6 shot dead in Santa Monica, CA

[Evan Thomas]

Well, the kids don't usually suit up full commando style...

Perhaps not usually, but they're common enough to have their own genre in the psychological literature: the "Pseudocommando" mass murderer. Here's a review of the research on this type.

[SgtLumpy]

I can't help but think that the Chief of Police in Santa Monica is politically obligated to make statements that co-incide with the general mindset of her community. Santa Monica is, perhaps, the most liberal city south of San Francisco. Using terms like "extra receivers" mentioning large amounts of ammo, several magazines, body armor etc are pretty much what the voters want to hear, I'd think.

It's hard to say much of anything about an incident where some guy murders several people.


Sgt Lumpy

[Dr Big Bird PhD]

I'd like to point out that the entire county of Los Angeles is effectively "gun free", with the exceptions of gun-ranges, gun-stores, and places of residence. Saying that this is another "gun free zone" not working, misses the broader point.

[Bart Noir]

What in heck are they doing putting a loaded pistol on display? I can clearly see flat point bullets in that Remington.

Where can I find those nifty blue AR magazines? Really, I've never seen them before.

I thought that the 1300 rounds being carried by the killer, if accurate, meant that at least one gun was a .22 rimfire. I guess that wasn't true but I am pretty sure he wasn't hauling hundreds of .45 Colt cartridges.

Bart Noir

[Double Naught Spy]

Perhaps not usually, but they're common enough to have their own genre in the psychological literature: the "Pseudocommando" mass murderer. Here's a review of the research on this type.

Yep and the research cited type does not include any sort of tabulation of the number of times the pseudocommandos are dressed in camouflage or warrior gear or even what they mean by "warrior gear." Is warrior gear some sort of fatigue-like clothing or do they mean things like vests, slings, harnesses, etc.?

I appreciate your source, but it only makes one comment, in passing and citing of another study by Mullens concerning the purported oft used camouflage or warrior gear and Mullens work is a case study of 5 incidents. I don't have his actual study, but his PP presentation doesn't even mention mode of dress. So dressing up isn't what defines the genre and I highly suspect there is a blurred line between what is considered camouflage and what is considered warrior gear.

Some do wear it. I don't know that it makes them a commando any more than the cops arriving on scene are commandos in their warrior gear. There is a definite logic that goes in to such a problem of going into a battle/massacre prepared to accomplish the task. Those who have prepared better often accomplish more than those who have not.

I highly suspect more will wear it in the future just like more robbers wear it to commit robberies.

http://www.fprs.org/Edinburgh/07.%20...%20Killers.pdf

Note that in Part II from what you cited, Knoll discusses 2 shooters who were dressed in "warrior gear" at the time of the shooting. They included Cho and Wong. http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/263.fu...8-308c43382173

Cho was wearing dark clothing and I assume the vest and gloves seen in the video
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042001592.html

Wong was wearing,

He was described as wearing a bullet-proof vest,[12] a bright green nylon jacket, and dark-rimmed glasses.[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton_shootings

So maybe pseudocommando fits because they don't even wear much of the gear that would be considered "commando" but instead just using a couple of items. Certainly, this is not the "full commando" gear noted that I was contradicting. They just wear a couple of pieces.

[Evan Thomas]

DNS, you're quite right, and I'm not too comfortable with the way that practitioners of that version of the psychodynamic approach operate -- they can explain anything and everything in terms of their theories, which doesn't make for good science. But as a general category for for folks like Cho and Lanza, it may have some utility.

It would probably be fair to say that not all mass murderers who fit the profile described in the literature go in for dressing up, but that all those who do dress up do fit the profile.