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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)


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  • tlmbrt wrote...
    We need
    December 17, 2012 8:26 am
    to accept the fact that no matter what precautions we take, bad things can and WILL happen. Humans are imperfect, and there are a lot of damaged and crazy people out there. We should take all reasonable and constitutional precautions to protect ourselves, but taking away our rights and freedoms will NOT prevent the next unbalanced person from committing a heinous act!
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  • Zagnut wrote...
    One idea. Not a cure-all of course, but something that should be done.
    December 17, 2012 9:03 am
    The perpetrators names should never be mentioned in the press. Ever. And it should be a crime for any member of the press to name the perpetrator. The crime can and should be reported with as much ink and air time as the press desires. The victims should get all the appropriate attention and concern. The background and motives of the perpetrators can and should be analyzed. But the perpetrators should remain nameless. I am convinced one of the motivators, if not the primary motivator, of these psychopathic madmen is the knowledge that they will become famous.
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  • Zagnut wrote...
    I should add:
    December 17, 2012 9:05 am
    Of course, anyone who really wants to find out the name will be able to dig and get it. But it shouldn't be easy. It should not be found anywhere in the press - newspapers, websites, and certainly not announced on TV.
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  • 32coupe wrote...
    Just wondering...
    December 17, 2012 9:16 am
    Without assuming or inferring a moral equivalancy, how many innocent unborn children were killed in the many Planned Parenthood abortion clinics on that day...? Also a tradgedy albeit unnoticed by the media because it happens to fit their political agenda. I pray we find a way to protect all of our children from sick people and evil forces.
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Please explain to me,
    December 17, 2012 9:20 am
    This regime, who denied God THREE TIMES during the DNC and the same people who have removed God from public schools, ridiculed and assaulted those who believe in God, threaten Churches who celebrate and preach the words of the living God (Contrary to the Godless teaching of this Pagan regime!)are looked to by you mindless Left wing Parrots for answers?

    Those who have rejected God, such as your regime, are a big part of the reason these things exist.

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  • cigarfan wrote...
    @Lord Ha ha!
    December 17, 2012 9:44 am
    What part of PUBLIC schools don't you get?
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  • imanegro wrote...
    another cigarfan
    December 17, 2012 10:39 am
    Why mock this idea? Freedom requires virtue. As the founder John Adams said: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." I believe what he was saying is that without self-restraint, the American style government (based on personal freedom, but with voluntary restraint) won't work.
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  • cigarfan wrote...
    @imanegro
    December 17, 2012 12:00 pm
    Moral people ....don't own slaves.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    I think it is rediculous
    December 17, 2012 10:34 am

    To expect any family to be able to control and/or manage a loved ones mental illness, they don't have the expertise and/or resources to effectively manage and mentally ill individual, you need pychiatrist ($30-$100hr fee), medication and most importantly supervision (if you don't have to work fulltime and have a trust fund).

    When Reagan let the mentally ill out to save money is what we are reaping TODAY. Guns aside, if we don't deal with the mentally ill in a caring and effective manner for the good of SOCIETY as a whole, everything else is just political posturing. I hate guns, however, I own a cache of them, teach my kids to shoot when they were single digit in years, they both have personal weapons that I bought for them, however, I am in control of them, they are in my name and I suspect that this mother might have done the same thing as I did, buy them weapons in my name because this kid knew how to use these weapons? He had to learn how to use these weapons from somewhere and was part of this household.

    Just saying,

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  • imanegro wrote...
    Come on sportsguru
    December 17, 2012 10:41 am
    That Reagan thing is such a canard. Do some of your own research before repeating stuff like that.
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    But remember, the decisions to open the mental hospitals in the 1980s
    December 17, 2012 1:34 pm
    were bipartisan. The right saw a way to save money and the left stressed the rights of those hospitalized to freedom (on the streets?). ... Both sides thought it a good idea at the time.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    ron prevost
    December 17, 2012 1:52 pm
    lol, freedom on the streets. Good one and your correct that democrats pushed the bill and the movie star signed the bill. I was pissed and now we get to see the consequences of that legislation. Are you considered a good politician if you said that you made a mistake with that legislation?
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  • DesertRez wrote...
    Media
    December 17, 2012 10:41 am
    Do you guys think that the media coverage fuels these impulses in these young men, who are full of rage and desperately craving some recognition for themselves? It seems like every freak out there is trying to top one another.
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  • TwoTrees wrote...
    @ DesertRez
    December 17, 2012 11:17 am
    Hard to say absolutely...especially when the shooter takes his own life. Media attention might be just one facet of the motive.
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  • EARTHMAN911 wrote...
    Common traits of School Shooters? Nonsense!
    December 17, 2012 12:14 pm
    What utter nonsense! Another conclusion in search of a premise. How many school shootings were there in the U.S. between 1750 and 1960? What changed after 1960? Answer that question and you have the answer and it has nothing whatsoever to do with her plagiarized assessment or guns.
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  • Ariel100 wrote...
    Not all were alike
    December 17, 2012 12:36 pm
    The Columbine duo were not social outcasts. That was erroneously reported by the national media and was later found to be incorrect. The local media portrayed them accurately. They actually had a slightly above average number of friends. The national media also falsely reported that they were bullied. They were not. They, however, did bully some students. They do not support the above profile.
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  • Lillyrose125 wrote...
    Enough Blame to Go Around
    December 17, 2012 1:26 pm
    I think there is enough blame to go around - kids get desensitized to violence. It isn't real to them, but a glamorous thing to do. Something we see now as "normal" would have shocked viewers in the past. It's also the loss of family values. There will always be evil and crazy people around and if they are determined to kill innocent people they will find a way. We need to work on a helpful solution - not make it political and start calling each other names!
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