“Asian Really Don’t Do This”: On-Scene Offense Characteristics of Asian American School Shooters, 91–07

Between 1966 and 2007, there were 44 mass murder incidents across schools and universities in the United States. Three of those incidents involved Asian school shooters. By using newspapers and government reports about the incidents, this paper examines the patterns of weapon acquisition, weapon deployment, and tactical deployment strategies of the three Asian school shooters. The role of the mass media as sources of identification fantasies, legitimacy, and ideational structures for the planned attacks are considered. The meaning of being an Asian school shooter in the United States is discussed.