US researcher: Young shooters tend to research role models
US researcher: Young shooters tend to research role models
Colleen Barry, Associated Press
Updated 3:27 am, Sunday, July 24, 2016
MILAN (AP) — The U.S. psychologist who wrote a book about school shootings that investigators found in the Munich gunman's room says researching other mass killers can be a warning sign since young gunmen often are looking for role models — but it's just one of many possible indicators.
Peter Langman, author of two books about school shootings, told The Associated Press by telephone from Allentown, Pennsylvania on Saturday, that juvenile killers "more frequently study other shooters."
Police in Munich said the 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman had a German translation of Langman's 2010 book "Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters," along with materials relating to a 2009 school shooting in Germany and the bomb-and-gun attacks in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people five years ago Friday.
"Younger shooters in particular, meaning adolescents into their 20s, often research other shooters and find a role model. That is not something you see with the older shooters," Langman said.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/US-researcher-Young-shooters-tend-to-research-8405418.php