A Florida elementary school was locked down after two people shot at each other, MSNBC reports.  The more interesting thing, though, is that MSNBC summarizes 10 “myths” about school shooters, based on a 2002 study.

I have to recommend the study itself instead of the news summary, though. Long as it is, it makes the findings a lot clearer. My first reaction to the news piece was that the researchers must not have controlled for gang violence — maybe participants in inner city drug shootouts rounded out the demographics of the ostracized suburban kids — but in fact the study limited itself to “targeted” attacks.

A few interesting tidbits from the report, analyzing 37 attacks between 1974 and 2000:

–44 percent of the attackers came from two-parent families. 21 percent lived with one parent or divided time between two.
–However, the study says nothing about stay-at-home parenting, or even the hours said parents were home.
–76 percent of shooters were white, and nearly all were male.
–The researchers insist there’s no accurate “profile” of a shooter, but most of the kids did something that worried people ahead of time. Most attackers also “had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.” Three-quarters felt bullied. Sounds like a profile to me.
–68 percent acquired guns at home or from relatives. (I’ve argued before that guns are great but should be kept from kids. When there are indications your son is unstable, like, say, he tries to kill himself, it’s not a bad idea to get rid of the guns entirely.)
–More than half the time selected targets are administrators, not students.
–It’s common knowledge that suicidal people can have mood shifts as the attempt approaches, but school shooters actually demonstrate no change before the attack.
–Though depression and suicide attempts are common among school shooters, most never see a mental health professional.
–59 percent were interested in violence in media or their own writings.
–Most had no history of delinquency, but most also showed warning signs.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.