'Isn't really one mindset': Criminology professor explains the characteristics of a serial killer
With the search for a person or people responsible for a series of connected killings in Stockton ongoing, KCRA 3 on Thursday spoke to a criminology professor and licensed clinical psychologist for insight on the mindset of serial killers.
Dr. Robert Schug, a professor at Cal State Long Beach, said that there “isn’t really one mindset” among serial killers.
He said that in speaking to serial killers “regardless of what’s going on in their mind psychologically, at the time of the killings there seems to be a lot going on in their social environment, so things like job loss and relationship issues.”
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Stockton police have said they don’t know whether one person or more are responsible for at least six shooting deaths of men since last year that they believe are connected. One woman survived another shooting that is believed to be linked to the slayings.
Most of the deadly shootings happened in Stockton within a four-mile radius of one another. The shooting where the woman survived happened further south in the city. Another victim was killed in Oakland.
Stockton’s police chief said that the shootings tend to have a pattern: They happen when it's dark, late at night and when people are by themselves in badly lit areas.
The victims also appear to have been caught by surprise, he said.
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Police have confirmed that ballistics tests have linked the shootings to one another, but police are not saying if all shootings are linked to the same gun. They have also released video of a person of interest who they say has been seen at some of the incidents.
Schug said that serial killers don’t typically target “300-pound linebackers.”
“They usually target people that are in a place of vulnerability,” he said. “So these people out in the middle of the night. They could be for very legitimate reasons. But they are vulnerable.”
Schug said the fact that nearly all the victims are men is something “we don’t see a lot.”
“I would speculate these are victims of convenience, who happen to be out in the middle of the night when it’s dark,” he said.