Creating a criminal profile is an important step to take when searching for a suspect in any criminal investigation, including a school shooting. In general, profiling involves the gathering of information by assessing physical evidence and witness statements to develop potential suspects. When creating a profile following a shooting, there are several criteria that should be taken into consideration in order to narrow down the potential suspects.

The first criterion is demographic information about the perpetrator. This includes basic details such as age, gender, ethnicity, occupation/education level. This data can help provide an estimate of how old the perpetrator might be and offer clues about their motivations for carrying out the crime. It may also reveal patterns or trends that could point investigators towards particular individuals or groups who have similar characteristics as those reported from witnesses or found at the scene of the crime. Additionally, knowing whether there has been any prior connection between victim(s) and perpetrator(s) will be helpful in making connections between them and tracking them down further in investigations.