What makes a man go on a killing spree?

So, the guy was oinvolved in a legal wrangle over a will with his brother, and he shot the lawyer involved and the brother. I think it looks like this may have been the trigger, and then once he flipped, he just went looking for anyone else he thought deserved it, hence the taxi drivers he was arguing with. We dont know really if he knew the other people or whether they were random though.

I think there are just occasions where people flip out and cause damage, thats always going to be the case, and life cant be restricted by trying to account for random chaos events that will happen every now and then.

I live about 8 miles from Dunblane, and its far from an isolated or economically disadvantaged place.

Thanks for that. Happy to be corrected be people who know.

I take the point about speculation.

In realation to the original thread title I was going to say "a woman", but I'm not sure its appropriate as theres some suggestion it may be the case!

he just went looking for anyone else he thought deserved it, hence the taxi drivers he was arguing with.

Was he arguing with them? I thought they were his friends according to the media?

The all ride On-one Inbreds strangely!

C'mon, I don't think the "humour" is appropriate here.

Was he arguing with them? I thought they were his friends according to the media?

I hope this doesn't mean you're not supposed to argue with your friends ?

I hope this doesn't mean you're not supposed to argue with your friends ?

I rarely argue with friends? They're friends because despite different interests in life, they have similar values.

They're friends because despite different interests in life, they have similar values.

I only have friends because I like them, regardless of their ideas. But they have to be good at arguing.

I only have friends because I like them, regardless of their ideas. But they have to be good at arguing.

simon, you probably argue with yourself when there is no one else around. of course your friends have to be good at arguing.

simon, you probably argue with yourself when there is no one else around.

no, that's what I have friends for 🙂 However, my point was that having an argument is hardly justification for mass killing 🙁

from the OP

Whitehaven killer shot dead his mother yesterday…

Is this what may have tipped him over the "edge"?

If I read that right, you think that killing his mother was what pushed him over the edge? What sort of boundries do you have?

The title is interesting "What makes a man go on a killing spree?"

Killing sprees seem to be almost exclusively a man thing, no?

Killing sprees seem to be almost exclusively a man thing, no?

but about 50% of the population is male, so it's not very useful categorisation. Now if it was middle aged singles with job problems and a gun licence…

plus, why does he have to be a looper? it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that he had some sort of organic brain disease.

i might take some flak for this but i think when it comes to reason men are more tuned into it. we are more or less programmed for this from birth

In America a lad went loopy (no previous form etc), climbed a tower and started picking off people with a snipers rifle. Autopsy revealed that he had a undiscovered very large tumour that was causing pressure in his head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman

And for all those with guns in the house:

http://www.gun-control-network.org/GF01.htm

Quite interesting of the link between ownership and suicide – see Switzerland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland

He did not kill his mother – that was confirmed yesterday!

I doubt we will ever get all the answers 🙁

I guess he was a bit miffed at something.

If he didnt have access to guns he'd have used a knife. He was obviously mentally unbalanced.

Owning a gun is one thing. Pulling the trigger on someone takes the same mentally leap as picking up a knife and actively using it.

Sure intimes of war shooting someone is easier and less personal than a knife however thats war- you are an ordinary person asked to make a mental leap for self-survival.

How many times a year do we have gun-massacres from LEGITIMATE gun owners here in the UK? Huh?

you are an ordinary person asked to make a mental leap for self-survival.

or perhaps you are a hapless pawn acting for the benefit of some 3rd party who couldn't care less if you live or die ?

I think killing 12 people from a car would be a bit tricky with a knife unless he was a very, very good thrower…

r perhaps you are a hapless pawn acting for the benefit of some 3rd party who couldn't care less if you live or die ?

Ah yes Afghanistan and Iraq.

There was a very interesting professor of some thing or other on Radio 4 last night. He was saying that people who go on killing sprees tend to fit one psychological profile and are always nearly men.

He was saying that basically the are quiet, unassuming men who at some point in their past have had their male sexual masculinity repressed, either through abuse, past partners or lack of. Basically over the years they feel more and more inadequate to a stage where they can’t take it any more and some thing for want of a better word makes them flip.

The end result is that they can not carry on with life, but the killing spree is all part of the suicide process in proving their masculinity to themselves before taking their own life.

All very interesting from a psychology point of view, but very sad for every one involved.

People don’t just go around killing people for the sake of it, its unfortunately some deeply seated psychological problem.

I had heard that he had an altrication with the taxi drivers the previous evening

He was saying that basically the are quiet, unassuming men who at some point in their past have had their male sexual masculinity repressed, either through abuse, past partners or lack of. Basically over the years they feel more and more inadequate

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You have just described the stereo-typical STW'er Funkydunc.

An altrication?!

Is that like an altercation but from someone living in Altringham?

Dunblane is really quite posh and definately not in the deprived category.

Gramartime!

have been reading a book on the Hungerford massacre in 1987.

the end has this bit

For contrary to popular opinion, there is little evidence of insanity among the majority of mass killers. In a forty-two-case sample study by the American criminologists Levin and Fox, only around one in five killers attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. And of those who did, less than half would manage to convince a jury.

In their authoritative report Professors Levin and Fox went on to present a ‘composite profile’ of the multiple-victim killer. They came to the conclusion that the great majority of such killers were not insane; that, in layman’s terms, they were bad rather than mad: ‘He is typically a white male in his late twenties or thirties. In the case of simultaneous mass murder, he kills people he knows with a handgun or rifle; in serial crimes, he murders strangers by beating or strangulation. The specific motivation depends on the circumstances leading up to the crime, but it generally deals directly with either money, expediency, jealousy, or lust … Finally, though the mass killer often may appear cold and show no remorse, and even deny responsibility for his crime, serious mental illness or psychosis is rarely present.’

The two academics were also able to identify a number of factors which, they believe, are consistent with almost every case history of an indiscriminate killer. First of all, they argue, there has been a life filled with frustration. Secondly, there has been a precipitating event, such as unemployment or divorce. Then there is access to and training in the use of firearms. And finally there has been a breakdown of what is referred to as ‘social controls’, such as occurs when a person moves to a new town or an important relationship breaks up.
Link

So far all we know is the guy was an ordinary Joe Public who was a bit upset about a will that wasnt going his way. His solicitor (One of the murders)had given him some news he probably didnt want to hear.. He was single but had family etc (His brother was one of the guys killed – they dont know when he was killed as he was still in his home).

What does all of the above actually mean – Absolutely nothing.

Why do we try to understand everything. This type of incident happens every so often. In the grand scheme of things an incident like this averaged out probably only accounts for 2-3 deaths per year. There is no blame on gun culture as the guy had been in control of guns for 20yrs. He was a responsible owner of guns. If he hadnt had the guns he could as easily parked up outside a busy schoolyard at playtime and floored the accelorator. Or maybe through a few petrol bombs into a few classrooms.

I am thankfull that the guy shot himself because it saves us from the media circus of a trial and the end result is what I would want. Lets just give cumbria our best wishes (I am in cumbria), make sure all the people involved get the correct support and leave it at that.

You cannot attempt to understand something like this. By understanding it you normalise it. Imagine if we come to a conclusion that this guy flipped because he was under a particular level of stress. Does that mean that we then start worrying about everyone (And it would be 50% of the stw collective based on all the stress threads)that is remotely under stress

Dunno about men, but with teenage girls it can be as little as not liking mondays…

Quite an interesting book on Dunblane, and also how 'shooters' took the rap when in fact the guy really shouldn't have had a gun in the first place…

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dunblane-Unburied-Sandra-Uttley/dp/1905553056

Stephen "Call Me The Crossbow Cannibal" Griffiths, must be well and truly gutted that he has been knocked off the headlines by another killer.

It must be devastating to find that, just when you think your moment of fame and notoriety has finally come, and you have the full glare of the media on you, that suddenly, you've been upstaged by another killer.

And the Crossbow Cannibal seemed so ready and willing to impress and horrify us all,
with his evilness………..****.