FBI Expert: Minneapolis Shooter Showed "Every Known Warning Sign"
Retired FBI special agent Katherine Schweit, a leading expert on mass shootings and author of Stop the Killing, joined The Ryan Gorman Show to discuss the tragic recent shooting in Minneapolis. Schweit, who also penned the new book Women Who Talk to the Dead, offered a stark assessment: "This shooter fits all of the warning signs we've come to recognize. All of them."
Speaking on the pattern of mass shooters, Schweit emphasized how predictable some of these tragedies have become. "If we had a hypothetical conversation about what indicators to watch for, this case checks every box," she said. Her analysis highlighted how many signs were present before the attack—signs that could have been intercepted if more people had known what to look for.
The Minneapolis shooter was reportedly obsessed with prior mass killings, particularly the Sandy Hook tragedy. According to Schweit, this type of fixation is disturbingly common. "Columbine was a marker," she said. "You can still find communities online where people idolize those shooters. The internet gives these individuals a dark space to connect and evolve their violence."
She explained the typical trajectory of mass shooters, noting it usually starts with internal decline and resentment. "They degrade emotionally, lose touch with others, and become grievance collectors," she said. "They don't target groups out of ideology; it's about lashing out at the world that they feel wronged them."
Schweit also called attention to a critical blind spot in current prevention efforts. While many schools now have threat assessment teams, she pointed out there's little support for people in their 20s and early 30s—the very age range of many shooters. "There's a huge gap," she warned. "No proactive system exists for identifying those slipping through the cracks once they're out of school."
For more of Katherine Schweit's analysis, listen to the full segment on The Ryan Gorman Show.