Cut from the same cloth? Lone Actor Terrorists versus Common Homicide Offenders

The term “lone actor” has been applied to a variety of violent individuals, including, right-wing extremists, school shooters, and others whose crimes were motivated and generated much societal impact. It may be argued, however, such a classification of this rare subset of violent offenders is an artificial one, based political perspectives rather than on empirical findings. In this study, we examine and characteristics of European single perpetrators or lone actor terrorists to a large of European ‘common’ homicide offenders. Bivariate analysis shows that lone are significantly younger, more single, and more educated than homicide. In terms of event characteristics, however, the two groups differ more. Lone actors are more likely to attack ‘strangers’ in public places and to use, while homicide offenders tend to attack victims they know in private settings to use more hands-on methods. These differences may be understood through the of instrumental versus expressive motivations. Our findings question the of lone actors as an entity fundamentally different from our sample of single offenders and call for future in-depth assessments of possible differences in drive.