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AdamLanza.jpg
Adam Lanza, the gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage committed suicide as first responders closed in, shares traits with other school shooters as outlined in the book "Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shooters"(AP photo)

Common traits of all school shooters in the U.S. since 1970

December 16, 2012 @ 5:38 pm (Updated: 8:42 pm - 12/16/12 )

While the crime seemed more heinous than other school shootings because the victims were so young, the gunman was typical.

Princeton sociologist Katherine Newman, has studied all the school shootings that occurred in the U.S. since 1970.

Newman says the school shooters she's studied had a few things in common. They have all been white males, generally between the ages of 15 and 25, most were depressed, and most were intelligent.

Lanza was an honors student. Described as thin, socially awkward, and shy, he didn't even want to have his picture in his high school year book.

Classmates say say he barely said a word during his time at school and he didn't have many or any friends.

Newman says all of the school shooters she studied were "dwebish intellectuals" or "outcasts."

Another common thread with school shootings is meticulous planning. Very few of the cases Newman has looked at were random. There was a reason for the attack, in the killer's mind.

People who knew the shooters, looking back, said there were clues leading up to the tragedies.

"School shooters are looking to gain the affection and attention of their peers. They never explode spontaneously, they usually let out hints many months in advance," she says.

The location of Friday's massacre also fits the pattern she's noticed with other mass shootings.

"School rampage shootings tend to happen in small, isolated or rural communities," says Newman. "There isn't a very direct connection between where violence typically happens, especially gun violence in the United States, and where rampage shootings happen."

Resource: Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings

By LINDA THOMAS

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Comments (65)


  • Add A Comment

  • ron prevost wrote...
    unfortunately these same charactoristics can describe thousands and thousands here and throughout the world.
    December 16, 2012 5:53 pm
    Fortunately, only one on s million - or less - will ever act as in the Newtown killings.

    But, until someone can determine why and when killings will happen, all the observations in the world are useless. And tell us nothing at all.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Bwhat? wrote...
    "They all have been white males"
    December 17, 2012 5:43 am
    The Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was South Korean.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • chrisL wrote...
    South Korean
    December 17, 2012 8:05 pm
    The last time I checked South Koreans were white. I think you missed the point.
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  • BikeNazi wrote...
    They also all used guns
    December 17, 2012 6:40 am
    Don't forget that important detail while you're looking for something to blame.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    The deadliest attack was not with a gun
    December 17, 2012 7:13 am
    The Bath school 1927. 38 children killed.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963 also...
    December 17, 2012 7:30 am
    was a bombing - no guns.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    a Sunday school bomber by self proclained KKK.
    December 17, 2012 7:36 am
    4 little girls killed with another 22 injured.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Camanoresident wrote...
    The real cause
    December 17, 2012 7:49 am
    Young Males watching and playing to many violent computer games. Guns can only kill when used as a plaything. Get rid of violent computer games is a better start than so called gun control.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • edmondschris wrote...
    you are wrong
    December 17, 2012 7:57 am
    study after study shows that video games do not increase violence in mentally stable people. guns did a plenty fine job killing when they were not being used as a plaything.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Camanoresident wrote...
    Sorry, but you are wrong
    December 17, 2012 8:20 am
    Read this. It is only one of many articles stating the same views. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/does-game-violence-make-teens-aggressive/
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ichiroll wrote...
    If violent video games cause people to act this way..
    December 17, 2012 12:39 pm
    Then please, for the love of god, stop making violent movies, that are constantly giving visuals of far more violent death scenes, along with rape. You are a complete moron if you even ponder the idea that video games are the reason.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ichiroll wrote...
    Like..
    December 17, 2012 12:40 pm
    Complete. Moron.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    Never let a crisis go to waste
    December 17, 2012 7:51 am
    We know our progressive leaders will have the answers for us. It is probably already written up in a 1200 page document that none of them have read, just waiting to be dusted off and put to use.

    The inmates run the asylum. A handful of lunatics with box cutters changed the way we used to freely travel and now a demon possessed lunatic will be responsible for taking more of our freedoms. Whatever new legislation is adapted should be named after him. We should call it the Adam Lanza Gun Control Act.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    As Obama starts pushing his gun ban's -
    December 17, 2012 8:07 am
    Why doesn't the main stream media ask Obama how that plan is working out for him in Chicago? Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, and yet Chicago has had 400 homicides in the first ten months of this year as of 10/1/12, more Chicago residents have been killed this year than soldiers in Afghanistan during the same time frame . (Illinois is the only state in the nation that does not allow concealed carry in some form.) There already is an assault ban in Cook County and Chicago. How is that working out for you leotard liberals?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Forrest wrote...
    Gun control will not solve the problem.
    December 17, 2012 8:12 am
    Having God in everyone's life will not solve the problem. Having meaningful healthcare reform where the mentally ill can get the help they need will solve the problem.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tlmbrt wrote...
    It is perfectly reasonable
    December 17, 2012 8:18 am
    to examine the causes that drive a socially awkward or emotionally damaged person to kill. But blaming the object or device used to commit the crime is ridiculous! Do we blame the CAR when a drunk driver plows into an SUV and kills a family? If it weren't a gun, it would be a bomb or something else. It is my belief that the reason there seems to be a greater frequency of these attacks is due to the sensationalized, 24 hour media coverage of them. A potential killer sees how the previous killers did it and have been made "famous", so they decide it might work for them as well! Infamy is better than anonymity for them....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Forrest wrote...
    Please explain to me
    December 17, 2012 8:25 am
    How having God in our churches prevented children from being molested by people who were 100% Christian.

    Putting God in schools will not solve the problems the of mentally ill among us. The mentally ill among us are the ones who commit these atrocities. All these discussions shouldn't be about God or gun control. The discussions should be about getting mentally ill people the treatment and help they need.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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