One of these concerns the failure of Virginia Tech to spot a deeply troubled young man. According to the panelists, Virginia Tech, unlike most schools, does not require letters of recommendation or essays in freshman applications, and does not conduct personal interviews.
?Incidents such as these are rare to begin with, but they could be made rarer,? said William S. Pollack, Ph.D., director of the Centers for Men and Young Men at the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital in Belmont Mass., in an interview.
Dr. Pollack was a contributor to the U.S. Secret Service task force report on school shootings. That report found that while all of the documented shootings have been carried out by boys or young men, there is no typical, easily identifiable profile of a likely shooter.
Still, there are common signs, and someone at Virginia Tech should have been able to read them, he said.
