"...we should think of many rampage shooters as
nonideological suicide terrorists. In some cases, they claim to be fighting for
a cause - neo-Nazism, eugenics, masculine supremacy or an antigovernment revolution
- but, as with suicide terrorists, their actions usually stem from something
much deeper and more personal."
"There appears to be a triad of factors that sets these
killers apart. The first is that they are generally struggling with mental
health problems that have produced their desire to die. "The second factor is a deep sense
of victimization and belief that the killer's life has been ruined by someone
else, who has bullied, oppressed or persecuted him.
"The key is that the aggrieved individual feels that he
has been terribly mistreated and that violent vengeance is justified. In many
cases, the target for revenge becomes broader and more symbolic than a single person,
so that an entire type or category of people is deemed responsible for the
attacker's pain and suffering. Then, the urge to commit suicide becomes a
desire for murder-suicide, which is even rarer; a recent meta-analysis of 16
studies suggests that only two to three of every one million Americans commit
murder-suicide each year.
"The
third factor is the desire to acquire fame and glory through killing. More than
70 percent of murder-suicides are between spouses or romantic or sexual
partners, and these crimes usually take place at home. Attackers who commit
murder-suicide in public are far more brazen and unusual.
"...rampage shooters have often
been captivated by the idea that they will become posthumously famous.
"Isn't it fun to get the respect that we're going to deserve?" the
Columbine shooter Eric Harris remarked. He had fantasized with his fellow
attacker, Dylan Klebold, that the filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Quentin
Tarantino would fight over the rights to their life story."
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