Visit Your Local PBS Station PBS Home PBS Home Programs A-Z TV Schedules Watch Video Donate Shop PBS Search PBS
Close Accessing Video

Mind of a Rampage Killer

Can science help us understand why some people commit horrific acts of mass murder? Airing February 20, 2013 at 9 pm on PBS Aired February 20, 2013 on PBS

Program Description

What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide any clues as to how to prevent them in the future? As the nation tries to understand the tragic events at Newtown, NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating new theories that the most destructive rampage killers are driven most of all, not by the urge to kill, but the wish to die. Could suicide–and the desire to go out in a media-fueled blaze of glory–be the main motivation? How much can science tell us about the violent brain?  Most importantly, can we recognize dangerous minds in time—and stop the next Newtown?

Broadcast Credits

PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY
Miles O'Brien
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Julia Cort
EDITED BY
Rob Tinworth
ADDITIONAL PRODUCING BY
Kate Tobin
Michael Bicks
Sarah Holt
Terri Randall
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Stephanie Mills
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Will Toubman
Karinna Sjo-Gaber
ADDITIONAL EDITING BY
Rebecca Nieto
Bill Lattanzi
Vincent Liota
CAMERA
Cameron Hickey
Thomas Danielczik
Joseph Friedman
Steve Kazmierski
SOUND RECORDISTS
Sean O'Neil
Chuck Rosina
MUSIC
Scorekeeper's Music
ANIMATION
Brian Edgerton
Alisa Placas Frutman
Hero4Hire Creative
PIXELDUST STUDIOS
SPUTNIK ANIMATION
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Nikki Bramley
Jim Fetela
ONLINE EDITOR AND COLORIST
Spencer Gentry
AUDIO MIX
John Jenkins
RESEARCH
Suzi Tobias
ARCHIVAL MATERIAL
ABCNEWS Videosource
AP Television News
Associated Press
Associated Press/NEWTOWN BEE, SHANNON HICKS
Bettman/Corbis/Associated Press
Reuters/Corbis
CNN
Getty Images
Getty Images/Tom Kurtz
Pond 5
SPECIAL THANKS
Carl Anderson
Jordan Berg
Michael Caldwell
Beau Curran
Cary Curran
Cool Curran
Declan Feeney
Jennifer Harris
Elizabeth Hutton
Xeni Jardin
Sheila Kieran
Jim Knipfel
Adam Lankford
Robert Marvin
Samantha Meadows
Hannah McCormack
Reina Mukai
Ed Pack
Satie Shova
Dona Sledge
Jordan Sledge
Kenji Stewart
NOVA SERIES GRAPHICS
yU + co.
NOVA THEME MUSIC
Walter Werzowa
John Luker
Musikvergnuegen, Inc.
ADDITIONAL NOVA THEME MUSIC
Ray Loring
Rob Morsberger
CLOSED CAPTIONING
The Caption Center
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY
Karen Laverty
PUBLICITY
Eileen Campion
Victoria Louie
SENIOR RESEARCHER
Kate Becker
NOVA ADMINISTRATOR
Kristen Sommerhalter
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Linda Callahan
PARALEGAL
Sarah Erlandson
TALENT RELATIONS
Scott Kardel, Esq.
Janice Flood
LEGAL COUNSEL
Susan Rosen
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
Rachel Connolly
DIGITAL PROJECTS MANAGER
Kristine Allington
SENIOR DIGITAL EDITOR
Tim De Chant
DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA
Lauren Aguirre
POST PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Brittany Flynn
POST PRODUCTION EDITOR
Rebecca Nieto
POST PRODUCTION MANAGER
Nathan Gunner
COMPLIANCE MANAGER
Linzy Emery
BUSINESS MANAGER
Elizabeth Benjes
DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER
David Condon
PROJECT DIRECTOR
Pamela Rosenstein
COORDINATING PRODUCER
Laurie Cahalane
SENIOR SCIENCE EDITOR
Evan Hadingham
SENIOR PRODUCER
Chris Schmidt
SENIOR SERIES PRODUCER
Melanie Wallace
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Alan Ritsko
SENIOR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Paula S. Apsell

A NOVA Production by Miles O'Brien Productions, LLC and Little Bay Pictures, LLC for WGBH

© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation
All rights reserved

Image

(James Holmes mug shot)
© /Splash News/Corbis

Participants

Paul Appelbaum
Columbia University
Joshua W. Buckholtz
Harvard University
Cynthia Ebsen
Mendota Mental Health Institute
Paul Frick
University of New Orleans
John Keilp
Columbia University
Liza Long
Mother of "Michael"
Karlen Lyons-Ruth
Harvard Medical School
Michael Meaney
McGill University
Katherine Newman
Johns Hopkins University
Miles O'Brien
NOVA Correspondent
Steven Pinker
Harvard University
Andrew Solomon
Author, Far from the Tree
Moshe Szyf
McGill University
Martin Teicher
Harvard Medical School
Gregory Van Rybroek
Mendota Mental Health Institute
Jeff Williams
Andy Williams' Father

Full program available for streaming through

Watch Online
Full program available
Soon