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Published April 23, 2006 12:00 am - No easy answers. No easy solutions. That's what Dwayne Fuselier concluded. Human behavior is complex, violence no less so, he said Friday. Why Riverton? Why now?FBI agent:Reasons rarely clear, even with hindsight The Joplin Globe By Andy Ostmeyer
Globe Assistant Metro Editor No easy answers. No easy solutions. That's what Dwayne Fuselier concluded. Human behavior is complex, violence no less so, he said Friday. That's the message he offered residents in Southeast Kansas who may be wondering how five of their sons, brothers and friends ended up being arrested, allegedly for plotting to shoot students and employees at Riverton High School. "Everybody who was involved with Columbine was asking the same question. Why these kids? Why here? Why now? I don't think anybody has the answer," said Fuselier, of Denver, a psychologist and special agent for the FBI who was the agency's lead investigator following the Columbine massacre on April 20, 1999. A few years ago, Fuselier joined a panel of experts who developed a way to assess school threats and intervene, and it identified behaviors, personality traits and family, school and social dynamics that could be associated with violence. The list included low tolerance for frustration, feelings easily bruised, poor coping skills, depression, narcissism, lack of empathy and more. Any of these traits, or several, also show up in students who are not violent, and who would never bring a weapon to school, let alone use it, the panel's report noted. But these things are rarely clear, not even with hindsight. "If somebody is looking for 'the' reason, as if there is one single reason kids do things, I think they are off base." April 20 If there is a connection between what might have happened in Riverton and what did happen in Columbine, it could be the date. Both occurred April 20. And in both cases, students linked to the event allegedly showed a fascination with the Nazi Party. A message posted on the Web site www.myspace.com last week urged students in Riverton High School to mark the anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler - he was born April 20, 1889, and his 50th birthday in 1939 was marked with goose-stepping Nazi pageantry - by wearing bulletproof vests. It was that message that prompted school officials to look into the issue. Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Norman said some of those arrested in Riverton appeared to have a fascination with Hitler and Nazism. He also said that some material found in their school lockers was "very concerning and very dark." Dr. Frank Ochberg, a Michigan psychiatrist who also studied Columbine, said there is no doubt the date was important for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 13 people and wounded others before killing themselves at Columbine High School. People who set out to do these things often choose a date they feel gives their act additional weight, and in the Columbine case, it could have been part of their fantasy to tie it to the Nazi Party. 
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