Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting: Experts worry killer fits pattern of hate, fueled online
“Still, some experts see signals that the Gilroy shooting may fit a pattern of mass killers whose views have been sculpted online. Many of them follow a similar script: Before raising their guns, they disseminate messages on social media, as though to establish themselves as warriors for a larger cause even though they are about to target innocent people.
“There’s a motivating factor here that’s much more personal … than extremist ideology,” said Erroll Southers, a professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in violent extremism.
Southers described these shooters in a way that appears counterintuitive: They commit acts of brutality, but want to be remembered for doing something noble.”