How do we distinguish between 'lone wolf terrorism' and a 'hate crime' in the case of the school shootings?

Question

I need to know how to answer this

 

Answer 1

A "lone wolf terrorist" commits an act of terrorism acting on his/her own, as opposed to doing it under the direction and support of a terrorist organization like Al Qaeda.  To be called an act of terrorism, the goal must be to bend people's will through physical violence and intimidation, usually with a political objective in mind.

 

A hate crime involves violence directed against a specific people group because of its color, creed, national origin, gender, or some other reason.

 

However, in some cases the two are hard to distinguish. 

 

As Lauren explained, the mass shootings may be caused by emotionally unstable or mentally ill individuals.  Their intent is not so much to make a political statement.  They just want to hurt others, who in the attacker's own mind, hurt the attacker.

Answer 2

Here is the definition of hate crime:

a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence.

Although the motivations of the many various school shooters varies, these people seem to suffer more from mental instability.  They don't seem to be motivated by gender or race because the killing patterns are random, in general.  Just an opinion...