarcerated. Shooters in this category include[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_Regional_High_School_shooting#Perpetrator  Evan Ramsey], [[Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden|Mitchell Johnson]], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Weise Jefferey Weise].
 # Psychotic School Shooters: School shooters from this category come from intact families and have no history of abuse or parental substance abuse or incarceration. These shooters exhibit signs of schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disorder, including paranoid delusions, delusions of grandeur, and auditory hallucinations. Shooters in this category include [[Kip Kinkel]], [[Michael Carneal]], and [[Andrew Wurst]].
-# Psychopathic School Shooters: Shooters who fall into this category also come from intact families. They demonstrate signs of narcissism, a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, and sadistic behavior. Shooters in this category include [[Eric Harris]], [[Andrew Golden]], and [[Robert Poulin]].
+# Psychopathic School Shooters: Shooters who fall into this category also come from intact families. They demonstrate signs of narcissism, a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, and sadistic behavior. Shooters in this category include [[Eric Harris]], [[Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden|Andrew Golden]], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Pius_X_High_School_shooting Robert Poulin].
+== Signs of a School Shooter ==
+No one attribute (such as having a mental illness) or experience (bullying) can be considered the primary cause of a school shooting. However, research shows that there are several signs that an individual might be contemplating and/or planning an attack. Some of these signs are:
+# "Leak" of intent: Several perpetrators leak their intentions to peers. This may happen through efforts to recruit other students to help in the attack, or through social media posts.
+# Obsession with past shootings: Several aspiring shooters show an almost fanatical interest in past school shootings, sometimes going as far as visiting the sites where previous shootings occurred. Aspiring shooters might also be active on online discussion forums dedicated to previous shootings.
+# Concerning behavior: Aspiring shooters might engage in behavior that causes other concerns prior to their attack. This might be anything from efforts to obtain firearms, to disturbing writings, and self-harm.
+# Victims of bullying: According to the ''Safe Schools Initiative Report, ''roughly 71% of perpetrators of school shootings are the victims of bullying, with 87% leaving evidence that they were victims of severe bullying.
+# Suicide ideation/attempt: Individuals planning attacks often exhibit suicidal tendencies. Several perpetrators leave behind journals and online posts that reveal that they are contemplating suicide. In fact, some shooters perpetrate attacks in an attempt to commit suicide by cop.
+# Other psychological factors: According to the ''Safe Schools Initiative Report, ''10% of school shooters that had been diagnosed with a mental illness had failed to comply with their prescribed psychiatric medications. In addition to showing symptoms of depression, several perpetrators also struggled with narcissistic tendencies, rage, and tended to rely on the psychological strategy of 'splitting' (having extreme ways of thinking/ black and white thinking). Splitting is observed in certain personality disorders, and can even contribute to rationalizing homicide.
+While no one of these signs is the definitive sign of a school shooter, the presence of several or these, simultaneously, might help identify an aspiring perpetrator.
 ==Examples==