WASHINGTON - What type of kids kill at school?  That's the wrong question, say researchers from the Secret Service.

The people who protect the president have spent the last year studying the rare but frightening events known as school shootings. The Secret Service studied the cases of 41 children involved in 37 shootings at their current or former school, from 1974 to 2000. It shared its findings with the Chicago Sun-Times and plans to publish a guide of advice for schools.

The Secret Service researchers read shooters' journals, letters and poetry. They traveled to prisons to interview 10 of the shooters, who sat for the video camera in orange prison jump suits, all acne and handcuffs, more sad than evil.

"It's real hard to live with the things I've done," said Luke Woodham, now 19, who killed two students in Pearl, Miss., in 1997.

The researchers found that killers do not "snap." They plan. They acquire weapons. They tell others what they are planning. These children take a long, planned, public path toward violence.

And there is no profile.
Some lived with both parents in "an ideal, All-American family." Some were children of divorce, or lived in foster homes. A few were loners, but most had close friends.

Few had disciplinary records. Some had honor roll grades and were in Advanced Placement courses; some were failing. Few showed a change in friendships or interest in school.

"What caused these shootings, I don't pretend to know, and I don't know if it's knowable," said Robert A. Fein, a forensic psychologist with the Secret Service. "We're looking for different pieces of the puzzle, not for whether kids wore black clothes.

"Looking for a type of child - a profile or checklist of warning signs--doesn't help a principal or teacher or parent who has vague information that raises a concern.

Having some of the same traits as school shooters doesn't raise the risk, there being so few cases for comparison.

"Moreover, the use of profiles carries a risk of over-identification," the Secret Service says in its report. "The great majority of students who fit any given profile will not actually pose a risk of targeted violence."

Instead of looking for traits, the Secret Service urges adults to ask more questions, and quickly, about behavior and communication: What has this child said? Does he have grievances? What do his friends know? Does he have access to weapons? Is he depressed or despondent?

These questions are not posed from the traditional law enforcement perspective--has the student broken a rule or law?--or even from a mental health perspective--what is the diagnosis?

The uselessness of a profile is made clear by Barry Loukaitis, 14, who walked to junior high school on the coldest day of 1996 in Moses Lake, Wash. He wore a black cowboy hat, black clothes, black boots and a black trench coat hiding a 30/.30 rifle underneath. He killed two students and a teacher.

"Reprinted with special permission from the Chicago Sun-Times Inc. @2001"