How often do you see perfectly happy, social people doing acts of crime of this nature? Most serial killers are misfits in the society, have some psychological problem or the other.
This guy wasn't a serial killer. He was a mass murderer. Serial killers can be more readily profiled.
In both the cases, it is not possible to profile before hand to prevent the crime. It will be like in 'Minority Report' movie then. As Beth pointed out, not all lonely/depressed people commit crimes. Though there are correlations between a child abuse victim turning into a serial rapist, not all survivors end up as sex offenders. It is only in hind sight that we link the two. I think the mapping is one way primarily or at least that is the only thing allowed legally today. I will be very angry if I am forced to undergo some therapy to conform to social mean. Have you seen 'A Clockwork Orange'? I think that movie perfectly sums up what such a society could lead to.
The profiling for serial killers is done after the fact. This term was coined by and FBI behavioralist, Robert Ressler, who wrote a fascinating book about 15 years ago, Whoever Fights Monsters. In several high publicity cases he was able to get inside the mind of the serial killer, and from the precise nature of the murder, the selection of the victim, the location and time of the incident, he was able to know things about the killer, such as what his apartment and car looked like, what type of work the killer did, level of education and/or race or ethnicity. He applied an approach of behavioral science to tracking these killers after murders are committed. These profiles are used every day in attempting to solve crimes that have been committed.
Certainly, there are many loners in this world and few erupt in such a fashion. But unlike the serial killer, the mass murderer tends to be as random as the victims he selects, like a tornado that sweeps through a town without warning.
