Citation

Schuurman B, Bakker E, Gill P, Bouhana N. J. Forensic Sci. 2018; 63(4): 1191-1200.

Affiliation

Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, 35 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9EZ, U.K.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13676

PMID

29059713

Abstract

This article provides an in-depth assessment of lone actor terrorists' attack planning and preparation. A codebook of 198 variables related to different aspects of pre-attack behavior is applied to a sample of 55 lone actor terrorists. Data were drawn from open-source materials and complemented where possible with primary sources. Most lone actors are not highly lethal or surreptitious attackers. They are generally poor at maintaining operational security, leak their motivations and capabilities in numerous ways, and generally do so months and even years before an attack. Moreover, the "loneness" thought to define this type of terrorism is generally absent; most lone actors uphold social ties that are crucial to their adoption and maintenance of the motivation and capability to commit terrorist violence. The results offer concrete input for those working to detect and prevent this form of terrorism and argue for a re-evaluation of the "lone actor" concept.

© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Forensic Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

attack planning and preparation; early-warning indicators; forensic science; leakage behavior; lone actor terrorism; pre-attack behavior; terrorism; threat assessment