Two students executed their plan to slaughter people at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, eventually killing 15 and injuring 24 more before killing themselves.
The media rushed to cover this unprecedented event and find out why Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold committed the shooting.
Initial evidence suggested the pair were bullied at school and planned to exact revenge by killing their bullies. The same reason was given for Nikolas Cru, who allegedly killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.
Although the FBI found this was not the case in Columbine, many point to bullying being a primary motivation behind mass shootings.
University of Memphis psychology professor Megan McDevitt-Murphy said acts of aggression are more indicative of mass-shooter-like behavior.
“In each case of these mass shooters, there has been some warning signs — some past incidences of violence,” McDevitt-Murphy said. “In the case of the Florida shooter, the police had been notified numerous times that he was a concern because of violence and weapons.”
McDevitt-Murphy said she sees no clear correlation between bullying victims and mass shootings.
“There’s a profile where these shooters may have been socially isolated,” McDevitt-Murphy said. “So perhaps they were bullied, but I think there’s a lot more going on that contributes to someone who becomes a mass shooter than bullying. What’s most important to hone in on are past acts of violence or aggression.”
In a New York Times opinion article, Isabelle Robinson, a student at Stoneman Douglas High School during the Valentine’s Day shooting, said she tried to befriend Cruz.
He acted out of violence by throwing an apple at Robinson “knock(ing) the wind out of (her) 90-pound body.”
Deborah Hall, professor at Arizona State University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, said she thinks bullying may not have the same motivators as school shootings.
“The kind of aggressive, deeply antisocial and violent behavior that occurs in the context of school shootings is distinct from acts of bullying,” Hall said. “Bullying is harmful or aggressive behavior that tends to be repeated over time and often occurs in the context of a power or status difference between a bully and victim. Someone who ultimately decides to harm classmates through acts of extreme violence is probably not doing so for the same reasons that someone might choose to (repeatedly) bully someone who is in a lower position of power.”
Hall said being the victim of bullying might contribute to extreme actions like shootings, but there are usually other reasons.
“Being the victim of severe and ongoing instances of bullying — whether it is in face-to-face school environments or online — might increase the likelihood that someone who, due to a number of other factors, might be considering an act of large-scale violence, actually carries out the behavior,” Hall said.
Out of all shooters who target specific victims, every one out of 48 targeted someone who bullied them, according to data collected by schoolshooters.info.
“As a social psychologist, I study systematic ways in which people’s social environment shapes behavior, and so a key factor that can contribute to bullying in schools that stands out for me is the extent to which students feel accepted by their peers,” Hall said. “In some but certainly not all cases, a motive to engage in violent behavior directed towards classmates may stem from or be strengthened by feelings of rejection and isolation.”
Data between bullying and mass shooters also shows an over representation of black Americans in bullying statistics but an over representation of white Americans in mass shooting statistics.
According to Mother Jones, white Americans make up almost 58 percent of mass shooters in the United States. Black Americans are bullied the most at 25 percent, according to the National Bullying Prevention Center, but they only make up only 16.5 percent of mass shooters.
LGBTQ students report the highest bullying rate with 74.1 percent being verbally bullied and 36.2 percent being physically bullied. The Daily Helmsman could not find any report of an LGBTQ school shooter.
