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# Stalkers tend to turn to violence
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/stalkers-tend-to-turn-to-violence-editor/
- Published: 2007-04-25T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:38:06.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Charli Schauseil Stalking Victims Sanctuary Angels Camp, California*

The tragedy in what unfolded a week ago at Virginia Tech is obvious. But the tragedy is furthered by everyone once again seeking an answer as to how to profile a killer, when instead they should be focusing on what should have been a predictor of a killer’s violent behavior.

In 2005, Seung-Hui Cho stalked two women at Virginia Tech which set off a chain of events which allowed intervention by both the criminal justice and the mental health systems that, for some reason, was then forgotten and not followed up on... but should have been. In too many of these violent acts in our country, a stalking preceded and then predicted the violent acts. The Secret Service, along with security consultants such as Gavin de Becker, know all too well that attempting to use a psychological profile in assessing a potential threat is pointless because no such profile exists. They simply look at behavior. And they look for changes in the pattern of that behavior which usually indicates what is known as escalation.

Had anyone noticed that pattern change here, what happened might not have happened.

Usually, there is only one stalking victim. This time, in a way, there were 32\. Something everyone should finally focus on during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 25, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042507.pdf?ref=smdp.com)