"What causes school shootings? I'm not sure, but I think it's a switch in the perps noggin that just "flips" on or off by some stray neuron firing." One thing is for certain, and is readily observable if one studies the last decade's worth of these incidents -- when one incident happens, others quickly follow.
The reason for this is plain: The media plasters stories of the initial event all over the front page and TV screen for days on end, thereby pushing any borderline "fence sitters" over the edge. Whether intentional or not, this effect is seen in almost every instance.
So in a sense, the media itself, in making such a spectacle of tragedy, sets the stage for the next bloodbath.
As my brother (A sociology major) said years ago, "the media keeps the crazies thinking about it".
Joe, You are absolutely correct. The press needs to police itself.
Unfortunately we live in a place where the press has some freedom too.
To prevent (or reduce the number of) these occurances, we need to let the perp know while he's still alive that there will be consequences even after he wacks himself.
Right now as we type there are a number of these sickos just waiting to pull a trigger because of the energy surrounding yesterday's event....the pressure....the World wanting to stop him from doing what he convinced himself that he MUST do many years ago....a critical mass of people are building up to stop him. They KNOW about him. He views them as evil people wanting to put leg irons on him and stop him. This is not an option. He must act but needs to act quickly.
This kind of sicko is very different than the Perp that would off is own children then himself.
Who knows. I would say that the deranged, criminal mind is very freaky.