MENTAL ILLINESS
Few shooters had been diagnosed with a mental illness, or had histories of drug or alcohol abuse. About three-fourths either threatened to kill themselves, made suicidal gestures or tried to kill themselves during the attack.

Luke Wodham's journal: "I am not insane. I am angry. I am not spoiled or lazy, for murder is not weak and slow-witted, murder is gutsy and daring.... I killed because people like me are mistreated every day.... I am malicious because I am miserable." 

Woodham says now, "I didn't really see my life going on any farther. I thought it was all over with.... I couldn't find a reason not to do it."

MOTIVES
Many shooters had more than one motive. The most frequent motivation was revenge. More than three-fourth were known to hold a grievance, real or imagined, against the target and/or others. In most cases, this was the first violent act against the target.
In his journal, Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Ore., wrote, "hate drives me.... I am so full of rage.... Everyone is against me.... As soon as my hope is gone, people die."
Eric Houston: "My HATEtrid tord humanity forced me to do what i did.... I know parenting had nothing to do with what happens today. It seems my sanity has slipped away and evil taken it's place.... And if I die today please bury me some-where beautiful."

PROBLEM SOLVING
Many saw the attack as a way to solve a problem. Bullying was common. Two-thirds of the attackers described feeling persecuted, bullied or threatened - not teasing but torment. Other problems they were trying to solve: a lost love, an expulsion, even a parent planning to move a family.
Loukaitis: "Some day people are going to regret teasing me."
"I just remember life not being much fun," a shooter recalls. " `Reject, retard, loser.' I remember `stick boy' a lot, 'cause I was so thin."
Houston: "Maybe to open up somebody's eyes to see some of the stuff that goes on, . . . of how the school works, and make them understand a little bit some of the stuff I went through."

STRESS
In more than three-fourths of the incidents, the attackers had difficulty coping with a major change in a significant relationship or loss of status, such as a lost love or a humiliating failure.
Woodham: "I actually had somebody I loved and somebody that loved me for the first time in my life, the only time in my life. And then she just, all of a sudden one day she broke up with me and I was devastated, I was going to kill myself."

TARGETS
These weren't rampage killers. Many of the killers made lists of targets, even testing different permutations of the order of the killing. Students, principals and teachers--all could be targets. In about half the cases, someone in addition to the target was attacked. In half the incidents, the actions appeared designed to maximize the number of victims.
Scott Pennington says he did not dislike his English teacher, Deanna McDavid, whom he killed in 1993 in Grayson, Ky. His writings had concerned her; she shared her concern with the school board, which told her it was his family's responsibility to get him help.

VIOLENCE
 Most were not bullies, were not frequently in fights, were not victims of violence, had not harmed animals. Six in 10 showed interest in violent themes in media, games, or, more frequently, their own writings. Scott Pennington says he read Stephen King's Rage, about a school murder, after his killing, not before as has been reported.

WEAPONS
 Getting weapons was easy. Most of the attackers were able to take guns from their homes or friends, buy them (legally or illegally), or steal them. Some received them as gifts from parents. More than half had a history of gun use, although most did not have a "fascination" with weapons.
"F--- you Brady," Eric Harris wrote in his journal about the Brady gun law. "All I want is a couple of guns and thanks to your f------ bill I will probably not get any!
Come on, I'll have a clean record and I only want them for personal protection. It's not like I'm some psycho who would go on a shooting spree."

POLICE
Most incidents were brief. Almost two-thirds of the attacks were resolved before police arrived. The attacker was stopped by a student or staff member, decided to stop on his own, or killed himself. SWAT teams would not have helped. In only three cases did police discharge their weapons.

Q. Would metal detectors have stopped you?
A. Luke Woodham: "I wouldn't have cared. What's it going to do? I ran in there holding the gun out. I mean, people saw it. It wasn't like I was hiding it. I guess it could stop some things. But by the time somebody's already gotten into the school with a gun, it's usually gonna be just about too late."

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

Tips on listening to boys

BY BILL DEDMAN
Chicago Sun-Times

William S. Pollack has practiced listening to boys. He is the author of the best-selling books Real Boys and Real Boys' Voices, and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. Pollack is a consultant to the Secret Service on its study of school shootings.

"Obviously, school shooters are the tip of an iceberg. That's the bad news."

"The good news is that when you can get boys to open up and talk to you, boys yearn to talk. What comes from the Secret Service results and my research is that we shouldn't be looking at all boys as criminals, yet we should be looking at boys in general as more disconnected than we thought. They want to know: `Why can't you hear our pain?"

His tips for listening:

• Honor a boy's need for "timed silence," to choose when to talk.
• Find a safe place, a "shame-free zone."
• Connect through activity or play. Many boys express their deepest experience through "action talk."
• Avoid teasing and shaming.
• Make brief statements and wait; do not lecture.
• Share your own experiences (if relevant). It lets your boy know he is not alone with issues.
• Be quiet and really listen with complete attention.
• Convey how much you admire and care about and love the boy.
• Give boys regular, undivided attention and listening space.
• Don't prematurely push him to be "independent."
• Encourage the expression of a full and wide range of emotions.
• Let him know that real men do cry and speak.
• Express your love as openly as you might with a girl.
• When you see aggressive or angry behavior, look for the pain behind it.

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