Abstract
The Red Lake High School shooting is one of the five most lethal school shootings in United States history. Jeffrey Weise’s crime was based on prior planning and was motivated for maximum lethality. Weise’s behavior during the shooting itself was not erratic. On the contrary, he behaved in a predatory, hypoemotional manner as he walked through the hallways and into the classrooms, shooting and killing people. His behavior is important to understand because it is similar to behaviors seen in at least four other school shootings in the United States, which were committed by older, more mature offenders. School shootings are not homogeneous events. However, those that manifest behavioral indicators of preplanning, a desire for maximum lethality, and appear mission oriented should be set apart from other school shootings in terms of lessons learned regarding warning behaviors and intervention.
The information contained in this chapter is the work of Mary Ellen O’Toole, and does not represent the opinions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Bernstein, A. (2009). Bath massacre: America’s first school bombing. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Bernstein, M. (2011). Kip Kinkel, convicted in thurston high school shooting, wants to go to state mental hospital. The Opegonian. August 11, 2011.
Cornell, D., Warren, G., Hawk, J., Stafford, E., Oram, G., & Pine, D. (1996). Psychopathy in instrumental and reactive violent offenders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 783–790.
FBI report on Charles Joseph Whitman shooting: Freedom of information. November 2009.
Gunderson, D. (2005, March 23). Who was Jeff Weise? Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/22_ap_redlakesuspect
High school shooting spree leaves 10 dead. (2005, March 22). Fox News. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151085,00.html
Huppert, B. (2010, May 2). Red Lake school shooting survivor shares her story. KARE 11 News. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=8492500
Lavergne, G. (1997). A sniper in the tower. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press.
Meloy, J. R., & O’Toole, M. E. (2011). The concept of leakage in threat assessment. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 29(4), 513–527.
Minnesota killer admired Hitler. (2005, March 22). BBC News. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4371803.stm
Niehoff, D. (1999). The biology of violence. New York: The Free Press.
O’Toole, M. E. (2000). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective. Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
O’Toole, M. E. (2007). Psychopathy as a behavior classification system for violent and serial crime scenes. In H. Herve & J. C. Yuille (Eds.), The psychopath: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 30l–325). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
School gunman stole police pistol, vest. (2005, March 23). CNN. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://articles.cnn.com/2005-03-22/us/school.shooting_1_jeff-weise-police-officers-worst-school-shooting?_s=PM:US
Seung-Hui Cho. biography. Retrieved October, 3, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/seung-huicho-235991.
Shooter obsessed with violence. (2005, March 23). Fox News. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151214,00.html
Teen Guilty in Mississippi School Shooting Rampage. (1998, June 12). CNN. Retrieved November 8, 2012 From http://www.cnn.com/us/9806/12/schoolshooting.verdict/
Teen pleads guilty in tribal shootings. (2005, November 30). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-11-30/news/0511300289_1_jeff-weise-louis-jourdain-tribal
Troubled teen kills nine and himself, at Red Lake. (2005, March 22). Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved November 8, 2012 from http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/21_gundersond_redlakeshooting
Woodworth, M., & Porter, S. (2002). In cold blood: Characteristics of criminal homicides as a function of psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 436–445.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
O’Toole, M.E. (2013). Jeffrey Weise and the Shooting at Red Lake Minnesota High School: A Behavioral Perspective. In: Böckler, N., Seeger, T., Sitzer, P., Heitmeyer, W. (eds) School Shootings. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5526-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5526-4_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5525-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5526-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)