Possible Motives
According to reports, Carneal had been bullied by other students and suffered from severe paranoia. His paranoia was manifested in habits such as covering up vents and windows while in bathrooms, because he believed he was being watched. Following the shooting, Carneal was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He has been hospitalized several times since the start of his incarceration due to psychosis, and takes medication for this condition.
Weeks before the incident, Carneal stole a .38-caliber handgun from his parents' room and attempted to sell it. A student took the gun, threatening to tell police if Carneal did not give it to him. Additionally, Carneal had told students that "something big is going to happen on Monday" but no one took him seriously.
Read more about this topic: Heath High School Shooting
Famous quotes containing the word motives:
“We have done scant justice to the reasonableness of cannibalism. There are in fact so many and such excellent motives possible to it that mankind has never been able to fit all of them into one universal scheme, and has accordingly contrived various diverse and contradictory systems the better to display its virtues.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“Men sometimes have strange motives for the things they do.”
—Michael Reeves (1945–1969)