- Before killing 21 people, a Texas gunman shared an Instagram photo where he showcased his two semi-automatic rifles.
- Leakage is a phenomenon the Federal Bureau of Investigation has known about since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.
- Experts said many Americans need to take these warning signs more seriously, while also avoiding profiling groups of people.
The warning signs invariably crop up online, in YouTube videos, Facebook posts and online forums. Someone, more often than not a young man, brags about his ability or desire to kill. Then does just that months, weeks, days or hours later.
That’s what happened again in the weeks and days before an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, and wounded 17 people, at a Texas elementary school: in an Instagram photo where he showcased his two semi-automatic rifles and in the menacing words he wrote on his Instagram and TikTok profiles.