# Why do most mass murderers commit suicide?



## IBNobody (Feb 19, 2008)

Last week, there was another public mass shooting in the US. The tragedy got me thinking about the flawed social system we live in. One common element, though, kinda stuck out. It didn't make sense.

Why do most of the mass murderers commit suicide?

When you look at all the mass murders that have occurred in the US, very few of the killers walk out alive. You have a few that get gunned down by police, but most take their own lives. I can't think of any that live and go to court.

Why do they kill themselves? Do they suffer from the "oh shit, I screwed up" syndrome? You'd think that some of those crazies (like the VT shooter) would have chosen to be captured in order to spread their messages. Hollywood always lets the mass murderers live (until the end of the movie). And it can't be linked to video games, that's for sure. You get negative frags for suicide.

I dunno... Maybe since I'm not screwed up in the head, I can't understand their motives?


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## BlueStar (Feb 19, 2008)

I'd imagine suicide is their first aim, the spreekill/self headshot is just the method.  ie. they're gonna kill themselves anyway but they want to take vengeance on society and make a lasting impression.  Or they just want to kill a load of people but don't want to face the consequences of being a pussy in the hardcore wing of prison.  Plus you're likely to be shot by a cop rather than arrested anyway,this way they still "win" by carrying out their plan to the end rather than giving someone the satisfaction of taking them down.  Any rate, I don't think the suicide is a spur of the moment thing, but more likely an integral part of the plan.


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## nintendofreak (Feb 19, 2008)

They're Cowards that dont want to face the consequences for what they have done...


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## asuri (Feb 19, 2008)

they already hate their life, they want suicide but make the death better by killing who they hate. or they rather die from their own gun shot than life in prison


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## EN!GMA (Feb 19, 2008)

I'm pretty sure most premeditated their suicide, before they go on a shooting spree. I'm no homicidal maniac, but thats just what seems to be the most logical to me.


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## IBNobody (Feb 19, 2008)

Well... Yeah... I guess they go into the thing knowing that their life is truly over. If they wanted to kill repeatedly, they'd be a serial killer.

Still, why wouldn't more of them op for being shot by police? Charles Whitman, the UT campus sniper, held himself up in the clock tower for 2 hours  until the police broke through his barricade and shot him.


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## Nero (Feb 19, 2008)

Or they just don't want the buttsecks in Prison.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




(That was not meant to offend anyone)

~Nero


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## DarkAura (Feb 19, 2008)

It's cuz they are scared of their punishment tor consequences and just chicken out by killing themselves.  Simple as that.


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## Rayder (Feb 19, 2008)

Because they know they're in for a world of shit once they get caught.  Killing themselves will seem to them to be the only way out once they went on the killing spree and there's no turning back.

I think the dementia that caused them to go on the killing spree comes crashing down on them once they realize what they just did and they don't want to face the consequences and kill themselves to escape prosecution.

In some cases the plan was to take as many people with them as they could when they decided to kill themselves. They came to hate everything that the world has become and have had enough and flipped out.

In other cases, maybe they had a moment of what they thought was clarity and in their demented state came to the conclusion that the world is  ridiculous, petty and pathetic and not worth all the hassle.


Truth is, there are many multitudes of reasons for them to do what they did, but since they're dead now, we'll never find out what any particular person's reason was for doing what they did.

Crazy people are crazy and anyone that goes on a killing spree then kills themselves is obviously nuts....who knows what kind of demented crap goes through their minds.

Everyone has crazy, psychotic and/or demented thoughts every once in a while. The difference between a sane and a crazy person is whether they act on them or not.

Yeah, psychology is a fascination of mine.


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## .TakaM (Feb 19, 2008)

I'd imagine it's a combination of avoiding the consequences and that they originally planned on just committing suicide


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## WeaponXxX (Feb 19, 2008)

Being as I was in the shoes of all these fucked up kids....I have to say that the current generation is all sheeps. Not to see I was mr. Original...I saw an after school episode where the kid blows away all the students... Hostage High and before that I was influenced by Pearl Jam's Jeremy


The above two links as well as newspaper clippings from other gun shooting in schools inspired me....so I was just as much a lemming as the kids are now...but since my time was pre columbine I imagined me dying in a blaze of gunfire..... possibly because thats what my inspirations did? Not sure....But again to sum up the answer...kids are committing suicide because they are imitators....They are confused, unpopular, don't fit in to a social group, loners, angry, mistreated, broken homes, broken school systems....full of hate....and they don't know how to unleash it....and then one day the big TV has report of a tragic event that sounds....much like...its speaking to the kid....and then they think...hey thats not a bad idea...maybe I will just do that?

It is tragic all the shooting but I think as long as their are cruel kids and exclusive social circles these things will continue to happen now that the ground work has been laid. After Columbine one kid said on the news "I guess now I will just have to try and be a nicer person"....I thought... wow...how sad it took that for someone to think those thoughts....but...not to bash on Americans...but no doubt her self absorbent kicked in and 2 weeks later that girl got preobsessed in her own concerns on what jeans Emennem was wearing, or who she was going with to the next social mixer...and she went back to being her regular snobby bitchy self.

*Edit,
for those that are new or ... well... we have a whole new MOD house...but I originally came clean about my story about two years ago... I am sane now... I wrote a movie about it the whole ordeal ... it was very therapeutic... again... I am much much better now


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## VVoltz (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(nintendofreak @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> They're Cowards that dont want to face the consequences for what they have done...


I agree.


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## Urza (Feb 19, 2008)

USA has nabbed 2nd and 4th, but the Koreans are damn good (we ended up with one of their best players though).

http://spreekillers.org/


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## VVoltz (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(Urza @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> Its a sport now. USA has nabbed 2nd and 4th, but the Koreans are damn good (we nabbed one of there's).
> 
> http://spreekillers.org/


That is the total opposite of a funny thing.


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## Urza (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(VVoltz @ Feb 18 2008 said:


> QUOTE(Urza @ Feb 19 2008 said:
> 
> 
> > Its a sport now. USA has nabbed 2nd and 4th, but the Koreans are damn good (we nabbed one of there's).
> ...


Theres nothing to be laughing about. We've had our ass handed to Korea for 25 years.


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## notnarb (Feb 19, 2008)

When they run out of people that are easy to kill, they kill the last one, themselves


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## Urza (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(notnarb @ Feb 18 2008 said:


> When they run out of people that are easy to kill, they kill the last one, themselves


Correct. One point can make the difference between making the list or failing and sinking into obscurity (take Kazmierczak's spree last week for example).


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## Orc (Feb 19, 2008)

_"I just want to take a few pieces of shit with me... I'm gonna be fuckin' famous."_
- Robert A. Hawkins​


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## WeaponXxX (Feb 19, 2008)

You know the more and more I think about those days I have to say again...media is the influence...in my scenario...my blue prints...and hand drawn maps....I envisioned a a hostage type situation...much like the one in the movie I linked above...so I based almost everything on the fact that there would be a hostage situation... So again... I have to say that the people are following what they imitate...had the "pioneers" of mass murdering chose to go out in blaze of gun fire...all the other might have followed that path? 

Sure school shooting went on way before Columbine...shit I walked on to my school armed and ready 12 years ago...which would have been like 4 years pre columbine? But back then when I was fucked up the world was not...so media savy...every kid wasn't youtubin...and bloggin....a shooting hit your local news and newspaper and if you missed the story...you missed it. Now..forget about it...every detail worth talking about is reposted somewhere on the web so the newest generation of confused kids is much more saturated with ideas....much more influential....thats my take on the matter.


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## xalphax (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(nintendofreak @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> They're Cowards that dont want to face the consequences for what they have done...



my EXACT thoughts


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## yuyuyup (Feb 19, 2008)

opinions are like assholes, everybody has one


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## dakeyras (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(nintendofreak @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> They're cowards that dont want to face the consequences for what they have done...



Why would they want to face the 'consequences'? They didn't have anything to live for to start with which is why the whole thing starts anyway so why would they want to continue living? They didn't before the shooting so why would they after the shooting?

It makes em as much of a coward as the bankrobber who runs away and doesn't stand around waiting for the police. For them, shooting themselves is just not a big thing. Besides, wouldn't it be more cowardly to plan on all this and then not being able to pull the trigger on yourself? Suicide is not always a cowardly thing.


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## IBNobody (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(Urza @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> QUOTE(VVoltz @ Feb 18 2008 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(Urza @ Feb 19 2008 said:
> ...



No... The list doesn't mention the suicide bombers. Arabs have that l'l package tied up quite nicely.

Thanks for the link, Urza.


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## Fiddy101 (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(IBNobody @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> QUOTE(Urza @ Feb 19 2008 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(VVoltz @ Feb 18 2008 said:
> ...



What's wrong with you guys a list of some sort of competition to murder people  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





  and that last comment by IBNobody is kinda racist


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## JKR Firefox (Feb 19, 2008)

I'm not even sure what the original poster intended to happen with this thread.

This should end now.  It's just a completely uncomfortable topic to be talking about.  I mean, what if someone who experienced one of these tragedies read this crap?  They would believe we're all a bunch of mean-spirited idiots and since I've been here, this is not what GBATemp is all about.

@Urza: Cmon now.  I'm used to your tasteless posts at times and most times, you have a point in what you are saying but what you've said in this thread is beyond anything I've ever seen.  Your not funny and I hope you didn't intend to be.


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## xJonny (Feb 19, 2008)

It's not too hard - they don't want to be in prison all their life being taunted every day


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## Urza (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(IBNobody @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> No... The list doesn't mention the suicide bombers. Arabs have that l'l package tied up quite nicely.
> 
> You apparently didn't read the rules.
> 
> ...


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## IBNobody (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(Urza @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> QUOTE(IBNobody @ Feb 19 2008 said:
> 
> 
> > No... The list doesn't mention the suicide bombers. Arabs have that l'l package tied up quite nicely.
> ...



Ahh... You're right. That knocks out the serial killers, too. 

Speaking of which... Do they have a Competitive Serial Killing Organization? Ted Bundy is at the still at the top of that leaderboard, right? I wonder where that other guy who sucked out prostitutes eyeballs with a vacuum cleaner would rank.


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## WeaponXxX (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(JKR Firefox @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> I'm not even sure what the original poster intended to happen with this thread.
> 
> This should end now.Â It's just a completely uncomfortable topic to be talking about.Â I mean, what if someone who experienced one of these tragedies read this crap?Â They would believe we're all a bunch of mean-spirited idiots and since I've been here, this is not what GBATemp is all about.


You know JKR....I almost agree with you....it is a taboo topic....but at the same time...the world has questions...people would like answers...and understanding why people do what they do....might help stop these sorts of things from happening in the future. I pondered over replying... now that I am normal, sane... do I speak of MY past.... and associate myself with those crazy sunovabitches? I have made quite a few friends here... I don't want THEM thinking I am bat shit crazy....but at the same time out of respect to the original poster ... he is making a serious inquiry....and there may be others out there confused leaning toward imitation .... and maybe the fact that I was nearly one of them and survived...became successful and normal may lead them NOT to pull their own mass murder? While Urza's post may be tasteless it really goes to show another fuel of ambition... the loner kid who never gets noticed, never invited to a party, celebrates his birthday alone, .... misses class and nobody notices.... becoming a mass murder immortalizes you and gets you noticed. It really is a sad state of affairs.

@IBNobody
Henry Lee Lucas would be the number 1 serial killer....CLAIMING over 400 kills http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lee_Lucas even that of John Walshs kid


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## dakeyras (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(IBNobody @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> I wonder where that other guy who sucked out prostitutes eyeballs with a vacuum cleaner would rank.
> 
> 
> Who is that? I've never heard of that. Sure you're not confused with charles albright (texas eyeball killer or something) who cut out the eyes of prostitutes (after death) and was convicted because of hairs found in his vacuum cleaner? :S
> ...



That guy would have admitted to being the killer of kennedy if the police had thought of asking him about it.


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## IBNobody (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE(dakeyras @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> QUOTE(IBNobody @ Feb 19 2008 said:
> 
> 
> > I wonder where that other guy who sucked out prostitutes eyeballs with a vacuum cleaner would rank.
> ...



Are you sure they were cut out? I remember seeing the story on HBO's Autopsy, and I could have sworn that they were sucked out.


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## azotyp (Feb 19, 2008)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> Why do most mass murderers commit suicide?


That's a lie I still live






















joke


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## El-ahrairah (Feb 19, 2008)

I personally think spree killers commit suicide because they want to deny any revenge seekers.


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## amptor (Feb 20, 2008)

I'm amazed that the gun toting, black trench coat wearing scene didn't entirely fizzle out by 1997.  I remember those days, people used to carry weapons underneath a large cloak on some days, nobody knew what was going on.  It was just a thrill it wasn't ever used in this part of the country to even so much as point at anyone.  So thus ended the pipe bomb making days of the post industrial grunge era of modern rock.  Man those were some interesting days to live, I wish I could relive it all over again in high school.  The pagers, bbs scene, anarchy, underground punk rancid green day etc... man those were the times.  Now we got people going out actually flashing the weapon and pulling the trigger.  People weren't that nuts back then.  People carrying the weapons didn't hate the world, it was just something 'cool' to do.


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## VVoltz (Feb 20, 2008)

I totally agree with WeaponXxX. This is a taboo topic, and certainly an adult subject that can very well be discussed. This is the type of things that really I really enjoy about this place, open-mindness.

The truth is that to do such a thing you have to have problems, deeper, darker that the common individual, if you don't respect other people's life you are not gonna respect your own.

I don't fully understand amptor's post, but he is right, the more time passes, the more dangerous things become.


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## tojomajojo (Feb 20, 2008)

well after the mass murder, who would want to stay around just to get arrested,hated, and take in unwanted man love in prison by a guy name tank.


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## JKR Firefox (Feb 20, 2008)

Vvoltz, discussing this type of topic is fine but some people have been making light of an unfunny situation.  That isn't cool.


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## VVoltz (Feb 20, 2008)

QUOTE(JKR Firefox @ Feb 20 2008 said:


> Vvoltz, discussing this type of topic is fine but some people have been making light of an unfunny situation.Â That isn't cool.


While every comment has to be respected, I agree. My position is to always ignore those type of comment's, besides, there is another bunch of them!, most of them really worth reading, like WeaponXxX's.


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## JKR Firefox (Feb 20, 2008)

QUOTE(VVoltz @ Feb 20 2008 said:


> QUOTE(JKR Firefox @ Feb 20 2008 said:
> 
> 
> > Vvoltz, discussing this type of topic is fine but some people have been making light of an unfunny situation.  That isn't cool.
> ...



Well I've not made a comment on Amptor or WeaponXxX because their points are valid and worth reading.  A list of mass murders listed in order of kills is not.

I generally follow your way of thinking as well and ignore comments like that but sometimes people just go overboard on here and need to be told that they are doing so.  I'm an easygoing person but we're talking about people's lives, not a fricking world record or something.


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## GeekyGuy (Feb 20, 2008)

QUOTE(BlueStar @ Feb 19 2008 said:


> I'd imagine suicide is their first aim, the spreekill/self headshot is just the method.Â ie. they're gonna kill themselves anyway but they want to take vengeance on society and make a lasting impression....



You're likely right on the first count, though I doubt killing other folks has to do with anything more than cowardice. It's likely a need to "not go alone." In any case, it's a pitiful state for anyone to be in, and much of the horror of this type of tragedy certainly has to do with the question: how bad a state does someone have to be in to be driven to such an end. It's not only a time for mourning those who were lost, but a time to mourn the human spirit that can become so easily lost as well.


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## VmprHntrD (Feb 20, 2008)

I'd limit it mostly to just two reasons why the shooter goes down too:
1) They planned to take down as many as possible with them ensuring that suicide by cop will happen.
2) They find they're in an inescapable situation and the sheer fact of life in prison is something they won't/refuse to tolerate.

Mind you motives for either outside of just being a jackass over a suicide stunt could range from revenge on a store, to a person and others are in the way, or any other range of psychotic breaks.

Personally I don't intend to ever end up in the situation, but #2 would be running in my mind.  I've always said I'll choose death over being someones bitch in jail.


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## bobrules (Feb 20, 2008)

they are programed to do so by the antichrist.


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## Tweaked (Feb 21, 2008)

simply put, the reason to raise the pistol and blow a chunk outta your backhead is to avoid hearing this breathing down your neck.

shit on my dick or blood on my knife.


Truely gruesome and disgusting stuff, the school i went to was 49 other kids who had gotten expelled from school for drug or other violenet reasons, and we had a few days where we went to jails and talked to convicts.


My grandfather killed 7 people with an automatic shotgun in the 70's due to a fit of heroin rage. got less then 50 years though (canadian court system)

If you met him, youd think hes a perfectly nice old man, good sence of humour, and now adays, wouldent hurt a fly.

But when addiction and other outside influences kick in, the human mind loosens its grip on cognitive thinking, and simply begins to act out its darkest intents with a primalistic mentallity.

When the adrenilin(sp?) and other drugs start to clear out, and you see clearly, you can see you just threw your life away.

My grampas told me he thinks his biggest mistake, aside from getting caught up in violent drug/gang life, wasnt making sure he didint end up in jail.


the goodfella days was the best of days


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## Ducky (Feb 21, 2008)

QUOTE(JKR Firefox @ Feb 20 2008 said:


> Vvoltz, discussing this type of topic is fine but some people have been making light of an unfunny situation.Â That isn't cool.



Dude , I make jokes from the worst situations ever , I just think that laugh is always good , Even in the worst times ... SMILE 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Anyway

I guess they kill themself just to have another killed person to their list.


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## NeSchn (Feb 22, 2008)

Its sad that people have to take out there anger and kill other people instead of themselves. If you hate life so bad just take your life, not someone elses, they don't deserve it. Suicide is a pussy's way out anyways.


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## Tweaked (Feb 22, 2008)

suicide is a pussys way out? so you would opt to be painfully and savagly sodamized, beaten and demoralized for the next 10-50 years of your life, and then when you have paid your debt, and are released, is looked upon as a dirt bag and given no further chance?

You talk like someone with a spoiled upbringing, setting there standards of honor and bravery from the images displayed upon their tv screens.

Take it from someone who didint have a sheltered upbringing, Calling anyones decisions pussy makes you an ignorant as to how part of the world is forced to operate.

Are these happy people sticking needles in their arm, or robbing meth dealers knowing that its gonna get their own parents house broken into, robbed and possibly foul play?

What about the kid who got insulted, beat and whatever, his parents dont give a shit, and he has no money till he can work. Do you expect him to teach himself the laws of the world and to be kind to others, when people are willing to pass him on the road and mutter homeless under their breath?

The violence needs to stop, but persecuting at the level of the perpetrater is only going to result in packed jailhouses and overfilling cemetarys, we need to look as the aspects of peoples lives that make them want to strike out and oppose society in a violet fashion, or we need to man up, meet them halfway and accept that humanity will always yield bloodshed


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