Echoes of Columbine

One thing that holds true of every single mass shooter out there, they were consumed by hate. The targets of that hate vary greatly, some mass shooters have cited feminism as the source of their fury, others have targeted religion, some seemed to blame social problems for their ills, while others pointed the finger at society as a whole. If you take the source of the trigger out of the equation you will be left with hate. Pure, unbridled, red hot, passion and fire, hate. Those that left writings behind were often full of anger and fury, reaching out for anyone and everyone who could be to blame.  If you go down even deeper, you will find a deep hatred of their situation, of their life, of their very self. They got kicked out of school, lost their job, or their girlfriend, or got grounded, or humiliated. Whatever the trigger event may have been, their life had hit a dead end.  Freud described suicide as "murder of self," but theorized that those who are depressed...

YWAM - Tiffany Johnson, 26 & Philip Crouse, 24 New Life - Stephanie Works, 18 & Rachel Works, 16 A home school shooting... Editors Note: This one is stretching the definition of a school shooting or mass shooting I do admit.  I have several reasons for including it in the research, first being that the shooter  at one time attended the youth mission center he targeted first but he was expelled for saying that he heard voices and playing scary music such as Marilyn Manson. So, in a way Youth With a Mission was his school. This was also a church shooting, but a church that had played a big role in his education too.  This one doesn't usually qualify as a mass shooting, because it didn't become one. Given the fact he had 1000 rounds of ammunition in his possession at the time he very well intended it to be. In this case, an armed security officer was there to stop him when he walked in the door and the killing stopped. So, though it is a stretch, it ...

Date:  March 21 Year:  2005 School: Red Lake Senior High Location: Red Lake State: Minnesota Wounded: 5 Fatalities: 9 (2 home, 7 school) Shots Fired:  45 (+13 at home) Time lapsed:  9 minutes Police response time:  3 minutes (4 minute shootout with police) How ended: suicide Civilians involved: No, an unarmed security guard at the school confronted him, but he was killed. Perpetrator: Jeffrey Weise Age: 16 Family history: His father committed suicide on July 27, 1997 after a standoff with police. Mother sustained severe brain injury in an alcohol related car accident on March 5, 1999 and had to be placed in an assisted living home. His grandmother was granted custody but she died in 2003. In postings on a National Socialism forum he says he wants to be a Nazi to preserve his Native heritage, he laments the damage done by drugs and alcohol to the native people. His parents both had alcohol issues. Red flags:  Record...

Editors note:  Though Columbine has become one of the most well known school shootings, even giving rise to the term "Pulling a Columbine," it was not intended to be a school shooting at all. What most of America saw as a school shooting was originally meant to be a mass bombing of unimaginable scale. The bombs placed in the cafeteria were enough to bring the library crumbling down on the cafeteria. Both rooms were full of students at the time. The shooters were positioned outside waiting for survivors to come running out of the building as unwitting targets. Both of their cars were wired as well. They set fire to several rooms, that were put out by bystanders or sprinklers. Thankfully, the bombs were mostly defective. This was not a school shooting it was a domestic terror attack.  This topic has been covered at length, and links will follow if you would like to know more about it but we won't cover the standard details here. These are the details used for our r...

Victims of the University of Iowa shooting Date: November 1 Year: 1991 School: University of Iowa Location:  Iowa city State: Iowa Wounded: 1 Fatalities:  6 Shots Fired: Unknown Time lapsed: 12 minutes Police response time: 3 minutes How ended: Suicide. Shooter was found dead from self inflicted gunshot wound.  Civilians involved:  None known, shooter committed suicide shortly after police arrived. Perpetrator:  Gang Lu Age: 28 Family history:  Unknown. Red flags: Yes. Mental illness history: Unknown. Drug or medication use: Unknown. Inspiration: Unknown. In a suicide statement , he discussed his favorite movies, which he said included: "'No Way Out,' 'Die Hard,' 'Indiana Jones,' and Clint Eastwood’s movies where a single cowboy fights against a group of incorporated bad guys who pick on little guys at their will or cover up each other’s ass."  Just a guess of course, but he seemed to s...