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Mass murderers: Similarities and differences
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Personnel stands at the scene of a murder in the garden
of the psychiatric hospital in Wiinnenden, near Stuttgart,
Germany, Thursday, March 12, 2009. The 17-year-old
gunman who went on a rampage at his former school
and killed 15 people before taking his own life gave a
warning in an Internet chat room only hours earlier and said
he was "sick of this life," officials said Thursday. One of the
victims was shot on the lawn of the clinic when the gunman
was on the run. (AP Photo/Matthias Rietschel)
The recent killings in Alabama and Germany (both in double digits) highlight both similarities and differences in the two murderers.
One killed his family before killing others and himself. The other killed teachers and students in his former school.
And because many mass murderers kill themselves prior to going to trial, we never find out why they did it.
Many people do blame outside forces--movies, comic books, TV, violent video games, drugs, gangs, but the truth is much more complex. There are indeed outside forces that impact people's character and personality and influence their behavior. But sometimes the truth lies deep inside the killer. Something so ingrained that there's nothing they can do to change it. Something that festers and grows until it erupts in a killing spree so terrible and so massive that it confounds us to think about it.
In the past we remembered the names of the killers long after they were gone. But now the names fade into oblivion and the killers don't get the recognition they may have sought.
Today a new killer emerged in Miami. A man killed four people before killing himself. This one won't be hard to figure out, since it looks to be domestic related. Still, another man killed another family, and so it goes.
Are we getting complacent when murders like these happen? Are we just glad it's not our neighborhood, our friends, our family? Do we ever think about how to stop these mass murderers?
My personal belief is that these killers are horribly damaged individuals. And I do believe that if we caught them ahead of tme we could help them. However, many times they don't exhibit signs of deviant thinking until it's too late. But many times they do show signs.
If someone talks about killing someone else, there's a good chance they're serious, even if they say, "I was only kidding."
If someone has a fascination with guns, there's a problem. Not an interest, mind you, but a fascination.
If someone extols people like Dylan Kleebold or John Wayne Gacy, that's a huge red flag.
What should you do in these instances? First, stay away from that person, that person is dangerous. If someone makes a threat against someone else, report it to the police. If you don't want to do that, at least report it to the person who is threatened.
Sure we can't stop every mass murderer from carrying out his goal, but we can look for the signs and at least keep ourselves safe. If the person speaking is someone you love, and you feel safe doing so, recommend he or she seek professional help. I personally have counseled individuals who have threated to kill others, and I'm sure other therapists have done the same. There is hope.
Until the deed happens. And then it's too late.
The conversation continues with you.
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