"That seems to be the model: become the Heisman Trophy winner of serial murder; try to become the heavyweight champion by exacting the largest body count in history," Northeastern University professor Jack Levin, who has been studying mass murder for more than 20 years, told Sunday Morning correspondent Martha Teichner.
"We set a standard for would-be killers when we talk about 'the worst — the largest in American history — around the country.' It's a game of one-upsmanship."
Except for the location and the body count, the script is the same, every time, as if the killers and the commentators both have copies. Virginia Tech might as well have been Columbine in 1999: Same month, same week. Cho considered Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold his heroes.