Psychologist Weighs In On Gunman In Orlando Mass Shooting
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- As the nation tries to understand the gunman in a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub, CBS4's Jim DeFede sat down with certified forensic psychologist who helped give us a deeper look.
Doctor Harley Stock - who has worked with the FBI and the Secret Service - weighed in on his full impression of the case so far and that of the gunman Omar Mateen.
"I really think there were a lot of misses all the way along that could have stopped that guy in the pathway to aggression," said Stock. "For example, pre-employment the screening for him as a security guard was to give him a true psychological evaluation or was he given some cheap psychological testing because whoever did it, didn't want to spend the money."
Stock went on, "Eventually he was interviewed by the FBI. I would suppose that the FBI also went back to his employer. Did they re interrogate him? Did his employer look at him again? There were other complaints about this person. What happened to him? What happened to the FBI? Why did they let this guy go even though there was some connection to a suicide bomber eventually in Syria?"
Stock used his profiling expertise to talk about his impression of Mateen.
"Not a lot is known about him. He seems to have been married at some point and divorced. There are allegations of domestic violence there. There are allegations in the workplace that he used racial slurs. There are allegations as you reported that he came down to Miami. He saw some behaviors that bothered him. It's hard to tell what put him on that pathway but in general, individuals who are self-radicalizing, tend to be people who are strange from their environment," said Stock.
He clarified, "What it means is, they've had to keep to themselves. They are not social adept. The have very strongly held beliefs. They want attention and affection. They don't know how to get it. So when somebody offers that to them, that becomes a way that they pay attention to and of course in terms of being radicalized, the more they go along that pathway, the more they cut themselves off."
As for a possible motivation for the gunman, Stock said it depends on the person.
"It's individually determined. For some it is certainly fame and glory. For others it's the belief that they're going to be a martyr and a jihadist, a movement," said Stock. "For others, it's a way to express extraordinary impression."
Stock went on to analyze the effects and motivations of terrorism in general.
"The outcome of terrorism is to psychologically destabilize an environment. That's the outcome but it's not the intent," said Stock. "What it all boils down to Jim is revenge....It's revenge against a population that does not hold their beliefs."