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College Killers
COLLEGE KILLERS
School Shootings in North America and Europe
Contents
Introduction
NORTH AMERICA : Pontiac’s Rebellion School Massacre; Bath School Disaster; University of Texas Tower Shootings; Ecole Polytechnique Massacre; Jonesboro Massacre; Thurston High School Massacre; Columbine High School Massacre; Red Lake Massacre; Amish School Shooting; The Virginia Tech Massacre
EUROPE : Cologne School Massacre; Dunblane School Shootings; Erfurt Massacre; Winnenden School Shooting
TERRORISM : Ma’a lot Massacre; Beslan School Hostage Crisis; Toulouse Shootings
This sure beats the hell out of algebra, doesn’t it?’
Perpetrator of a shooting at Frontier Middle School, Moses Lake, Washington
We send our children to school believing it to be a place of safety. Sometimes, however, it is far from that. College Killers describes how easily the classroom can become a killing ground, and school a place where death haunts the corridors and cafeterias.
According to the United States Secret Service, it could be anyone. He – and almost all school atrocities have been perpetrated by young males – is more often than not the progeny of a troubled marriage or single parent upbringing, but there have also been instances where a killer has emerged from the sanctity of the all-American ‘Mom and Pop’ family. He might be a greasy-haired loner, a Death Metal aficionado who rarely leaves his room, but, alternatively, he could well be the life and soul of the party with a wide circle of close and admiring friends. No one suspects anything is wrong until they watch the gruesome CCTV footage of him stalking the corridors of his school or university, armed to the teeth, with murder, mayhem and revenge on his mind.
It is baffling to most of us that someone could walk into a school or college and kill anyone that crosses his path – innocent student and teacher alike. The Columbine Killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, perpetrators of one of the most high-profile school massacres, committed their heinous crimes with staggering callousness. When asked by another student what they were doing, Klebold replied nonchalantly, ‘Oh, just killing people’. At Thurston High School, as he went about his grim business, the face of murderous student, Kipland P. Kinkel, has been described by a fellow student as expressionless, ‘like it was something he did every day’.
But rarely do we find out what drove these, mostly young, college killers to such desperate lengths, because the majority of them remain silent during their horrific attacks. The 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech in 2007, and the older Thomas Hamilton at Dunblane in 1996, for example, went about their murderous business in a silence broken only by the sound of gunfire and screaming. Our lack of understanding is perpetuated by the fact that most of the perpetrators commit suicide when they run out of ammunition or are eventually cornered by the authorities.
This book looks at the stories of 17 incidents – from the Pontiac’s Rebellion School Massacre in 1764 to the Toulouse shootings carried out by Mohammed Mehra in 2012, analysing the motives and examining the methods of some of the most heinous of all murderers – the College Killers.
School Shootings in North America and Europe
Contents
Introduction
NORTH AMERICA : Pontiac’s Rebellion School Massacre; Bath School Disaster; University of Texas Tower Shootings; Ecole Polytechnique Massacre; Jonesboro Massacre; Thurston High School Massacre; Columbine High School Massacre; Red Lake Massacre; Amish School Shooting; The Virginia Tech Massacre
EUROPE : Cologne School Massacre; Dunblane School Shootings; Erfurt Massacre; Winnenden School Shooting
TERRORISM : Ma’a lot Massacre; Beslan School Hostage Crisis; Toulouse Shootings
This sure beats the hell out of algebra, doesn’t it?’
Perpetrator of a shooting at Frontier Middle School, Moses Lake, Washington
We send our children to school believing it to be a place of safety. Sometimes, however, it is far from that. College Killers describes how easily the classroom can become a killing ground, and school a place where death haunts the corridors and cafeterias.
According to the United States Secret Service, it could be anyone. He – and almost all school atrocities have been perpetrated by young males – is more often than not the progeny of a troubled marriage or single parent upbringing, but there have also been instances where a killer has emerged from the sanctity of the all-American ‘Mom and Pop’ family. He might be a greasy-haired loner, a Death Metal aficionado who rarely leaves his room, but, alternatively, he could well be the life and soul of the party with a wide circle of close and admiring friends. No one suspects anything is wrong until they watch the gruesome CCTV footage of him stalking the corridors of his school or university, armed to the teeth, with murder, mayhem and revenge on his mind.
It is baffling to most of us that someone could walk into a school or college and kill anyone that crosses his path – innocent student and teacher alike. The Columbine Killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, perpetrators of one of the most high-profile school massacres, committed their heinous crimes with staggering callousness. When asked by another student what they were doing, Klebold replied nonchalantly, ‘Oh, just killing people’. At Thurston High School, as he went about his grim business, the face of murderous student, Kipland P. Kinkel, has been described by a fellow student as expressionless, ‘like it was something he did every day’.
But rarely do we find out what drove these, mostly young, college killers to such desperate lengths, because the majority of them remain silent during their horrific attacks. The 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech in 2007, and the older Thomas Hamilton at Dunblane in 1996, for example, went about their murderous business in a silence broken only by the sound of gunfire and screaming. Our lack of understanding is perpetuated by the fact that most of the perpetrators commit suicide when they run out of ammunition or are eventually cornered by the authorities.
This book looks at the stories of 17 incidents – from the Pontiac’s Rebellion School Massacre in 1764 to the Toulouse shootings carried out by Mohammed Mehra in 2012, analysing the motives and examining the methods of some of the most heinous of all murderers – the College Killers.
120 pages, ebook
First published December 19, 2012
2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Gordon Kerr
119 books24 followersGordon Kerr was born in the Scottish new town of East Kilbride and worked in the wine trade and then bookselling and publishing before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of numerous books in a variety of genres, including art, history, true crime, travel and humour. He has a wife and two children and lives in Hampshire and—when he can—South West France.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 31, 2014
The Good:
This book is good if you're looking for a easy to understand, general overview of some of the correlations between the killers instead of a deeper analysis of their motives. The author does not solely focus on the crimes which are constantly rehashed by today's media; he explores many of the past terrible shootings which are not as widely covered or known today. Mr. Kerr does a good job at giving a concise general overview of each killer's upbringing and potential factors leading to each crime. However, he does not really speculate or make assumptions--he just lays out the facts. With many of the killers' stories, he includes chilling quotes from the killers, giving a brief sobering insight into their minds.
The Bad:
If you know the history behind many of these crimes, you're not going to learn much. The book is simple in its style. The main issue I personally had with this book was that the author went in too many directions with the topic of school killings. He leads off the book and ends it with several stories which are more of war crimes or terrorism. The stories of these crimes don't really flow well with crimes like Columbine, Red Lake, or Texas Tower. Yes, all the types of crimes had to do with school shootings, but the mentality and motives of Islamic extremists are drastically different than individuals like Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold.
This book is good if you're looking for a easy to understand, general overview of some of the correlations between the killers instead of a deeper analysis of their motives. The author does not solely focus on the crimes which are constantly rehashed by today's media; he explores many of the past terrible shootings which are not as widely covered or known today. Mr. Kerr does a good job at giving a concise general overview of each killer's upbringing and potential factors leading to each crime. However, he does not really speculate or make assumptions--he just lays out the facts. With many of the killers' stories, he includes chilling quotes from the killers, giving a brief sobering insight into their minds.
The Bad:
If you know the history behind many of these crimes, you're not going to learn much. The book is simple in its style. The main issue I personally had with this book was that the author went in too many directions with the topic of school killings. He leads off the book and ends it with several stories which are more of war crimes or terrorism. The stories of these crimes don't really flow well with crimes like Columbine, Red Lake, or Texas Tower. Yes, all the types of crimes had to do with school shootings, but the mentality and motives of Islamic extremists are drastically different than individuals like Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold.
May 9, 2014
While there was some interesting information, I really wish there had been a bit more. But seeing as it was a freebie from Amazon, I really can't complain too much. I gave it 3 stars because it gave me enough information to decide if I wanted to read more about any of the cases.
January 7, 2017
Mainly a brief overview of the criminal events in a list form
Its price was worth the amount of information and detail it shared
(AUD $2.00)
Its price was worth the amount of information and detail it shared
(AUD $2.00)
December 18, 2017
Thankfully not too sensationalist, but not very analytical either. Neatly written, with good use of quotes. I like how it covered a wide area of both history and geography.
Nevertheless, with its extremely disturbing subject matter, and without an extensive attempt to understand why such atrocities took place, I'm left wondering what the point of the book really was.
5.5/10
Nevertheless, with its extremely disturbing subject matter, and without an extensive attempt to understand why such atrocities took place, I'm left wondering what the point of the book really was.
5.5/10
August 14, 2020
Excellent book. Short and sweet and gets to the point.
June 4, 2014
probably worth what I paid for it (free from amazon).
The only area I know a bit about which was covered in this book was the Columbine incident. Looking at what the author has written about that particular shooting (repeating many of the myths about the incident - including totally false information about why the incident happened on the 20th April), I would not take any of the other info as gospel.
Use this book as more of a list of school shootings and then refer to better | more informed books which may be available on the subject.
The only area I know a bit about which was covered in this book was the Columbine incident. Looking at what the author has written about that particular shooting (repeating many of the myths about the incident - including totally false information about why the incident happened on the 20th April), I would not take any of the other info as gospel.
Use this book as more of a list of school shootings and then refer to better | more informed books which may be available on the subject.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews