- Most mass shooters reveal their plans to someone before they carry it, a former FBI agent said.
- Katherine Schweit told CNN that's the case in 80 to 90% of the instances.
- "So, you really have to listen to the people around you," she said.
The vast majority of mass shooters, especially those most likely to target a school, leak their plans to other individuals before they carry out their attack, a retired FBI agent said.
Katherine Schweit, the former head of the FBI's Active Shooter Program, told CNN that mass shooters follow a trajectory.
"There are tons of flags that we can look for. Individuals who are doing this kind of violence move on a trajectory towards that violence," Schweit said. "They get the idea to do it then they plan and prepare."
She said the shooters would buy their weapons and equipment and surveil the area at this point.
"Plus, they also leak this information to people. It's astonishing how people don't know that in 80 to 90% of the instances, somebody else is told this is going to happen," she said. "The shooter leaks this information to somebody, so you really have to listen to the people around you."
Schweit added that this is mostly the case for younger shooters who tend to be younger.
In the most recent school shooting, an 18-year-old gunman who fatally shot 19 children and 2 adults in Uvalde, Texas, posted threatening messages online moments before the attack.