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Although there is no profile for group-based terrorists, Sophia Moskalenko and I have suggested that profiling may be useful for lone-wolf terrorists. We suggested two possible lone-wolf profiles: disconnected-disordered and caring-compelled.
In previous blogs I have applied these profiles to several cases of lone-wolf terrorism. Here I want to point out that the disconnected-disordered profile, originally drawn from study of lone-actor assassins and school attackers, fits perfectly the case of Christopher Harper-Mercer, who killed nine people in the writing class in which he was enrolled at Umpqua Community College.
In this post, all quotations are from the Saturday 3 October New York Times.
Was he disconnected--a loner? His parents divorced when he was 16, he lived with his mother, he had no job. "Christopher Harper-Mercer was withdrawn and quiet as he grew up in southern California, spending most of his time indoors in his mother's apartment and deflecting neighbors when they asked him how he was doing.." "’He didn't have a girlfriend and he was upset about that,’ said a senior law enforcement official.."
Did he have mental problems, especially depression? "He was listed as a 2009 graduate of the Switzer Learning Center in Torrance, a private school for students with learning disabilities, emotional issues, and other special-education needs." Seeking signatures on a petition to the landlord, his mother told a neighbor "My son is dealing with some mental issues.." "..investigators found a typed statement..describing his life like a deck of cards stacked against him." "He comes across thinking of himself as a loser. He did not like his lot in life, and it seemed like nothing was going right for him.”
Did he have experience with weapons outside the military? “Mr. Harper-Mercer joined the Army for a month in 2008 but was discharged before finishing basic training.” “The gunman brought five handguns and a rifle to the college..” “In all he had owned 14 firearms.. " Although generally a man of few words, neighbors report he could talk for hours about firearms and hunting. Indeed it appears he was not just experienced with firearms but fascinated by them.
Did he have a grievance? “..an angry, isolated young man whose rage was fueled by animus toward religion and resentment at how his life was unfolding.” It is not clear yet why he hated religion, but he said he killed because his targets were Christian. “’Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them. … ‘And if you’re a Christian stand up.’ And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you’re going to see God in about one second.’ And then he shot and killed them...”
It is perhaps not surprising that the disconnected-disordered profile, which was drawn in part from study of school attackers, describes the most recent school attacker. But whether the profile is useful for prediction remains unknown. W don’t know how many individuals who fit the profile will never turn to violence. We might surmise however, that we should pay attention when an individual who fits the profile begins admiring previous lone killers. “On a blog post linked to Mr. Harper-Mercer’s email address, an Aug.31 entry expresses sympathy for Vester Lee Flanagan II, a dismissed television reporter who killed two former colleagues during a live broadcast in Roanoke, Va.: ‘I have noticed that people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are…Seems the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight.’”
BOTTOM LINE: parents, teachers, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and law enforcement officers might all keep an eye open for individuals who fit the disconnected-disordered profile, especially if one of these individuals shows increasing anger and increasing fascination with lone killers in the news.
Reference:
McCauley, C., & Moskalenko, S. (2014). Toward a profile of lone wolf terrorists: What moves an individual from radical opinion to radical action? Terrorism and Political Violence, 26(1), 69-85. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/t2UcqPg8gZPwUwbuwaET/full
