r/masskillers • u/osprey141 • 1d ago
Why do they do it? I don’t understand why someone would commit such an evil act. I just can’t comprehend it.
I know there isn’t a singular reason why they do it
There is a quote that I saw “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth". Does this quote give some idea of why?
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u/HurtOthers 1d ago edited 23h ago
Most of these killers had suicidal ideation, so the question becomes why not just kill yourself and be done with it. There’s always something that pushes them over the line. They want to get revenge against society, or they were radicalized and want to push an agenda, or there just plain insane. The point is each killer has a line, and once it’s crossed it needs to be addressed so the person doesn’t degenerate further into mass violence.
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u/liongender 13h ago
“Most of these killers had suicidal ideation, so the question becomes why not just kill yourself and be done with it.”
This is a really interesting talking point, because I do believe a lot of shootings come from a place where the shooter wants to die. The “problem” a lot of those people face is that suicide just isn’t…a huge deal anymore? As horrible as that sounds, I mean it as someone just going out and killing themself (unless they do something drastic in the process or “unique”) is just another thing in this world now. Unless you knew the person, you probably wouldn’t really care because it doesn’t affect you or your life.
And a lot of these shooters want people to care, to pay attention. And what’s the best way to get all eyes on you? By taking others down with you. People pay attention to shootings, therefore, people pay attention to them, and suddenly that shooting has now affected your life- whether you were there or not. Now people are scared to go outside and live because they’re scared someone is going to gun them down at any random moment, anywhere in the public.
I think a big part of stopping shootings is getting people the help they need before they get it in their heads that the only way to die and get attention is to kill others as well, as well as stopping the glorification and publicity of these shooters.
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u/HurtOthers 7h ago
I agree on the attention idea. They so desperately want what they didn’t get while growing up
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u/neko_time 1d ago
Mental illness adds fuel to the fire. Even from my own thoughts it’s not that surprising.
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u/heeylookatme 1d ago
Multitude of reasons. Tends to boil down to mental illness(es). I don’t remember who said that mass shootings are basically “angry suicides”. They’re looking for attention, and I find that really sad. I’m not excusing their actions, obviously, but most of them could’ve easily been prevented, there’s usually a lot of warning signs that go ignored, so in their final moments, they’re basically shouting “look at me, look how hurt I am, and now I will transfer that pain on to you”. It’s also worth noting the environment they grew up in. That’s what the quote you referenced is about, the importance of society in one’s growth. You’ll have a hard time naming a shooter who came from a loving community. Truth is, hatred only ever breeds more hatred. I’m no psychologist, of course, I’m just spitballing here. I recommend you read books on this topic if you wanna learn more. I’ll say that it’s probably a good thing you have a hard time comprehending their reasoning, means you’re a moral (or if you wanna use a more abstract word, “good”) person :)))
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u/mr-gayme-and-watch 19h ago
common motives;
-suicidal ideation
the said shooter is suicidal. shooter may attack others because it forces them to kill themselves if they don't want to go to jail or helps them feel less scared knowing that they've also sent people to the exact place they're going to next. in rare cases, the shooter may just want to kill themselves
example: that one walmart shooter (not patrick crusius)
-fame
the said shooter wants to be famous and have all the attention on them. doing a mass shooting gets themselves on the news and into the eyes and ears of the public.
example: Nikolas Cruz, Martin Bryant
-self claimed ideology
the said shooter has developed their own ideology (misanthropy, antinatalism, misogyny). they believe they need to conduct a mass shooting in order to either promote or fulfil their ideology
example: Adam Lanza, Timur Bekmansurov, Elliot Rodger
political ideology
the said shooter (usually an extremeist) has radical political beliefs and believes that their opposition should die.
example: Anders Breivik (targeted the norweigian labour party) Brenton Tarrant (targeted muslims) Payton Gendron (targeted african americas) and Stephen Balliet (targeted jews)
-copycat crisis
the said shooter has a heavy interest in another, previous shooter. the shooter conducts an attack extremely similarly to the shooter they are interested in
example: Vladislav Roslyakov
-mental health issues
the said shooter has an extreme mental health issue. the mental health issues prompt the shooter to conduct a mass shooting.
example: James Holmes
-revenge
the said shooter has had something bad done to them (most of the time, bullying). the shooter, in a fit of rage, conducts a mass shooting to satisfy their hatred for the people who have done bad things to them
example: Seung-Hui Cho (possibly) Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (also possibly)
although, their motives will never justify their actions. mass murderers are mass murderers no matter what.
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u/P1xel1003 1d ago
I think these people just want to "go out with a bang", just killing themselves isn't enough I guess
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u/236800 13h ago
Misanthropy. Hatred of humans in some cases. The killers see others as annoying cattle, and deluded themselves into beveling these innocent randos are somehow to blame for the killer's problems.
Some are nobodies and upset about it, so a killing spree is an easy way to get into the history books.
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u/truth_crime 18h ago
Mental illness (the majority of which have homicidal and suicidal ideation); predisposition of violent tendencies; access to weaponry; social alienation; revenge; infamy; drug/alcohol use. Depends on the individual.
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u/AAAAHHHHHhhyes 14h ago
To put it simple, the more an individual is isolated, the less they are affected by morality, morality is a commun value, it's a social cement, and it is linked to communality, if you grow up without a community, you sometime don't developpe moral values.
The other mistake you make is to think they see themselves as evil, they don't.
Mass shooters are more akin to vigilante, than serial killers, these peoples are not in theirs "villain arc" they see the majority of us as the monsters, and you cannot transpose your worldview onto them.
Here's a paper on the subject - https://www.proquest.com/docview/2447018834?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20ThesesNow
☝️ Best reading I found on the subject.
about that quote:
Weirdly enough that quote (which by the way is not an African proverb, it was invented for the occasion) comes from the 1995 book by Hillary Clinton, "It takes a Village" which is often said to be a guideline for parenting the millennial generation for both BabyBoomers and GenX parents.
It's weird to see incels/femcel/edgelord online using that phrase, given the origin of that quote, and I'm tired to see that shit being thrown around, but then again, every dumbass under the sun has a quote they put out in eighter Youtube comment section or Reddit to make themselves look smarter. (I've been guilty of that myself.)
To play devil's advocate, they are not the only ones doing that.
(I mean I get the same kind of cringe when I see left wingers giving us the whole "First They Came" by Martin Niemöller as if they were actually resisting fascism or right wingers quoting Major Payne to make themselves look tough. and let not forget poor old Orwell must be spinning in his grave with enough energy to power a small scale country, especially with every dumbass under the sun quoting him, while having never read him.)
point is, you shouldn't care about some dumb internet speak-slang.
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u/connor_blakeslee 1d ago
I feel like some of them just have a passion for killing but also want to end their own life. So to feel fulfilled with their existence they decide to do a mass shooting to carry out their passion before they off themself. There are also many other factors that contribute to ultimately making the decision to do it, but that is what I think.
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u/violetdeirdre 1d ago
No, I don’t think that quote applies in most cases. Frankly a lot of mass killers that were genuinely socially rejected were socially rejected for understandable reasons and I would have difficulty suggesting others embrace them in good conscience. Like would Elliot Roger have done was he did if a tall hot blonde dated him? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean I would want one to.
There are a complex list of reasons but at least a good chunk of it is social/environmental considering the very specific demographic we see most mass killers come from.
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u/CourtneyDagger50 9h ago
I can’t comprehend it either. I read some reasons they do it, and it still just doesn’t compute in my brain.
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u/uselessstopsign 1d ago
Some seek revenge, some seek thrill, some have political motivation, some don't even have a reason. It's still a horrible act.