School shootings scare everyone, even those not immediately affected. They make national and international news. They make parents afraid to send their children off to school. But they also lead to generalizations about those who perpetrate them. Most assumptions about the perpetrators are wrong, and many of the warning signs are missed until it's too late. Here, Peter Langman takes a look at 48 national and international cases of school shootings in order to dispel the myths, explore the motives, and expose the many factors that drive people to rampage attacks. Finally, he addresses violence prevention and the importance of identifying at-risk individuals before it is too late. - Jacket flap. Examines forty-eight national and international cases of school shootings to dispel the myths, explore the motives, and expose the many factors that drive people to rampage attacks.

Laying the foundation -- Psychopathic secondary school shooters -- Psychotic secondary school shooters -- Traumatized secondary school shooters -- College shooters : targeted attacks -- College shooters : random and ambiguous attacks -- Aberrant adult shooters -- Patterns among school shooters -- Preventing school shootings : threat assessment and warning signs -- Key findings.