What's going on in Austin?

I ask because I would like to know.

Some thoughts regarding mass shootings:

There is a difference in mass shooters, IMO. There are mass shooters who do it for ideological reasons. They may have mental illness issues also but the overarching reason is political, religious, racist, etc. They are going after the "oppressors". They generally are delivering a message to the government, community, etc. This act is not so much about the specific location where it was carried out but the public at large. They are acting for their group, more than for themselves, and so others may follow suit to advance the same cause/message. This is what we more technically call "terrorism".

Then there are those disturbed individuals who have pent up anger over (mis)treatment at school, either by fellow students, administration, etc. This anger gets really focused by further life events or frustration with life and then they start to educate themselves on past shootings, get fixated on things like Columbine, and then identify with this type of revenge. They fantasize about getting revenge, or being remembered. Mental illness is a common element of their story. They finally act out this fantasy and become a shooter. They are acting for themselves more so than for a group. They cause a lot of terror, but their issue is over with them and we don't look for more who carry their cause and will strike again next week for the same specific reasons, although subsequent events may be copy-cats but with different specific motives. Therefore, I don't think this is technically terrorism, IMO.

Those who shoot a bunch of people because they are committing a crime is another type of mass-shooting. This would include drug-related crimes, gang related activity, robberies where there are many victims, and those who are targeting certain individuals but with wider collateral damage (like some cases of domestic violence). This is not technically terrorism, IMO.

I think it is helpful to distinguish these types of mass-shootings when thinking about ways to prevent/reduce gun violence for specific applications.

^ I didn't mention the type that may be specific to Austin, TX. In this case, a bomber not a shooter. I am not sure all the info is out about this yet to give us a clear picture of what is going on there, but there have been other incidents in the past that appear similar involving bombs, substances, or even shooters (like the Columbus, OH shooter in 2003).

This appears to be a serial killer. It has its own psychological pathology. The guy from the Columbus highway shootings had severe paranoid schizophrenia.

This is a different kind of shooter, bomber, killer than the others mentioned in my previous post.

I don't know if this is what has been going on in Austin, but several factors seem to follow other serial killers.