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According to the January 20, 2011 Michigan State University press release Study examines risk factors of a mass shooting, 'It's easy for American society to label young killers as simply crazy. But new research suggests that a complex array of factors - from bullying to lack of parental support to ineffective mental health services - are potentially involved when a student turns to violence.'
The three researchers looked at the Virginia Tech shootings by Korean-born Seung-Hui Cho, a senior (English major) student at that university, who killed 32 people in 2007, and injured many others. He later committed suicide. (Seung-Hui Cho is unrelated to Dr. Hyunkag Cho.)
The shooting is considered the deadliest peace-time shooting incident performed by one gunman in U.S. history. [MSNBC: 'Fact file: Deadliest shootings in U.S.']
The paper by the authors appears in the Journal of Loss and Trauma. It is entitled 'Revisiting the Virginia Tech Shootings: An Ecological Systems Analysis' (1532-5032, Volume 15, Issue 6, 2010, Pages 561 - 575; DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2010.519285).
The abstract states, 'School shooting cases since the late 1990s have prompted school officials and legislators to develop and implement programs and measures that would prevent violence in school.'
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