This study examines the pre-attack warning behaviors of adolescent school shooters in the US. We conducted 20 case studies of adolescent school shooters in the United States that committed non-fatal or fatal shootings on K-12 school grounds between 1999 and 2016. We investigate whether the school shooters displayed warning behaviors before the attack, who in the perpetrator’s life was aware of these warning behaviors, and what if any actions were taken in response. Given the emergence of online forms of communication, we also investigate how adolescent school shooters may variably communicate warning behaviors in online and offline contexts.
AddingtonL. A. (2003). Students’ fear after columbine: Findings from a randomized experiment. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 19(4), 367–387.
2.
AlathariL.DrysdaleD.DriscollS.BlairA.CarlockA.CotkinA.JohnstonB.FoleyC.MauldinD.McGarryJ.NemetJ.VineyardN.BullwinkelJ. (2019). Protecting America’s schools: A U.S. secret service analysis of targeted school violence. U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center.
AndersonM.KaufmanJ.SimonT. R.BarriosL.PaulozziL.RyanG.HammondR.ModzeleskiW.FeuchtT.PotterL. (2001). School-associated violent deaths in the United States, 1994-1999. JAMA, 286(21), 2695–2702. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.286.21.2695
5.
AP staff. (2001, March23). Latest school shooting has parents seeking alternatives. News on 6.
6.
BairdA. A.RoellkeE. V.ZeifmanD. M. (2017). Alone and adrift: The association between mass school shootings, school size, and student support. The Social Science Journal, 54(3), 261–270.
7.
BersaniB. E.ChappieC. L. (2007). School failure as an adolescent turning point. Sociological Focus, 40(4), 370–391.
8.
BorumR.CornellD. G.ModzeleskiW.JimersonS. R. (2010). What can be done about school shootings? A review of the evidence. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 27–37.
9.
BorumR.FeinR.VossekuilB.BerglundJ. (1999). Threat assessment: Defining an approach for evaluating risk of targeted violence. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 17(3), 323–337.
10.
ChungI. J.HillK. G.HawkinsJ. D.GilchristL. D.NaginD. S. (2002). Childhood predictors of offense trajectories. Journal of research in crime and delinquency, 39(1), 60–90.
11.
DaveyM. (2005, March29). In a twist, a second youth is accused in school attack. The New York Times.
ElderG. H.Jr. (1995). The life course paradigm: Social change and individual development. In MoenP.ElderG. H.JrLüscherK. (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (p. 101–139). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10176-003
14.
ElsassH. J.SchildkrautJ.StaffordM. C. (2014). Breaking news of social problems: Examining media consumption and student beliefs about school shootings. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law and Society, 15(2), 31.
15.
FeinR. A.VossekuilB.HoldenG. A. (1995). Threat assessment: An approach to prevent targeted violence. National Institute of Justice. https://doi.org/10.1037/e517592006-001
16.
FergussonD. M.HorwoodL. J.NaginD. S. (2000). Offending trajectories in a New Zealand birth cohort. Criminology, 38(2), 525–552.
17.
FreilichJ. D.ChermakS. M.ConnellN. M.KleinB. R.Greene-ColozziE. A. (2020). Final report: Understanding the causes of school violence using open source data (NIJ Grant #: 2016-CK-BX-0013). National Institute of Justice, OJP, Department of Justice.
GerardF. J.WhitfieldK. C.PorterL. E.BrowneK. D. (2016). Offender and offence characteristics of school shooting incidents. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 13(1), 22–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1439
HollandK. M. (2019). Characteristics of school-associated youth homicides—United States, 1994–2018. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(3), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6803a1
24.
HsuK. J.BaileyJ. M. (2019). The “Furry” phenomenon: Characterizing sexual orientation, sexual motivation, and erotic target identity inversions in male furries. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(5), 1349–1369.
25.
KalesanB.LagastK.VillarrealM.PinoE.FaganJ.GaleaS. (2017). School shootings during 2013–2015 in the USA. Injury Prevention, 23(5), 321–327.
26.
KaufmanG. (2005, March23). Minnesota shooter’s friend says he warned her of attack. MTV.
27.
KotowskiJ. (2014, November13). Trial of school shooter opens with testimony from victim. Bakersfield Californian.
28.
KotowskiJ. (2015, January23). Court filing: Taft teachers, aware of bullying, planned to strangle Oliver if needed. Bakersfield Californian.
LangmanP. (2015, April1). Charles Andrew Williams: Sorting out the contradictions. SchoolShooters.info.
31.
LangmanP.StraubF. (2019). A Comparison of Averted and Completed School Attacks from the Police Foundation Averted School Violence Database. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
32.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (2001). Understanding desistance from crime. Crime and Justice, 28, 1–69.
33.
LykinsA. D.CantorJ. M. (2014). Vorarephilia: A case study in masochism and erotic consumption. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43(1), 181–186.
34.
LyonsB. (2004, February14). Cellphone records, home yield clues. The Times Union.
McCallD. (2013, January15). Witnesses describe shooting scene inside the classroom. Midway Driller.
38.
McCarthyT. (2001, March11). Warning: Andy Williams here. Time Magazine.
39.
MeloyJ. R.HempelA. G.MohandieK.ShivaA. A.GrayB. T. (2001). Offender and offense characteristics of a nonrandom sample of adolescent mass murderers. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(6), 719–728.
40.
MeloyJ. R.O’TooleM. E. (2011). The concept of leakage in threat assessment. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 29, 513–527.
41.
NewmanK.FoxC.RothW.MehtaJ.HardingD. (2004). Rampage: The social roots of school shooters. Perseus Books Group.
42.
O’TooleM. E. (2000). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective. Critical Incident Response Group, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.
43.
PollackW.ModzeleskiW.RooneyG. (2008). Prior knowledge of potential school-based violence: Information students learn may prevent a targeted attack. United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education.
44.
RagsdaleJ. (2006, January31). 39 Knew of Red Lake killer’s plan. Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
45.
Register-Guard staff. (2007, April13). A painful reminder: School shooting reinforces need to communicate. The Register-Guard.
46.
RobertsJ. (2005, March22). Troubled life of Minnesota shooter. CBS News.
47.
RobertsonT. (2006, January30). Prosecutor: Dozens knew school shooter’s plans. Minnesota Public Radio.
48.
RocqueM. (2012). Exploring school rampage shootings: Research, theory, and policy. The Social Science Journal, 49(3), 304–313.
49.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Harvard University Press.
50.
SchildkrautJ.ElsassH. J.StaffordM. C. (2015). Could it happen here? Moral panics, school shootings, and fear of crime among college students. Crime, Law and Social Change, 63(1), 91–110.
51.
SchukarA. (2011, January6). Suspension ignited fury in Millard South shooting. Omaha World Herald.
52.
SilverJ.HoganJ.GillP. (2018). Foreshadowing targeted violence: Assessing leakage of intent by public mass murderers. Aggression and Violent Behaviors, 38, 94–100.
53.
StineM. (2007, April13). Shooter was crying out for help, friends say. Pamplin Media Group.
54.
TexieraE.KrikorianG.MartelleS. (2001, March23). 5 Hurt in gunfire at high school near San Diego; Student is held. Los Angeles Times.
VossekuilB.FeinR. A.ReddyM.BorumR.ModzeleskiW. (2002). The final report and findings of the Safe School Initiative. US Secret Service and Department of Education.
57.
VossekuilB.FeinR. A.ReddyM.BorumR.ModzeleskiW. (2004). The final report and findings of the safe school initiative: Implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States. United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education.
58.
WiesnerM.CapaldiD. M. (2003). Relations of childhood and adolescent factors to offending trajectories of young men. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(3), 231–262.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
