Ronnie Mcnutt is a name that will be seared into the brains of millions along with his suicide video from 2020. His video, face, and memory is relevant across different groups. Many times his video is used in the form of a gif as a reaction to a post or video.

In his video, the 33-year-old veteran is seen intoxicated and speaking to his girlfriend. The two get into a disagreement and the calls ends. He says: ""Hey guys, I guess that's it." and shoots himself with a rifle under the chin. Moments after his phone repeatedly rings. The video was widely shared across Facebook and took over 24 hours for it to be removed from the platform.

Image from here

Cain Clark from the San Diego shooting will be long remembered across the internet for his suicide. In the video, blood pours from his mouth while sitting in the drivers seat of his mothers car after attacking a Mosque with Caleb Vasquez. Across TikTok on incel related videos, TCC, white nationalist, and just random videos I have seen the comment with the gif of this. The caption for the gif is “Funny guy spits out fruit punch”. Now, who knows how many people viewing the comment section of a video will see this.

Above is ONE comment section on a singular video with 117 comments, many of them this exact reaction gif. The video is a video of the San Diego perpetrator.

In light of this trend on TikTok, I will be providing some context for specific suicide livestreams that are baked into the online culture across ideologies. It is important we understand what it means when they post an image, video or gif of this person prior to their suicide and what it could be alluding to.

Shuaib "Shuaiby" Aslam, 18, killed himself on livestream in his bedroom in 2018. The video remains relevant because he had blue tarps hung up in his bedroom, shot himself and then his mother rushes in and is screaming. The video is heart wrenching because of the reaction of his mother being captured on stream.

Above is the image style with a rainbow mask and blue tarp in the background used.

Gleb Korablev, 18, shot himself with a shotgun while sitting on a couch in Russia in 2019. The video continued to stream for 2.5 hrs before law enforcement responded and turned it off. This particular video is relevant because of the sheer brutality of the impact from the firearm and the length it was left up after his death.

Still from the video and his find a grave profile

Below are two cases that are culturally relevant but not used as reaction posts

Vika, 17, and Vova, 18, were Ukrainian step-siblings who were adopted. They reportedly fell in love and began using substances together. They were very open about their relationship on social media and in the days prior to their suicide they created a Telegram channel where they live-streamed frequently. They went to Kyiv to die together. The two stood on the ledge of a 24 story apartment high rise complex, kissed, held hands and fell together.

Still from their livestream

Renata Kambolina, 16, posted photos of herself flipping off the camera with the train approaching in the back in 2015. She posted it online with "nya.bye." and then laid down on the train tracks and died. While hers is technically not a livestream, she did photograph herself moments before and is well known and well liked in the TCC.

Photo she uploaded moments before her death

Please be careful if you choose to research these cases further as it will be 100% likely you will be exposed to the video discussed above. I am writing this for you so that you do not have to go and look up the cases. These are faces with cultural relevance online that if you wish to truly understand what a young person is doing online then you must get the references.

If you do stumble across this or recognize any of these images, have a conversation with the kid. Ask them what it means. What happens in the video? How do they feel about it? Do they relate or find it funny? Why do they post it?

This is an opportunity and segue into conversations surrounding exposure and consumption of gore content online. Unfortunately, this is the reality. People are seeing this stuff online regularly. We must talk about it because if we don’t, who will?

Other writings of interest

Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW

Introducing my TCC Stoplight Model

All information provided in this is written by Allizandra Herberhold and if redistributed or reused by any party they must cite and attribute any information pulled from the document. This is property of Seeking Safer Pathways, LLC…

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3 months ago · 10 likes · Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW

Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW

Suicide in the TCC

DO NOT LOOK UP ANY CASES UNLESS YOU ARE OKAY RUNNING THE RISK OF ACCIDENTALLY SEEING GORE. I have linked NEWS articles in the post for stories but some of them you can only find information on websites that have gore…

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2 months ago · 13 likes · 2 comments · Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW

Please reach out anytime if you have questions or concerns.

All the information in this post is purely informational. Please do not reuse the content without credit to the author.

The San Diego Mosque attack was not a Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) motivated attack. This is one of the most clear examples of an ideologically motivated copycat attack by two young men in recent times. Their motivation was directly inspired by the attack perpetrated by Brenton Tarrant and was a HATE CRIME. As threat assessors, clinicians, researchers, law enforcement and frontline professionals we CANNOT afford to get this wrong. The two young men were white supremacist accelerationists. An interest in mass attackers or inspiration from them does not mean they identified as members of the TCC.

Details of the Case

On Monday May 18th, 2026 two young men carried out a targeted violence attack at Islamic Center of San Diego in California and killing three, then themselves. Cain Lee Clark, 17, and Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, had met online and bonded over their shared hatred of every minority group. The day of the attack Clark’s mother called the police reporting her son was missing, firearms were missing from the home and he had taken her car.

Digital Footprint

The two attempted to livestream their attack to a discord call which was screen recorded by people on call. In the livestream, they show themselves inside the mosque killing someone and then retreat back to their vehicle. They shoot at people from the car, the majority of the stream shaky and showing the roof of the car or their lap. In the end, they made sure to attempt to show their deaths. Vazquez attempts to position a rifle to shoot himself in the car but cannot do it. The stream shows Clark shooting him with a pistol off camera and then himself, forever memorializing their deaths for the internet to see.

Screenshot of Clark from his livestream

Upon a review of their social media, they are not engaging in creating or sharing content of previous school shooters. Their social media was mainly surrounding white supremacist ideology and anime.

This is also clearly a large part of their identity, as demonstrated through sharing images with swastika edits, anime stickers, and anime toys and body pillows. Screenshots of their posts on incel forums complaining about being rejected by girls.

It appears the two had parasocial relationships with specific anime girls. Clark with a character Ashley “Leyley” Graves from The Coffin of Andy and Leyley game about cannibalism and Vazquez with Mymy from Ongezellig, a show associated with racism. (While the show has been adapted by white nationalists, the show was not created by one or intended to be racist. To clarify, simply watching the show does not mean someone will carry out targeted violence).

Clark’s social media of Leyley

Review of their Manifestos

The 75 page manifesto was in two parts - the first half being written by Vazquez and the second written by Clark. No minorities are left out of the manifesto and almost every slur you can think of is found somewhere on the document.

Vazquez repeats his emotional pain he has experienced being short and being rejected by “foids”. He also refers to the Sons of Tarrant (SOT) as another “piece of propaganda to further spread our reach” and encouraging others to use the name. He also mentions his appreciation for how “memeable” Tarrant’s attack was. Toward the end of his writings he says: “I know that for my actions I will be called evil and a monster, but the history books are soaked with the blood of heroes who time has deemed to be in the wrong.” and “So yes this is a call to arms, find a brother in action, make a plan, find their weak spots, destroy their infrastructure, give them hell. Someone’s got to do it and it has to be us, because if not us, then who? And to the Saints of tomorrow reading this today, know that when you succeed you’ll be celebrated with reverence and your sacrifice will not be in vain. Hail the Saints and hail our glorious and bloody legacy of White Terror.”

Cain’s writing is sounds more academic and attempting to be compelling or inspiring to the reader than Vazquez’s emotional writings. He critiques communism, pushes the great replacement theories, hatred for black people, Jewish people and Muslims. He writes: “The only solution I can see to this problem is the mass-murder of (insert all minorities)”, “Make some bombs, kill some people, destroy some shit. Because our world used to be alive, now it’s dying”, and “I am happy to throw away my own future if it means I can help secure a future for my race and white children”.

They refer to past perpetrators as “Saints” which is a nod to the Saint’s Calendar used by previous 4chan/ideologically motivated attacks to further accelerationist ideology, including Tarrant. With that moniker and their manifesto being full of references to past attackers (Patrick Crusius, Anders Breivik, Dylann Roof, Robert Bowers, Payton Gendron, and John Earnest, among others). In Crusius’ manifesto, he states that his attack was directly inspired by Brenton Tarrant and viewed the world in a similarly militant way.

The perpetrators also mention Eco Fascism, in line with Brenton Tarrant’s ideology. “I am also an Accelerationist, I believe that accelerating towards the destruction of our current political system and towards an all-out race war for the purpose of a societal collapse is the only real way forward,” Clark states. The manifesto is full of militarized language, with Vasquez stating at its conclusion, “There are no non-combatants in a war for survival.”

They provide a suggested reading list including classic white supremacist texts: Mein Kempf, The Turner Diaries, Siege, The Protocols of Elder Zion and Tarrant’s manifesto. They also suggest reading writings made by Terrorgram.

Legacy

The title of the first half of the manifesto written by the two was titled “Sons of Tarrant”. Their entire attack was a mirrored, copycat attack directly inspired by Brenton Tarrant’s attack in Christchurch, NZ. Their attempts to livestream the attack in the car, wearing the same tactical gear with the same patches, white inscriptions on their weapons, and targeting a mosque could not be clearer. The glaring differences from Christchurch are that there were two perpetrators, they failed miserably (thankfully), and killed themselves in the end.

There were so many missed opportunities to help these two. As more time passes and additional details are released, I am sure the public will be furious. If it is true that the parents of one allowed them access to 30+ firearms, they will hopefully be prosecuted. In order to write that much on so many weapons, they had to have had a lot of unsupervised, open access because that would have taken some time.

Our Duty

It is our responsibility not fall into the loop of claiming this was senseless violence. It had a purpose to the perpetrators because they wanted to start a race war and inspire others to carry out ideologically motivated attacks. They believe sacrificing their young lives for this "cause” and accelerate the collapse of society to rebuild it in a white utopia.

“Intermixing gamification and accelerationist narratives highlights another threat: copycat and contagion effects”. Understanding the function of the violence and their intention behind it will help us know what warning signs and risk factors we can look out for the help prevent future violence. We have seen tragedies like this before, we must learn from them to help prevent more.

Seeking Safer Pathways owns the writings of this article, do not reuse without permission and citing authors. This is purely educational and informative, not to be used for legal use.

While the motivation of the True Crime Community (TCC) on the surface may appear like it is motivated by homicide, I would argue the real undercurrent that ties many members to one another is suicide. Across 10+ platforms, I have observed the TCC and the most prominent theme is suicidal ideation. Almost every user expressed experiencing present or past suicidal ideations, having a plan or previous attempt. Many have engaged in self harm behaviors and romanticize suicide.

Many members are attracted to specific perpetrators and romanticize their suicides. Most members are currently or have struggled with severe depression and/or anxiety, poor self esteem and often times bullying or peer rejection.

What people need to really understand is that these kids are in emotional pain. They are hurting deeply and seeking out comfort in the wrong places. As my TCC Stoplight Model demonstrates, nearly all members are suicidal but a small number of them are homicidal with intent.

Members of the TCC are much more likely and at a higher risk of self-harm or suicide than ever hurting anyone else.

I wanted to bring a few examples of young members who took their life in the last year that identified as members of the TCC. None of these girls had intention of ever hurting anyone else and ultimately died by suicide.

Jiyai “nai nai” Xin, 15, China

On October 21, 2025, Nai Nai died by suicide on livestream in Jilin, China while wearing a “Wrath” T-shirt. Earlier in the day, she recorded herself drinking alcohol and talking about if she wanted to go through with it or not. During her suicide “Join Me in Death” by HIM played during the stream. She sat on the bannister of a balcony in an apartment complex. She speaks directly to the viewers before falling backwards.

The young girl was identified as a member of the TCC and reportedly was a fan of Alyssa Bustamante. Under the Tiktok username @ificouldhaveafuturewithu she reposted videos of her and made her photo her profile picture.

Many of her former mutuals in the TCC and friends made video edits of her to honor her memory and mourn the loss of their friend. She was remembered fondly as a kind person. Unfortunately, there was a significant amount of people online making fun of her and mocking her death.

18, Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights, OH on April 20, 2026

On the 27th anniversary of Columbine, a girl brought her family’s handgun to school and shot herself while sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria in front of her classmates. She did not immediately die and was taken to the hospital where she later passed away. She left suicide notes on the table.

It was discovered post mortem that she had posted shortly before her death on social media stating her intention to move on with her life like Andrew Blaze, the Weis Market shooter. The girl believed that if she died at school on the anniversary she would be reunited with the Columbine shooters.

Law enforcement confirmed a few days later that she did not intend on hurting anyone but herself. In the days after her death, friends and mutuals made tribute videos in memory of her and went to comment kind things on her social media. She is remembered for her unique fashion sense and love for music.

Aaron/Audrey, 13, Bangladesh

She dressed up in the outfit of Cal Gabriel from the Zero Day movie and hung herself on a live streamed discord call. On her wall behind her was photos of Eric Harris, the shooter from Columbine and other school shooters. Mutuals mourned her death and were shocked by the loss, especially because of how young she was. She was remembered fondly as a kind person.

(The image is from a memorial tribute made by a mutual friend and the lyrics are over it that accompanied the song playing)

Audree Heine, 13, KY

Audree died by hanging herself a week after her birthday. Upon going through her room, her mother discovered a notebook she had kept where she detailed her love to the Columbine perpetrators, discussed the bullying she was experiencing and the decline in her mental health. Today, her mother is suing Roblox for what she believes is their negligence regarding flagging the content her daughter was engaging with. She is remembered for loving Taylor Swift, dirt bikes and her creativity.

Above are sketches from her notebook shared by her mother.

What needs to be understood is that these are kids in pain. They are hurting and they need adults to step in and help them. They are not monsters, they are kids.

I know it is really easy to immediately want to villainize someone, even a kid, who idolizes a mass murderer. It is disturbing, likely goes against your morals, and you blame the parents for not doing whatever you think they should have done.

Stay with me for a minute and just try to look past the scary, yucky parts. Ultimately, this is a kid who is lonely, isolated, suicidal, and looking for connection. They do not feel good about themselves or happy, they are struggling deeply. They are struggling so deeply that they think the only way to fix the pain they are experiencing is to kill themselves.

Think of a time when you struggled deeply and made poor choices or used maladaptive coping skills. We all have done this. Maybe you have experienced suicidal ideation. I have and can attest it is a horrible place to be mentally. Everything feels overwhelming, you are in so much pain and fear, and just want a release/escape from it. Now amplify that for a kid, who does not have the life skills or practice or understanding of how to use appropriate coping skills or ask for help. Consider empathizing with their pain and try and humanize this person.

I have worked with so many suicidal kids and adults, a kind conversation can go a long way. While some have unfortunately gone on to die by suicide, most of them are not beyond help and will accept it. Being present, understanding and removing judgment is helpful. Showing you are not afraid when they are honest with what is going on in their head is life changing and can be life saving.

For anyone feeling suicidal - I can promise you that you will be missed. Your life is not pointless, you do not deserve this and no one will be happier because you are gone.

Please, please reach out for help.

Call 988 and speak with someone if you have no one you can talk to. Please, do not be ashamed of your thoughts or feelings. It is okay, you can get past this and things can get better.

You are always allowed to change your mind, even if you already told other people you were going to do it. Even if you already bought the supplies, wrote the note, and did every prepatory measure. You are allowed to change your mind and not go through with it. Please, please, please know you do not owe it to anyone to follow through if you do not want to anymore.

Small acts of kindness, encouragement and human connection go much further than you think. Be a kind person, be someone a struggling kid can turn to for help, and be a role model for why life is worth living.

This article is informational and educational. It is property of Seeking Safer Pathways, LLC.

Do not use this as a substitute for any mental health services.

Call 988 to speak with someone if you are feeling suicidal

Frequently in my trainings, I remind the audience not to underestimate the girls. Many girls have a desire to carry out violence but their attacks are thwarted before they are able to attack the school. Similar to the halo-effect, I believe a lot of women and girls have a similar effect where people assume they would not be violent or want to hurt anyone. It is critical that we take this into consideration when assessing any case that comes across your desk.

Every one of these cases was thwarted.

My theory as to why there are so many thwarted cases is that the girls may be more willing to disclose to a friend their plan and then they are reported.

What I find fascinating recently is the uptick in duos of females wanting to carry out targeted violence. This is a fairly unique phenomenon to have two people want to carry out an attack but even more unique for it to be two girls.

The largest group of members of the TCC are young women. As always, the majority of people in the TCC would never hurt anyone nor do they want to. I will be reviewing a few exceptions to this and outlining some planned attacker duos.

1. Three teens, including two female students (one 13 and one 14), are being charged for planning an attack on Clinton Middle School on April 17, 2026 in upstate New York.

The court documents state the girls were obsessed with the Columbine school shooting and the film Zero Day. One girl had written extensively about Adam Lanza and the Sandy Hook shooting. Police say the students had a snapchat group called "The Cal Gabriel Fan Club," referencing the Zero Day film character modeled after Dylan Klebold from Columbine. One girl's mother told the investigator her daughter was “recently infatuated with the Columbine school shooting.”

The third student involved, a 13-year-old boy, was the one with access to firearms and they had planned to get from him. Additionally, one of the girls was reported to have been attempting to pick the lock on the safe at her home to gain access to a firearm.

The girl’s diary read: “…I’m actually considering doing a massacre at my school. It will be really big and I think I could actually get a few good hits. No one would be spared though…”

It continued: “I don’t see a stable future for myself, I’d rather just end all the pain now. Everyone and their pathetic little lifes [sic] will be gone. While you are buried into the ground, your parents little weeps and cries will fill the air.”

The school has announced that the students will no longer be able to come onto school grounds and canceled school for the day of the intended attack.

2. Two 8th grade girls planned to carry out an attack on Morgan Middle School in Ellenburg, WA in March 2026.

The girls were reported to school staff by other students and upon search, found they were in possession of a hand drawn map of the school’s layout. The two were using the school issued Chromebooks to research for their attack and research other shootings. One search revealed searches for the Tops Market shooter, Payton Gendron. Tiktok’s of Adam Lanza, searches for the schools layout and other students who carried out attacks. During their interview they said they had been planning the attack for three months.

The school reports the 14-year-old had been in trouble on March 2nd for threatening to shoot one of the boys at the school. Staff also reports shortly before their arrest the 14-year-old had asked for an exception against the schools no backpack policy.

The two girls were fixated on the movie “Zero Day” and cited it as inspiration for their attack. One of the girls was cited to have possession of a shotgun. During the search by the SRO they found a toy gun and handcuffs in one of their sweatshirts.

Both girls remain in custody and one’s trial was set to begin on April 16, 2026.

3. Isabelle Valdez, 15, and Lois Lippert, 14 at Lake Brantley High School in Florida in January 2026.

Left: Valdez, Right: Lippert

The two girls were friends and Valdez was fixed on a boy at school she believed looked like Adam Lanza. The girls created a plan to bring a knife to school to sacrifice him. They had been planning it for weeks leading up to the attack while Valdez engaged in stalking behaviors toward the victim. Valdez left behind a note for her parents apologizing for what they were going to do.

A tip was submitted online that informed law enforcement of the plan and the girls were removed from class and arrested. The dash cam footage from inside the police car has gone viral for the girls making jokes about their mugshots and downplaying the severity of what was happening.

Upon review of the girl’s social media, it appears they were both members of the TCC and Lippert used to be a well known artist in the TCC for her artwork of Zero Day characters. She also was active in the self-harm/eating-disorder community on X where she posted images of her binges and posted hundreds of tweets talking about her eating disorder. She also posted images of her self harm and body checking on her profile.

Lippert’s art of the victim and Valdez in the same outfits and poses as the Columbine shooters.

Since there arrest, the reception of the two girls has been polar opposites. Lippert has been received in a positive way, edits of her made and admiring her appearance and artwork. Valdez has become a repeated butt of every joke for her weight, memes and videos made of her mocking her continue to circulate. Both girls remain in custody and denied bond.

4. Two 17-year-old girls, Melanie Little and Alexis Pickett, are being charged with a plan to attack Morristown Junior-Senior High School in Morristown, IN in January 2026.

Alexis was initially reported to law enforcement by her mother and was arrested in January 2026. Upon investigation of her social media, it was determined she was planning the attack with Little who was in MS. She had sent her images of the layout inside the school, had photos of the Columbine killers saved in her phone, and conspired on how to obtain more guns. Pickett had dressed up as a school shooter for Halloween and sent Little photos of targets she had used.

Little had planned to tell her parents she was going to IN to see Pickett graduate as a cover to do the shooting.

Photo inside the school sent to Little - image source

“I want them to hurt,” Pickett said in a Discord chat included in court documents. “I want them to feel how I did. Hopeless and angry.”

“They’re gonna think I’m a monster, but they’re going to live with the guilt that it was their faults too no matter what they say,” Pickett wrote.

Discord messages from Pickett - image source

Both girls remain in police custody and will be charged as adults.

Oddly enough, Pickett’s trial is set to begin on April 20th… the anniversary of Columbine…

5. A 15 year old girl and 16 year old girl planned to carry out a mass casualty attack at Memorial High School in Harris County, Texas on February 19, 2025.

One was a current student at the school and the other a previous student. The two were planning on carrying out a school shooting and bombing. They were reported to the FBI who felt that their threats were serious enough to intervene. The two were arrested and will remain on probation with monitoring until they are 18.

6. Two girls, 14 and 15, were caught planning an attack at Kingman High School in Kingman, Arizona on September 1, 2022.

   The two had relationship issues and had been bullied according to law enforcement. The two had made a Hitlist of 14 students they planned to target during the attack.

7. Two 16-year-old girls, Brook Higgins and Sienna Johnson, planned to carry out an attack on in Castle Rock, CO on December 17, 2015.

   

Left: Sienna Johnson, Right: Brook Higgins

Johnson wrote in her journal that prior to their planned school shooting she was going to kill her mother and sister. Both girls planned on committing suicide together at the end of the massacre, just like Eric and Dylan.

The two girls were obsessed with the Columbine shooters and the movie Natural Born Killers. Higgin’s journal was recovered with her phone and she had visited Columbine, taking photos of it. In her journal she wrote that she wished she could have carried out the attack alongside the boys. The two had taken actionable steps toward trying to acquire guns online. The two frequently wrote about their attraction to Eric and Dylan online and referred to their plan as “Columbine 2”.

“Johnson had written in her diary in 2015 about meeting someone “who’s got what it takes to … make this school a living fucking nightmare”.

“God, Brooke and me will be unstoppable,” Johnson allegedly wrote.”

Johnson was sentenced to a youth correctional facility for 5 years and Higgins was sentenced to 3 years. Both were required to have 4 years of supervised probation upon release.

All in all, female perpetrated violence and planned attacks are not as rare as we once thought. Don’t underestimate the girls, they can be angry, too. Yes, most attacks are carried out by males but not all.

The phenomenon of a duo pair of school attackers remains relatively rare and thankfully, since there are two, there is much more opportunity for leakage. There is also many more opportunities for intervention.

P.S. If your kid watches Zero Day or likes that movie, that is not an indicator they want to carry out a targeted violence attack. If this is in combination with multiple other warning behaviors, then it is cause for concern.

Hi Parents!

My name is Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW and I work directly with kids who want to carry out mass shootings. I also have spent the last three years inside the TCC, researching and archiving information to better understand what is going on within the community.

First off, do not panic! Let’s talk this through and figure out what is goin on with your kid. Let’s figure out where your kid lands within the membership type in the TCC and what behaviors correspond.

1. What is it?

   1. The True Crime Community is an online fandom, community and subculture that is centered around interest or idolization of mass attackers, most specifically around school shooters.

2. Does TCC membership mean my kid wants to shoot up a school?

   The short answer is, no.

   1. Membership alone doesn’t mean they want to hurt anyone.

      1. From my research, what I have gathered is that the majority of members would never hurt anyone else.

      2. Many of them are much more likely to hurting themselves and have a history of self-harm, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, etc.

3. There are 3-types of Members in the TCC

   More information on my TCC Stoplight Model can be found below

   Member-Types

   1. Romanticizers

      1. This is the most common group - think of them sort of like fangirl/fanboys of specific perpetrators. They are going to display images of them in their room, talk about how cute they are, and probably write about them frequently online. They have a bit of a parasocial relationship and attachment to them.

         1. They are not interest in the violence - they are interested in the perpetrator for who they were BEFORE the attack

         2. They will not be exhibiting violent behaviors towards others but are at a high likelihood of hurting themselves

            1. Self harm

            2. Suicide

            3. Eating disorders

         3. Finding a perpetrator cute is unsettling, sure. Dangerous? No.

   2. Idolizers

      1. They are fascinated by the violence and idolize the perpetrators. They may want to be like them because they see them as cool but for the time being they are not able to carry violence out themselves.

      2. They may post a lot of edgy or inappropriate memes, insensitive social media trends, and wearing clothing associated with the perpetrator’s clothes.

      3. They are not trying to acquire weapons and have not directly stated their intention of carrying out a shooting or engaging in any preparatory behaviors.

      4. They need to be monitored because even though they cannot carry out violence NOW, they may be able to in the future with enough dedication and practice with weapons.

   3. Identifiers

      1. They see the perpetuator or the shooting/stabbing and identify with the person. They see this and think to themselves, wow, I could do that and want to do it.

      2. They want to carry out an attack, somewhere they have displayed warning signs or leakage about their plan to carry one out

      3. Attempting to acquire weapons

      4. They are going to be following the steps of the Pathway to Violence

         

      5. This is the typical roadmap that mass attackers and people with grievances follow when they carry out targeted violence. Please, take a look at it and see if this reminds you of your child. If it does, you need to speak with law enforcement to figure a plan out of how to keep everyone, including your child, safe from their actions.

4. My kid won’t talk to me about this, what am I supposed to do?

   1. Well, if they are displaying the behaviors I have listed below - you are the parent and it is your responsibility to take action. You may have to go through their phones, do room searches for weapons, or remove internet access completely.

   2. Yes, they are going to be angry with you but privacy is a privilege and if they are planning to hurt someone else or themselves - YOU HAVE TO STEP IN.

   3. If they are planning to do this, this does not mean you are a bad parent or have failed. It is hard to look this stuff in the face and accept reality but we must. Your kid needs you to step up and HELP them.

      1. You CAN do this, I promise you.

   4. More and more parents are being charged for their kids school shootings and spending a decade or more in prison for the crime their child committed because they failed to intervene.

What You Can Do Starting Now

1. What do I look out for?

   Mostly behavioral changes is going to be the biggest indicator that something is wrong. Now REMEMBER just 1 of these is not enough to suggest they are planning to hurt anyone but if they have a cluster of these behaviors and anyone in contact with the child is expressing concern - HEAR THEM OUT.

   1. Changes in interests, the way they dress, new friends, etc.

      1. Suddenly liking violence-related things

         1. Fixation on Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virgina Tech, etc.

         2. Gore content

         3. Writing and reading violent things

      2. Wearing shirts that say “wrath”, “natural selection”, “negative xp”, “humanity is overrated”

      3. Wearing a skull fabric gator mask

         

      4. New online friends they are being elusive of

      5. Only wanting to talk about specific topics that are not typically socially appropriate

         1. Nazis, school shootings, death, suicide, etc.

   2. Changes at school

      1. Suddenly getting in trouble at school

         1. Suspension or expulsion

      2. Suddenly wanting to switch to online school

         1. Figure out why - are they being bullied? Rejected? Embarrassed because people found something out they didn’t want them to? Wanting more time to dedicate to planning their attack?

      3. Grades are dropping

      4. Loss of interest in activities they once cared about or quitting clubs/teams

      5. Refusing to go to school

      6. Fighting with peers verbally or physically

      7. Peers complaining about their behavior

   3. Sudden mood changes

      They must be different from typical behaviors or exaggerated or more extreme versions of their own behaviors

      1. Anger, hateful language/rhetoric

      2. Abusive behavior towards family, peers, strangers or animals

      3. Violent outbursts and property destruction

      4. Suicidal ideation, extreme depression

      5. Fear or paranoia

      6. Expressed homicidal ideation

      7. Isolating, refusing to speak or interact with the family

      8. Intentionally trying to hide things and being upset when asked about it

   4. Sudden interest in weapons or preoccupation with violence

      1. Asking to learn how to use a gun, go to a shooting range

      2. Saving money to buy tactical gear or weapons

      3. Purchased weapons

      4. Suddenly “training” to use weapons

      5. Catching them buying chemicals or attempting to make any type of explosives

      6. Watching gore content

         1. Beheading, suicide, mass shooting livestreams, crime scene photos, animal mutilation, etc.

   5. Expressed grievances

      Grievances are experiences, grudges, points of contention that the person is holding onto and will often be the motivation behind their attack or violent behaviors.

      1. Identifying specific people bullying them or excluding them

      2. Groups of people they do not like and wishing ill on them

      3. Stereotyping specific groups

      4. Using slurs and hateful language when describing certain people or populations

      5. Wishing a specific group or person would die/be killed

      6. Giddiness or joy when they hear of other violent action taken towards a specific group or the death of a specific person

      7. Saying how they are going to make a person “pay” or get revenge for what they did to them

   6. Concerning writings

      This can be online with friends or peers, at school or at home. This can be handwritten, typed, audio recorded or video recorded

      1. Concerning topics include but are not limited to:

         1. Their desire to harm people

         2. Carry out an attack

         3. Writing a manifesto

         4. Fixating on a specific person they dislike

         5. Wishing a group would die

         6. Saying they planned to kill someone in their home

         7. Writing about engaging in illegal activities

            1. Arson

            2. Stealing

            3. Graffiti

            4. Substance use

            5. Rape

         8. Advocating for violence

         9. Sexually violent themes

         10. Descriptions of animal abuse or animal cruelty

         11. Admiration for previous school shooters

         12. A desire to do better than previous school attackers

         13. Expressed suicidal or homicidal ideation

         14. Pride that they are pulling one over on the adults in their life or living a double-life

         15. Hit lists of people they want to kill or wish would die

These are just a few of the common warning signs when someone is engaged with the TCC and do not have good intentions. It is important that if a 3rd party reaches out to you with concern about your child’s behavior, online and offline, that you take this into consideration.

No one is going to blame you as being a bad parent if you take action. It is the parents that refuse to acknowledge there is a problem and refuse to take action that have to bear the responsibility, life-long guilt/regret, and pain of their child’s actions.

Membership in the TCC does not guarantee they want to carry out violence but if there are warning signs, you must do something about it. Ask questions, see what they need and aren’t getting, how can you support and safeguard them? How can you get other trusted adults to step in and help you support the kid?

It is not going to be easy but I promise it will be worth it to help them.

Please feel free to reach out to me on Linkedin, email me at herberholdallizandra@gmail.com or check out my website Seeking Safer Pathways, LLC

Check out the resource below if you are worried about your child planning to carry out violence.

Violence Prevention Hotline

Call 888-664-6652

If you or someone you know needs support, call now. The hotline is free, confidential, and available to you or anyone you know that is contemplating violent acts towards others.”

Additional posts I have written to help you understand the nuances of the TCC:

Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW

The True Crime Community(TCC) is Not The Same as 764

NVE is essentially the umbrella term for a lot of different groups but the main focus is on 764-type groups. I know it is important for the public to have a concrete term to help them conceptualize things. However, I have seen more than enough articles as of late that is stating definitively that TCC and 764 are the same thing…

Read more

3 months ago · 6 likes · 1 comment · Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW

The Jewelry in the TCC and How to Interpret It

This Isn’t Quite Hybristophilia

The Female Shooter

The Overlap of Self-Harm and Eating Disorder Forums

Signs Displayed in a Thwarted Attack

Fan-art in the TCC

Columbine Specific Shirts

Example of a Multilayered Meme from the Community

Colt Gray’s Shrine to the Parkland Shooter

Colt Gray

The Stupid Skull Mask

Evergreen Shooter Copied Previous Attackers Selfies

Desmond Holly’s Wrath Shirt

Podcasts and Videos I Speak on TCC

Inside the TCC

TCC, gore videos, groypers and online radicalization

The information provided above is purely informational and educational. It should be used in conjunction with already established outside entities, law enforcement when appropriate, and collaborating with BTAM teams.

In a brief period of time, it seems the school shooting copycat effect has spread to schools across South America. Four attacks in 12 days. Most of which did not have a specific ideology but were grievance motivated and inspired by previous attackers. Based on the digital footprint left behind and writings, they had been planning their attacks for a little while prior to carrying it out. This means there was opportunities for intervention that were missed. What can we learn from this to help prevent more in the future? Let’s take a look at some things from my trainings that can be warning signs or indicators that there may be violence risk.

Please keep in mind that one of these does highlighted behaviors not mean that someone will carry out an attack. It must be a collection of behaviors.

(1) Posting firearms and images of self with firearms

• While firearm ownership in many countries is a citizen’s right, family bonding experience, or used for hunting - when a person is exhibiting difficulty with emotional dysregulation, history of self harm or suicidal ideation, isolation or withdraw or excessive anger then that is not an appropriate time to ever allow them access to firearms.

• Showing off themselves with a firearm or images of the firearm is a common form of digital leakage that can be easily spotted by other users, reported and hopefully help prevent violence

Gino Corradini, 15, shot and killed 1 student and injured 8 more in San Cristóbal, Argentina at the Escuela N°40 Mariano Moreno secondary school on March 30, 2026. The shooter was subdued by a staff member and taken into custody. During his custody he described a history of self-harm and suicidal ideation. News sources report that he has been under psychiatric evaluation and they anticipate him going to a psychiatric institution opposed to a detention center. His lawyer made a statement yesterday saying the shooter has not revealed his motivation behind his attack yet. Reviewing his social media history, it does show he has a previous fixation and inspiration with other perpetrators.

Prior to the attack he was posting photos of the shotgun in group chat:

Source for photos

(2) Any kind of inscription on weapons

• While there is not nearly the amount of opportunity or time to notice someone writing or carving words into weapons, I do imagine that this would take a lot of energy for a person living with their family to do.

• If someone is already exhibiting concerning behavior, it is a good idea to do room checks for weapons if you believe this is a possibility for them to have them.

(3) Writing in a notebook

• Kids don’t write in notebooks anymore… If your child is already exhibiting concerning behaviors and suddenly is writing in a handwritten notebook, take a look inside and make sure there is nothing alluding to plans for an attack, hatred for society, hit list, etc.

• Yes, it is an invasion of privacy but if you are already worried about your child and their behaviors are concerning - you need to step up and step in.

Hernán Cristóbal Meneses Leal, 18, fatally stabbed a staff member and critically injuring two others before being subdued at the Obispo Silva Lezaeta Institute in Calma, Chile on March 27, 2026. News reports say they found a notebook the attacker left behind. In this, he wrote about his "Day of Wrath" and described how he spent the 4 previous months planning his attack. He cited his motivations as “hatred, capitalism, and misanthropy”. He wrote that he planned to kill 1st graders specifically, hoping to kill 4 but “ideally 8” and planned to die suicide by cop. He claimed to believe he wanted to target the young kids “so that they would not grow up and thus not suffer the abandonment that is felt in adulthood”, much like Adam Lanza.

Once they went through his backpack, they found multiple blades that all had inscriptions on them. The following names of perpetrators were on the blades: Pekka-Eric Auvinen, Soloman Henderson, Timur Bekmansurov, and Otoya Yamaguchi.

Refer back to 1 regarding posting images with firearms

• In this instance, the significance of the pose is important because they are attempting to recreate a photo taken by the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza.

Osmer H.A., 15, killed two female teachers at Antón Makarenko High School in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán using an assault rifle on March 24, 2026. He posted shortly before his attack online declaring himself an incel. In one social media post he wrote “I’ve decided to send the feminists, who have always ruined my life, back to their creator. I hate feminists. Shortly before the attack, he took a video and posted himself saying “Today is the day". His username on TikTok where he posted videos of himself with the assault rifle was “vodka” which is a common reference to Dylan Klebold. He also posted videos that promote an incel forum website, images of Charles Manson, and clips from school shooting movies.

Image Source - Mimicking Adam Lanza’s famous photo

Image source

(4) The stupid skull mask

• Initially from a video game, it was adopted by some white supremacist groups and has just spread across to varying groups including COM-related groups and TCC attackers over time.

• If your kid randomly has that mask delivered to your house, is asking for it or suddenly wearing it - please start watching for prepatory behaviors and consult with a BTAM team if you are concerned.

(5) Shirts worn by previous attackers

• Combined with other concerning behaviors, this is an issue you need to be aware of and follow up to ask questions about the shirts they are buying.

• “Natural Selection”, “Wrath”, “Humanity is Overrated”, “Negative Xp”

March 19, 2026 a student brought tear gas, a machete and other edged weapons to his school in Celaya, Mexico and attacked another student, wounding them. He then managed to flee from the scene.

Images from his now deleted TikTok Account

The more we arm ourselves with education, ability to identify possible warning behaviors, and feel empowered to ask the at-risk person questions - the better chance we have to intervene to prevent an attack from happening.

Please reach out to my consulting company if you need assistance with any TCC or NVE related cases or are interesting in NVE/TCC specific trainings.

Seeking Safer Pathways, LLC

NVE is essentially the umbrella term for a lot of different groups but the main focus is on 764-type groups. I know it is important for the public to have a concrete term to help them conceptualize things. However, I have seen more than enough articles as of late that is stating definitively that TCC and 764 are the same thing. They are not.

My opinions are based on my experience as a practitioner, who works directly with kids who are the minority that want to or attempt to carry out violence in both 764 and TCC, researcher of TCC undercover for 3 years and now directly communicate with the community. I can say the motivations, experiences, and membership of each group are completely different. WHAT IS the same is that many of the kids who get sucked into these groups have a history of suicidal ideation, self harm, eating disorders and challenging home lives.

For clarification, also, when I refer to TCC I am specifically referring to SCHOOL attackers who are grievance, not ideologically, motivated. I am not focused on ideologically motivated attackers like Tarrant or Roof. Those are an entire different sub-category of TCC that I will touch on another day.

764 and Other Splinter Groups

The motivation of an average member:

• Initially most are being introduced online by a friend or someone they meet online

  • Pretty quickly it goes one of two ways:

    • Grooming and love bombing or

    • It begins almost immediately with abuse, control or manipulation

• Fear if they leave their life will be ruined, they could be swatted or doxxed or have their photos leaked. They do not feel there is any option but to stay. Many of them are threatened that if they tell an adult, their family will be killed.

• Many do not feel they have the privilege of contacting law enforcement regarding their abuse and suffer in silence

The motivation of an aggressor in 764

• Essentially they are clip-farming, they have dehumanized their view of the victim into a currency that will get them notoriety from their peers in their group.

  • They want to make content that is screenshot worthy so they can distribute and display it to other members.

• Many of their end goals are to convince someone to kill themselves on livestream, that is the ultimate currency for approval and ultimate display of control.

  • They are not focused on suicide of themselves but of others as it will help them rise in rank.

• Most of these aggressors do not physically harm anyone themselves but groom and extort others into carrying out violence at their direction (Kinda like Manson).

  • Stabbing a homeless man

  • Arson

• Once they have the digital “proof” of their ability to direct another person to do harm, they share it around to other people.

  • They make edits of it, promote themselves online and GET TO ENJOY THE NOTORIETY because they are alive.

• Largely they prefer to remain anonymous, even with people they become close to in the community because of how high risk their behavior online is or fear of being doxxed/swatted.

Themes

• Some members initially choose to be members, some are extorted immediately once in contact with a member and forced to join but many do not feel they have the option to leave.

• Extorting violent content from mostly unwilling victims (some become so used to the abuse, they feel it is their only way to prove their worth or get affection from their abuser so they offer to do the behaviors) including CSAM, gore videos, cut-signs, blood walls, animal abuse/torture/death, live-streaming humiliation rituals such as having the victim cut off their hair, degrading them verbally, threatening to release their nudes, swatting them repeatedly, doxxing them and much more.

  • This type of humiliation is often displayed on livestream with many people watching it in real time, commenting or talking through voice chat humiliating and coercing them further - all while it is being screen recorded.

• Grooming and desensitizing victims by repeated exposure to extreme gore content, violent imagery and CSAM

• Satantic imagery, murder-for-hire, ritualistic behaviors (blood rituals mostly), accelerationism, white supremacy ideology, racism, misogyny, homophobia, basically nothing is off the table.

• Members looking to groom new victims will frequently go on servers or profiles dedicated to self-harm or eating disorders to find vulnerable people.

Reported Experience from Ex-Members about Their Time in 764-Type Groups

• Victims have reported experiencing PTSD symptoms, nightmares, and report their experience being traumatic

  • Remembering the time in their life where they were nearly coerced into killing themselves on live-stream, self harming out of fear, or doing something they didn’t want to do like harming their pet

  • Shame for engaging in conversations, groups or times where they encouraged another person to hurt themselves (as a way they were groomed into or felt was a survival tactic for themselves during the abuse)

  • Anger relating to the abuse they were directed to inflict on themselves and the lasting impact the scars have on their bodies

• Perpetrators (I have worked with who were minors - not the adults arrested for CSAM) have expressed remorse for their actions and shame regarding their behavior

  • Remembering seeing violent images and CSAM that desensitized them but do not feel the images will ever really go away from their memory

  • Self-hatred, shame and questioning how they could have done the things they did and fearful anyone will find out about it

One of the most important things I hope will you take away from this article is that the vast majority of kids in 764 and off-shoot groups are victims. We need to be viewing this a lot more through the lens of domestic violence and cycles of abuse. One of the most complicated aspects for people to grasp onto when hearing about 764 and off-shoots is that even a lot of the aggressors who go on to do terrible things, have been victimized in some way by the group (doxxing, swatting, extorted, sexstorted).

True Crime Community (TCC)

The motivation of an average member:

• Friendship, community, curiosity, understanding, to feel seen or feels like they relate to the life of the perpetrator prior to their attack

• Interest in a specific case they have come across and a desire to learn more about it initially and then come across info posts or other threads within the community. They identify with a specific perpetrators case and become more inclined to continue engaging with the community. They start to make friends on platforms, then there is buy-in, community, and a reason to stay. They suddenly do not feel so alone or misunderstood.

• A lot of themes are focused on their own suicide or the suicide of a perpetrator more than the murder of innocent people. Many openly express disapproval of the attack and wished it didn’t happen or that they could have somehow prevented it.

• Once they feel comfortable, they will frequently drop anonymity with people they feel are their peers and willingly share information (not because they were doxxed by another member).

• They have reported other members who shared they have a plan to law enforcement with the intention of preventing another targeted violence attack

Motivation of a member who goes on to (successfully or unsuccessfully) shoot or stab people at school:

• These are often from the most extreme subsets of the True Crime Community (TCC),

• Largely, grievance motivated. They feel they are out of options and the only solution for their problem is violence.

  • For some that do carry out an attack, when looking for notoriety they will attempt to livestream themselves or leave behind a digital footprint.

    • The notoriety a lot of times, I believe, comes from just a desire to be seen because prior to the attack they feel invisible, like nothing and think this is the only way to be remembered.

    • The 2019 report from the US Secret Service stated that more than 75 percent of school shooters communicated their intentions ahead of their shooting - lots of opportunities to have intervened.

  • Yes, some are inspired by previous attacks (usually Columbine) and that is the blueprint for them to take action.

• Most of them go on to kill themselves in the end

  • So keep that in mind that even though they get the notoriety - they never get to relish in it or enjoy it because they are dead or in prison.

Themes

• Members choose membership. They are not coerced, forced, or threatened with consequences by peers if they decide to leave the TCC.

• There are themes of self harm but not at the behest or direction of another person.

  • It is a separate issue they used to cope that was not learned or encouraged by the TCC.

  • Depending on the platform, gore content is viewed and shared. There is not CSAM, not sexstortion, not swatting. Members have reported anti-TCC activists doxxing members and reporting to authorities.

• Depending on the group and platform, there are certainly TCC members who express beliefs of white supremacy, racism, sexism, misogyny, misandry, etc. but the overwhelming majority might use slurs in the same edgy-context a lot of teenagers use them.

• Many members identify themselves as neurodivergent, bisexual or gay, trans, or having Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

• Overwhelming amount of members have suicidal ideation at some point, inpatient psych holds, diagnosed with depression or anxiety, eating disorders, questioning their identity or sexuality, self harm, report history of abuse or trauma.

  • I’ve observed some members self-reporting they are in SHEDTWT or other related groups.

Reported Experience from Ex-Members about Their Time in TCC

• Some report that while they made friends and had many positive experiences, the content of school shootings and talking about suicide often made them feel “worse” which led them to leave the community.

• Some report they have grown out of it and find it “cringe now” and have expressed shame for having been a member.

• Some who have left report missing it but say it is “not the same anymore” when they have tried to return to different platforms.

• Some were “fedded” (law enforcement intervention) which led to consequences that made them no longer allowed to engage within the community

  • Most of the ones in this category didn’t have a plan but were interested in TCC and reported them to law enforcement

  • Some DID have a plan and another member of the TCC reported them or a bystander that led to their plan being thwarted, thankfully

Working with the Kids From These Groups

The part that makes 764 different from ANY other group I have worked with (ISIS, Neo-nazi, Groyper, TCC, Incels, ANTIFA, Orthodox Nationalists) is that the aggressors have always done something they cannot take back. The other groups I mentioned before, until they pull the trigger or detonate the bomb, they haven’t victimized anyone. They have not irreparably harmed another person for life.

However, the 764-type groups have done things they will never be able to fully take back. They have hurt another person, usually a lot of them. They have to live with what they did, who they hurt and take accountability for their actions. While their actions may be much smaller scale technically (self-harm vs mass casualty event) - it is repeated, perpetuating a cycle of abuse and a constant choice they continue to make. They have to accept the multiple choices they made over and over for the sake of approval, notoriety and power.

Our Role As Adults

It is our responsibility as adults to know the differences between the dangers our children are facing. You HAVE to know the difference between something like 764 vs TCC vs Incel and so on. They are not the same. They do not have the same function, community-style, or motivation behind their violence nor do they carry violence out the same or toward the same targets.

I know it is easy to want to lump everything together because you do not want to know the nuances. I can understand that but mislabeling will lead to panic, fear mongering and inevitably MORE harm toward these kids. We MUST do better. People MUST stop writing things for clicks and share information with each other.

Listen, my god, I do not like the violent action of 764-type groups or TCC members who carried out an attack. It is devastating, heart breaking and I hate seeing children feel they have to resort to violence. I mourn for the victims and the impact it has on their families. I hate it, I hate seeing the pain and even worse, all the signs adults chose to ignore along the way. We have to do better, we have to educate ourselves, approach these kids with understanding instead of fear, and believe that they have the capacity for recovery.

Message of Hope

Guess what? I have seen kids get better. I have seen radicalized kids, kids wanting to carry out violence and extremely suicidal kids GET BETTER. There is HOPE. Most of their chance for hope was someone acknowledged something was wrong and an adult stepped in.

These kids need a role model, an adult they can trust and someone who is willing to understand them. No matter the ideology or group affiliation, they all want community, friendship, to feel seen and cared for. Step up and be that adult in their life.

Consult with your Behavioral Threat Assessment Team if you believe someone is at risk or needs intervention. Additionally, feel free to reach out to me anytime if you have a case you need help with or questioning what might be happening.

When I first began researching the True Crime Community (TCC) three years ago I went in with only the knowledge put forth by the media. Kids obsessed with school shooters want to be school shooters. Plain, simple, easy to understand. As I began to lurk on Tumblr, TikTok, Instagram, Deviant Art, Discord, Roblox and Reddit forums I realized this take was so far off from reality.

The community was nuanced with varying types of membership and commitment to it. That knowledge served for the inspiration in creating the TCC Stoplight Model that I train schools, law enforcement and parents on today. At this time, I am in the process of creating formalized research with proof of testing the model that will hopefully be submitted for peer review by the end of the year. This article serves as a general overview of the model but does not highlight all the behaviors associated with each group.

What is the TCC Stoplight Model?

This tool is meant to be informational and used in conjunction with other BTAM models. Think of it as an enhancement for more easily identifying what is a threat and what may not be when assessing someone identified as a possible member of the TCC.

The Model

Imagine a Stoplight: green, yellow, red.

Green light turning yellow…

The largest group is the Romanticizers.

The easiest way to think of this group is understanding they are focused specifically on the person before their attack.

Think of fan girls outside of a concert, photos all over their walls, shirts just like their favorite musician and overwhelmed by this crush they have on a person who does not know they exist. Yes, this is just like that only with a person who did something awful - not a celebrity.

• To be a Romanticizer there must be elements of a parasocial, romantic or sexual relationship towards a perpetrator.

• Many of the members outright say “I do not condone” referring to condoning the violence carried out by the perpetrator

• Most members in this group have a history of self harm, suicide attempts, eating disorders or emotional abuse.

• Projecting an idealized version of the person onto them, desire to “save” them and feel immense empathy for them

• This is demonstrated with what I call “Tokens of Loyalty”. This is a physical item they have bought or made paying tribute to the perpetrator.

  • Buttons, keychains, lockets with their face in it or other jewelry with their name on it

  • Shrines, memorials

  • Making artifacts to memorialize the killer

• They do not have a desire themselves to carry out an attack.

Imagine this group as a green light starting to turn yellow.

It is not something to ignore but it is not an indicator that they are planning to or will carry out targeted violence. It is more of an opportunity to see what function this community and parasocial relationship is doing for them. Once you find that out, you can help them find a healthier coping skill and community to be a part of.

Yellow light turning red….

The second largest group is Idolizers.

The easiest way to think of this group is understanding they are focused specifically on the person before and after their attack.

They are fixated on the violence, the attack and think of it as “cool”. They idolize the perpetrator as a role model but do not view themselves on the same level as them. Think of an edgy kid who would think Columbine is “cool” but doesn’t have the ability to go through with carrying an attack out themselves.

• To be an Idolizer there must be elements of admiration for the violent action carried out by the perpetrator and glorification of it without themselves specifically attempting to do it themselves.

• They will often try to emulate the perpetrator through physical appearance, clothing, interests or mannerisms.

  • Music, movies, hobbies, books, clothing, language/slang, writing style, etc.

• Their profiles will frequently have “I condone” in it to clarify they condone the violence carried out by the perpetrators.

• Even if they have the desire to carry an attack out, they do not have the capability because they are afraid of something not going to plan.

• Some are posting edgy memes, video edits or trolling people online.

Imagine this member as a stoplight turning yellow to red.

It is cause for concern, time to ask a lot of questions, gather as much information as possible and conduct a threat assessment. When thinking of this member-type through the lens of pathway behaviors imagine someone forever stuck on the fantasy stage but too fearful to go any further.

Remember: It is absolutely critical to continue monitoring this person. While this person may not currently be able to move further down the pathway, with enough dedication and desire, they can acquire capability for violence. It is not a guarantee that a person will move from this stage to the final stage: Identifiers, but it is always a possibility. Continue to consult with your BTAM team, follow up with the person and reassess as more information comes about.

Red light… Full stop.

The smallest and final group is Identifiers.

The easiest way to think of this group is understanding they are focused specifically on the the attack. They see the violence and are inspired. To be in this stage they must be engaging in preparatory and/or pathway behaviors.

They view themselves as equals to other perpetrators and are motivated to carry an attack out. Most frequently, these may start out as Idolizers but with time they begin to follow the steps of the Pathway to Violence Model.

• To be an Identifier they must identify with a perpetrator and want to and are engaging in preparatory behaviors.

• Attempting to or successfully acquiring firearms, tactical gear or elements to make bombs

• Photo of self with firearms

• Writing a journal or manifesto

• They have an identified target, grievance, and possible victim list

• Leakage …. lots of it

This is a red light - slam the breaks, full stop.

You have to pull out all the stops right now. There is information that there is possibility of a credible threat and imminent danger. Follow the protocol of your school, organization or agency when at risk for targeted violence.

It is important to keep in mind that ALL three groups have a fascination with death and suicide. That is not enough of an indicator to determine level of threat or which category of membership they fall into.

This is a short list of some of the behaviors of each group. The training has many more examples to be on the look out for with photo examples for each.

Below is a brief overview of some of the takeaway to keep in mind during your threat assessment

If you plan to use my model in your training, please cite me as the author.

Please reach out to me directly if you wish to have me do a training and teach in detail about the different warning behaviors for each category and possible intervention techniques.

Disclaimer: The model is for informational purposes only and cannot predict targeted violence with certainty. It is critical to utilize multiple threat assessment tools when conducting an investigation against a threat.

As someone who has been undercover, in the chats, across various platforms for 3 years I can attest that the majority of members are not a danger to others but most are suicidal. Most information is written about them, not by them.

I wanted to share the message the young person asked me to send. It is raw, candid, and honest. They have been a member for many years, no history of violence but has struggled with suicidal ideation. From their accounts and what I have witnessed, most TCC members have struggled with suicidal ideation for the greater part of their life. In order to really help and understand how to prevent mass shootings, we have to listen to the voices of these communities.

Below is the message written and asked to be anonymously shared by the member “Self Destructor”:

“I’ve been in the True Crime Community (TCC) for about 6 years now. I want to help others like me who have felt that this community has taken a part of them away, whether it be their childhood, innocence, or friendships.

We are not monsters, cult members, bloodthirsty or hateful.

We gravitate to such a niche and taboo community to find like-mindedness and to find.. Well…community. Whether it be a shooter’s misanthropy, or our peer’s suicidiality, we just want to feel seen and heard. Most of us start out with morbid curiosity, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, reading books.. Engaging with true crime content in a relatively normal way. Eventually, one or two cases may particularly strike our interest. This is usually columbine, for how unique and just how much information there is on it.

In my eyes, it’s just another alternative teen subculture that most teens grow out of. It’s angst, edge, a way to express our hatred of people and the world, our discontent with the systems in place, and an oppressive social hierarchy. Some of the nicest, most accepting people I’ve met have been in the TCC, I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs, laughs and cries, and I cherish what I’ve learned during my time as a member of this community.

We mimic clothes, language, and mannerisms of perpetrators partially because we actually think the aesthetic is cool. I mean, c’mon, you have to admit a trenchcoat and a shirt that says WRATH is badass. It’s like someone mimicking their favorite character’s outfit. But it can be a sign of a deeper issue. Anyone relating to Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris probably has some problems that need to be worked out, but approached with kindness and forgiveness!

Most of us see it as a way to reclaim power in our lives that was lost, some of us project these fantasies of violence and suicide onto pre-existing perpetrators as a coping mechanism. Of course, not all coping mechanisms are healthy. Some of us form parasocial relationships with these perpetrators, dead or incarcerated. It’s all a coping mechanism to deal with greater issues, whether it be neglect, abuse, or mental illnesses.

Unfortunately, we have reached a point in our community where not only suicides are common, but attempted and successful homicides are becoming more and more prevalent. I am deeply ashamed to see this, and my deepest condolences go out to anyone who has lost a loved one due to an act of gun violence. Admittedly, yes, many of us have home problems, mental health problems, and social problems.

A vast majority of us do not condone violence, nor encourage it. This is a small and perverse population of an online subculture that is much more diverse than you’d think. In our community, if one were to attempt an act of mass violence in school, a supermarket, a library, or any other public place, they would be met with mockery and shame. It is only a small portion of the TCC that actually condones and approves of violence and actively encourages it.

Members of the TCC are more likely to be groomed into self harm, suicide, and homicide rather than be the ones encouraging it. To be honest, TCC does share similarities and spaces with other extremist groups like incels, neo-nazis and others, but most of us are not a part of these groups- think of it like a venn diagram with a bunch of circles with some overlap between them.I hope my statement can help law enforcement treat us better despite our fixations, and inform parents of a community their child may be in. Take care of yourselves. Thank you.”

I appreciate them being willing to share this message to CVE and BTAM professionals to give some raw insight into their perception and experience as a member.

My thoughts on the challenge with educating on this topic…

Sometimes it feels tireless, like I am fighting an uphill battle when I read how the media or news outlets write about stories of thwarted violence, kids with an interest in mass shootings and the TCC in general. Knowing these kids online, working directly with them and studying them - I wish more people would approach these kids with curiosity, empathy and a desire to help. They aren’t monsters, they’re people struggling and searching for an escape.

I spend a lot of time worrying and fearful about misinformation coming out about this community. I worry about future demonization and the implications that will have in actually pushing them onto the pathway to violence. I fear for the kids who assumptions are made about them because they look edgy and are wearing a trench coat. I think of all the stories I have heard about a kid making an off handed comment or something is misinterpreted then BAM, they’re expelled. I understand the notion many schools and establishments are trying to make with the no tolerance policies. They believe they are coming from a good place and it is for the greater good of their community. Unfortunately, what I have seen in both research and practice is this further isolates them and makes them more vulnerable to further radicalization or developing a grievance.

Providing hope for the future

Many, many members acknowledge the violence is wrong and state outright they “do not condone it”. They acknowledge the victims and say how they wish they could have met the perpetrator to perhaps prevented the attack from happening. They feel connected to the person before their attack. In my TCC Stoplight Model - they are identified as Romanticizers and are the overwhelming majority of members.

Another high point I can touch on with confidence is the amount of members I have seen report anyone who is threatening attacks. Even while in a fandom of mass shooters, most members are horrified at the thought of someone from their community carrying out an attack. Many, many times when someone makes a comment on a post stating their manifesto or suggesting someone to go through with a shooting - there is an overwhelming amount of people telling them not to do it. Some outright tell them “it’s not worth it” while others tell them “your attack won’t be successful, everyone will just make fun of you - it’s not worth it”.

I hope that my research, information sharing, and demystifying the TCC is helpful to all those who may come in contact with a member of this community. There absolutely IS hope for these kids. I have had many reach out to me, tell me that I am one of the few people who have represented the community appropriately and many want to exit the TCC. I’ve seen countless posts of people who have “grown out of it” and reflected on their time in it. For many, this is likely a passing phase that they are using to feel some semblance of control over their life and escape from reality.

I know this is not a fun topic, I know it feels scary, and is confusing. I really do, I felt all those things when I first began looking into it myself. I never thought I would be spending my life advocating for compassion towards people who are obsessed with Columbine or whichever shooting. For one reason or another, I found myself here and feel it is my duty to help people see this with clear eyes. I am sorry if you keep having to come across my posts, I am sure you weren’t planning on spending your night reading about this either… But, thank you. Thank you for being interested, being curious and willing to hear out this members perspective. That is the first step in finding a way to help these people.

The best way to prevent future targeted violence is to be able to approach with confidence, not fear, to make clear, informed decisions based on their pathway behaviors.

It is not uncommon for the kids I work with to not be white but be a white supremacist or a nazi. I have worked with many Jewish kids who end up being neo-nazis and holocaust deniers. It seems so unbelievable that at first I had a difficult time accepting it as true. However, I can promise you this is a very real phenomenon. I usually view this as internalized racism and self hatred.

I rarely talk about ideologically motivated (rather than grievance motivated) violence but I do find thwarted cases to be absolutely fascinating. One of the reasons I find it to be specifically fascinating is because it is one of the few opportunities we have to learn from the perpetrator what led them to want to carry violence out, what their intention was, and if they regret doing what they did. Also, always so grateful when no one is hurt.

The Case
Mack Davis is a 22 year old black neo-nazi who was caught planning to carry out targeted violence in 2024. The arrest occurred after he fired more than 60 bullets from his bedroom window with a sawed off rifle. (Thankfully no one was harmed.) Then decided it was not suspicious for him to stand outside with his neighbors while officers responded to the scene. His behavior evidently drew a lot of attention to him and law enforcement was able to figure out it was him.

They found an arsenal in his room, tactical gear and THREE HANDWRITTEN (it's always the handwritten ones!!) notebooks detailing his hatred for black people, doodling many swastikas and repeating his hatred for Jewish people. They recovered a flag with swastikas drawn all over it and more knives with things written on them. They found 2 firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and tactical gear.

Image of notebook from

Court documents show a knife from his room.

It was later confirmed that prior to his firing out of his bedroom window, spray painted "fag" on two of his neighbors cars who he knew to be gay. These were also the cars he shot at out of his window.

He states during his interrogation interviews that he was radicalized on Terrorgram and believes he was groomed into the ideology to carry out an attack. Terrorgram has been directly linked to encouraging Juraj Krajčík to carry out a shooting at a gay bar in the 2022 Bratislava Shooting. After viewing his search history prior to the attack, the documents detail he was fixated on this specific perpetrator who was later considered to be a “Saint” for Terrorgram and added to the Saint’s Calendar. They also recovered photos where he was trying to emulate the perpetrator and copy off his photos.

Photos from court document
True Crime Community Membership
It's obvious to me what while there isn't specific evidence that he identified as being in the True Crime Community (TCC), the online subculture that glorifies mass shooters. Davis had an extensive knowledge of previous shooters, paid them tribute online, spent countless hours on forums dedicated to them and idolized them. Some of this is idolization, some is parasocial behavior and some of it is identification with them.

I still view this as a form of membership to the TCC even though it looks less traditional than the school shooting focused area of TCC.

I see this as having 3 different tracks of TCC membership.

1. Ideologically motivated, they don’t kill themselves in the end, specific targets based on population type (race, religion)

   1. Tarrant, Roof, Gendron, Brevik

2. Loose ideology (usually incel, black pill or antinatalism) + grievance motivated - toss up if they will kill themselves in the end

   1. Elliot Rodger, Alek Minassian, Jake Davidson, Guy Edward Bartkus

3. Grievance motivated and notoriety seeking - usually die by suicide in the end

   1. Columbine, Rupnow, Henderson, Stair

I view Davis as falling in the first category as he wanted to specifically target gay people because of his ideology. He also espoused so much hatred for minorities.

Excerpts from his journals

“I’ll be a god, exacting my Retribution on all those who deserve it, and you do deserve it, Just for the crime of living a better Life than me, and thats a crime that can never be forgiven,” he wrote in another entry.
What I see here -
1. Calling himself a "God" is a phrase attributed to the Columbine killers
2. "Exacting my Retribution on all those who deserve it" is very Elliot Rodger coded writing

"IDK Why im so invested in Mass Shootings and these topics and Why i feel this way or even knew about Half these Killers and Shootings 3 years ago, but now im consumed by it, i Breath it, i sleep it, I cant get it out of my mind im too far gone, Bombs, guns, Bullet Proof gear, How does one Back Out now? i dont know if its even Possible to now go through with what im Planning, when thoughts become real life actions."
3. He is expressing how he feels consumed, addicted, obsessed with perpetrators. It has become his entire world. While this is a different lane of TCC, more 4-Chan-ideological type violence, it is still the same symptoms of any other form of radicalization. It gave him purpose, feelings of community and a limited view of the future for himself. He felt unable to pull himself away and felt a call to action.

Today…

Davis has put in a guilty plea for his charges and is still awaiting his sentencing.

Thankfully, he has never done anything he can't take back (harming someone else) and has appeared to reflect somewhat on his actions while incarcerated. Even as young adults, they have the capacity to change. He has so much leakage for so long and so many times he could/should have been caught prior. Hopefully he continues his willingness to take accountability and take actionable steps towards change.