A former top FBI profiler has warned that Nashville should brace for copycat shooters in the wake of the Covenant School shooting on Monday due to the "contagion" effect.
"In 2000 when the FBI released its first report on school shooters, we found that the copycat influence was powerful and it influenced the 18 cases that we studied," Mary Ellen O'Toole told the Daily Mail.
This report was compiled in the wake of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, which claimed the lives of 13 people. O’Toole said that she believed the shooter’s manifesto should not be released in that case, over fears of the "contagion" effect.
Following such a shooting, O’Toole said that communities should remain on alert for up to two weeks due to the potential for copycats.
