School shooters: Who are they, and why do they kill?

School shooters tend to be students or former students who use semi-automatic guns they take from their homes, according to the commission investigating the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. But predicting who will kill is difficult.

The commission’s draft report, released Wednesday, listed these facts about “active assailants” over the past 20 years, in cases where more than one person in a school was targeted.

A new breed

Prior to 1998, targeted attacks such as at Stoneman Douglas were rare. Between 1927 and 1997, most of the attacks were by strangers, but it has since shifted to “insiders” — students or former students.

Familiar faces

Between 1998 and 2018, 48 individuals committed 46 attacks. Thirty-three of the attackers were students, 10 were former students and five were strangers.

Elementary school strangers

All middle school attacks and all but one high school attack were by insiders. Only at the elementary school level were they mostly strangers.

Staff in the crosshairs

School personnel were most frequently involved in stopping attacks — not law enforcement or school resource officers. School administrators, teachers or staff were sometimes among the first individuals killed when they tried to stop the attack.

Killer kids

Thirty-four of the attackers were 14 through 19 years-old. Six were 13 years old or less, and six were 32 to 56 years old.

Predicting who’ll kill

The Secret Service, the FBI and other researchers say there is no effective way to profile an attacker to predict a future incident.

Rapid fire

Semi-automatic pistols, semi-automatic rifles and shotguns made up the majority of weapons. Semi-automatic pistols were the most frequently used. In some cases, explosive devices were used along with weapons. In two cases, easily concealed “edged weapons” were used.

Weapons from home

Fifty percent of the weapons were stolen from parents or relatives.

Someone knew

In four out of five incidents, at least one person had some knowledge about the attackers’ plan. In more than half of the cases, at least two people were aware.

Mentally ill?

Mental and behavioral health issues were difficult to precisely identify. However, in some cases, including Stoneman Douglas, mental and behavioral health issues existed. Source: Stoneman Douglas commission, U.S. Secret Service, FBI