Warning Signs: Identifying School Shooters Before They Strike

By Peter Langman

How do we prevent the next school shooting? By knowing the warning signs.

Dr. Langman's timely book presents practical, research-based guidance on anticipating and preventing mass attacks. Warning Signs is for all members of a school community, including school personnel, mental health professionals, l

• Language: English
• Publisher: Langman Psychological Associates, LLC
• Release date: Jul 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578923000

Peter Langman

Dr. Peter Langman is the Director of Research and School Safety Training at Drift Net, LLC, and a researcher with the National Threat Assessment Center of the U.S. Secret Service.

Book preview

Praise for WARNING SIGNS

"No one has devoted more time and energy to understanding school shooters, and how to stop them, than Dr. Peter Langman. With this deeply researched book, he offers readers indispensable insights into campus gunmen, debunking misleading stereotypes, outlining warning signs, and explaining in vivid detail what motivates a person to open fire on a campus. Warning Signs: Identifying School Shooters Before They Strike delivers on its title’s promise, providing a uniquely informative look into one of America’s most disturbing and persistent crises."

— JOHN WOODROW COX, Pulitzer Prize finalist; author of Children Under Fire: An American Crisis

"Warning Signs is a game-changer for educators, school staff, and community members who seek a better understanding of their role in preventing school violence. Langman shatters age-old stereotypes and misconceptions about school shooters. His exhaustive research and detailed accounts of real-world warning signs — both missed and heeded — illustrate the responsibility and the power that each and every community member has to prevent violence and save lives."

— MICHELE GAY, Co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools; mother of Josephine Grace, killed at Sandy Hook

"Peter Langman provides a compelling call to action against school violence. He reminds us that we are all on duty and must pay careful attention to the potential warning signs that can lead to such horrific events. Warning Signs is essential reading for school safety professionals."

— MO CANADY, Executive Director, National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO)

"Documenting the motivations of these attackers and the missed warning signs, Dr. Langman’s book is like a compass for navigating the complexities of preventing the next school attack. The lessons contained in this book are a substantial contribution toward improving the safety of our nation’s schools. I wish these lessons had been learned in time to save my daughter Alaina."

— RYAN PETTY, Commissioner, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission; Founder, WalkUp Foundation; Member, Florida Board of Education

"This book is a valuable tool for understanding how to identify individuals at risk for targeted school violence. Dr. Langman balances the importance of not overreacting with the importance of understanding indicators of violence and warning signs for what they are. He then offers guidance on reporting concerns to well-trained threat assessment teams to help mitigate risk and increase school safety. A great read for anyone working in schools and those serving on threat assessment teams!"

— MELISSA A. REEVES, PH.D., Past President, National Association of School Psychologists; author of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management for K–12 Schools

"Dr. Langman provides critical information regarding the persons who attack schools. Through in-depth case studies he shares insights into the lives and experiences of the persons who engage in these horrific events. Dr. Langman’s comprehensive analysis of school shooters provides the information we need to prevent future school attacks."

— FRANK STRAUB, PH.D., Director, National Police Foundation’s Averted School Violence Project

"Dr. Langman shreds common, pervasive, and potentially deadly myths while providing carefully researched, well articulated, practical, and actionable information for those responsible for protecting our nation’s schools. A must-read for the school violence prevention stakeholder, Warning Signs is a valuable contribution to the field of school safety that can and will help prevent future tragedies."

— MICHAEL DORN, Executive Director, Safe Havens International; co-author of Extreme Violence: Understanding and Protecting People from Hate Crimes, Active Assailants, and Terrorist Attacks

"One of the most powerful attributes of Langman’s Warning Signs is the research-informed explanation of how to identify and prevent school shootings. A nationally renowned expert in the field of threat assessment, Langman brings a wealth of practical experience and insight to assist police, educators, counselors, and school administrators to engage those at risk for escalating their behavior to a mass shooting."

— BRIAN VAN BRUNT, ED.D., author of Harm to Others: The Assessment and Treatment of Dangerousness and Ending Campus Violence: New Approaches to Prevention

"If you want to understand the mindset and motivation of students who attacked their school, there is no better resource than this book. Peter Langman’s careful, detailed analysis of numerous cases makes clear the painful feelings and distorted reasoning that transport so many adolescents down a pathway to mass homicide. Most importantly, he also outlines how behavioral threat assessment and intervention can prevent more shootings."

— DEWEY CORNELL, PH.D., author of Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines: Intervention and Support to Prevent Violence

"Peter Langman may have more experience studying the details of school shooters’ lives than any scholar or security official working today. Every time I read Langman’s work, I learn something new about what a school shooter was thinking, writing, or saying before he attacked. By identifying patterns in their pre-attack behavior, we can increase our ability to avert these tragedies and save many innocent lives."

— ADAM LANKFORD, PH.D., author of The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers

"The reality of this book and the stories of these terrible tragedies is that they were all preventable. It is essential that everyone with a role in legislation and decision-making have an understanding of the actual incidents, the opportunities missed, the lessons learned, and why we should focus on the foundation of best-practice, research-based solutions. This is a must-read for anyone responsible for building safer schools, safer students, and safer staff."

— SUSAN PAYNE, Founder of Safe2Tell; Research Associate, The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Colorado University

"In his book Warning Signs, Dr. Peter Langman shares his vast knowledge of this difficult subject. Readers must realize that the lives of teachers and students could be at risk on any given day — a lesson my family learned on Valentine’s Day of 2018 in Parkland, Florida, when a shooting at the high school took the life of my beloved daughter Gina Rose Montalto, thirteen of her schoolmates, and three staff members. This book helps the reader recognize concerning behavior, be prepared to report it, and be part of the school safety team in their community. As Dr. Langman reminds us, when it come to school safety, we’re all on duty."

— TONY MONTALTO, President, Stand with Parkland, the National Association of Families for Safe Schools

ALSO BY PETER LANGMAN, PH.D.

School Shooters: Understanding High School, College, and Adult Perpetrators

Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters

LANGMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATES, LLC

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Copyright © 2021 by Peter Langman

All rights reserved. Published 2021.

Printed in the United States of America

First edition, second printing (January 2022)

25 24 23 222 3 4 5

ISBN (paper): 978-0-578-92299-7

ISBN: 978-0-5789230-0-0 (e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021910975

www.schoolshooters.info

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

Designed and typeset by Joshua Langman

JL Typographic Design

This book is set in Sabon, designed by Jan Tschichold in 1967, and Aspen, designed by Ludwig Übele in 2016.

To my remarkable friends

whose children did not come home,

and whose courage, strength, and dedication

are leading us toward a safer future

Contents

About This Book

This book is a practical guide to recognizing warning signs that someone may be planning a school massacre. It was written to educate school personnel, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, parents, students, and anyone else who wants to catch school shooters before they strike. The book is relevant for people who work in K–12 schools, as well as those in higher education.

The book draws on dozens of examples from school attacks from over fifty years. It also examines why people — youths and adults alike — often do not report warning signs they encounter. Obviously, little is gained by teaching people how to recognize signs of impending violence if they will not take action.

Apart from explicit warning signs, the book presents common themes in the writings of school shooters that can serve as further evidence of potential risk. There is also a chapter devoted to homework assignments by school shooters, demonstrating that schoolwork can reveal potential red flags that should trigger a threat assessment.

If you are not familiar with the concept of threat assessment, simply put, it means investigating a safety concern to determine if it poses any danger. A short overview of threat assessment is provided in the final chapter, and Appendix A lists threat assessment and school safety resources.

It is important to note, however, that this book is not a guide on how to set up and run a threat assessment team. That is a complex matter, and is addressed by other published works. If your school has a threat assessment system in place, this book will provide in-depth guidance for the members of your team. If your school does not have a threat assessment system in place, this book will show you what to look for to prevent school attacks. But by all means, establish a threat assessment team to be as prepared as possible.

Though I generally refer to school shootings, not all attacks have been carried out with firearms. In addition, though the book is focused on violence in educational settings, the warning signs presented here are relevant for preventing other kinds of mass attacks. Several examples are included.

Because this is not an academic text, I have sought to keep the citation of sources to a minimum. I note sources for quotations, but not for basic facts about perpetrators. When the same passage appears in more than one place, I only provide a source the first time the quotation is used. When quoting perpetrators, I sometimes make a few edits to correct spelling, punctuation, or other minor matters for ease of reading.

If you would like to read more about a specific perpetrator, I have written about many of the attackers discussed in this book in previous books or articles. The articles can be found on my website, along with hundreds of other documents relating to school shooters and other mass killers. Please see www.schoolshooters.info.

Because the overwhelming majority of school shooters are male, I typically use male pronouns when discussing hypothetical people. Nonetheless, I do cite female perpetrators in the text, and occasionally use female pronouns to remind the reader to attend to warning signs regardless of the person’s gender.

Disclaimer

There is no guaranteed way to predict or prevent violence. The information presented in this book is drawn from years of research and is meant to inform and guide people in recognizing warning signs and taking appropriate action. The author does not guarantee any results based upon the recommendations or instructions provided in this book.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the following individuals and organizations: Lina Alathari, Ph.D., Chief, U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC); Dewey G. Cornell, Ph.D., Professor of Education, University of Virginia; Michael Dorn, Executive Director, Safe Havens International; Steven Driscoll, Supervisory Research Specialist, U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC); Aysha Lonich, M.Ed., BCBA, Behavioral Threat Consultant, University of Iowa; Melissa A. Reeves, Ph.D., NCSP, LCMHC, Associate Professor, Winthrop University; Deputy Chief Todd W. Repsher (Ret.); Joseph Roy, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Bethlehem Area School District; Drift Net Securities.

On a personal note, I acknowledge my gratitude to Sharon Holiner for providing feedback on the manuscript; to my daughter, Anna Langman, for reading and editing early drafts; to my son, Joshua Langman, for years of tireless work on our website, as well as for reading, editing, and designing the book; and to my wife, Madeleine Langman, Ph.D., for once again being the best editor I have ever had.

ONE

We’re All on Duty

Kelly’s 5:00 PM shift at a San Jose drugstore began in typical fashion. The eighteen-year-old said hi to a coworker, who told her it had been a boring day. Forty-five minutes later she began processing photographs that a young man had dropped off the previous day. He was scheduled to pick up the prints at 6:05 PM — just twenty minutes later.

Kelly was startled by close-ups of the man’s fierce and angry face, and by image after image of guns, bombs, and bullets.

Frightened, but not sure what to do, she showed the photos to a coworker and her manager. They didn’t know what to do either. Kelly then called her father, who was a police officer. He told her to call 911. When the man showed up at 6:15 p.m., the police were waiting for him. They arrested him and then searched his home, where they found five guns, sixty bombs, and two thousand rounds of ammunition. They also discovered his writings praising the Columbine killers, detailed plans for his own rampage attack, and a note to himself that said, Kill supervisors at Campus Center; Kill all at library; Kill fast.

The date of his planned attack? The next morning.

Safety should be on everyone’s radar. Kelly’s story shows how lives can be saved simply by paying attention and taking action. Without her prompt response, there could have been a massacre. Though this book is primarily geared toward helping professionals prevent school attacks, everyone should be alert for threats of violence. We all know that attacks can occur in churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples; concerts, restaurants, bars, shopping malls, and the workplace; or anywhere we happen to be. It’s a frightening thought. But that is why we all need to know the warning signs of violence and when it’s essential to take action. When it comes to safety, we’re all on duty.

It is important to know that many potential school shootings and other attacks have been thwarted. Time and time again, people have been voices for safety. Because we hear so much about mass shootings, and so little about thwarted attacks, here are a few examples to provide some balance:

In a town in Massachusetts, two brothers and three friends who admired the Columbine killers planned their own attack. A peer told a trusted teacher about their plans. This teacher informed the school resource officer, who in turn contacted the local police department.

In addition, a school custodian found a letter by one of the students that mentioned the planned attack and shared the letter with school administrators. Meanwhile, the conspirators had stockpiled bomb-making materials in a nearby building; the landlord found the explosives and alerted the police. The police obtained a search warrant for the brothers’ home where they discovered photographs of the boys holding guns, instructions on building bombs, and a stash of ammunition. They arrested five students.

On Long Island, New York, a McDonald’s customer found a notebook in the parking lot. Curious, she opened the notebook and was startled to read, I will start a chain of terrorism in the world, and Take everyone down, turn the guns on the cop, take out myself. Perfecto. She turned the notebook in to the local police, who investigated and discovered that two students had made a video about their plans to use an Uzi automatic rifle, an AK-47, and five pounds of explosives in a rampage attack at their high school. They were stopped because someone paid attention to a notebook in a parking lot and took action.

A woman in Washington state called the police to report that her eighteen-year-old grandson was planning a massive attack at his school. She found his journal and was alarmed to read, I need to make this shooting/bombing . . . infamous . . . I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count . . . I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don’t make the same ones. She also found a semi-automatic rifle.

It may have broken her heart to turn her grandson in, but her heart would have been more broken if he had committed mass murder. And if she didn’t stop him, he would end up dead or in prison for life. As hard as it was to pick up the phone, she had to do it. And because she did, her grandson is still alive — and so is everyone at his school.

This is just a handful of cases, but look at the range of people who made a difference: a drugstore clerk, a fast food customer, a grandmother, and a student, a custodian, and a landlord who all spoke up. Though most school shootings are thwarted because students come forward with information, these cases demonstrate that everyone can contribute to keeping communities safe.

Sometimes people who report concerning behavior that has no apparent connection to school violence end up inadvertently thwarting mass attacks. A white woman in New Jersey woke up to a threatening, racist message on her Facebook page attacking her for having biracial children. Assuming the stranger who posted the message lived locally, she called her town’s police department. She was told that they would file a report, but she wasn’t satisfied with their response. Her friends did some sleuthing and learned that the man lived in Kentucky, seven hundred miles away.

At this point, the woman could have let the matter go. She could have assumed that a man she doesn’t know who lives far away posed no threat. She might have decided that she had fulfilled her duty by informing the police.