School shootings and digital crime Communities!

The school attacks that first occurred in Şanlıurfa and then in Kahramanmaraş have deeply affected all of us. Unfortunately, school shootings that were once specific to the US have now spread to other countries through subculture networks that nest in digital spaces, recognize no values, and glorify nothing but violence.

It is noted that the perpetrators of school shootings in the US have been influenced by a subculture called the "True Crime Community." Meanwhile, a former director of the unit dealing with such crimes at the US Department of Justice, while commenting on a school attack that took place in Argentina on March 30, 2026, said, "This is no longer just America's problem."

In 2024, in the state of Kentucky, the suicide of a 13-year-old girl named Audree Heine was found to be linked to the "True Crime Community (TCC)." Her mother learned about this from notes in her daughter's diary found in her school locker, saying she had known nothing about it.

TCC platforms have created an online fan community where perpetrators of school attacks are glorified. In this context, the "Audree Heine case" is still being discussed in the American media. This case revealed how unaware parents are of their children's inner worlds and how they fail to correctly read the signals their children give.

Meanwhile, an article on CNN.com on April 11, signed by Meena Duerson, had the headline: "These mothers' daughters were drawn into a deadly community of school attackers. What you need to know..." The article contained highly disturbing information suggesting that, in addition to Audree Heine, other young girls were also linked to "TCC platforms."

"I thought I knew everything about my daughter," said one mother, who would later learn that her daughter was interested in the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School attack. The mother explained that she had even helped make her daughter's T-shirts featuring symbols reminiscent of those perpetrators. Audree had also posted a photo of herself wearing a Columbine T-shirt, but no one picked up on this danger signal.

Heine's mother said that children join online chat groups with older teens. The mother stated, "My son told me that a classmate of his, wearing a fake mustache and hat, was in a 16+ group chat. The kid is 9 years old."

A 15-year-old female student, Natalie Rupnow, carried out a school attack in the city of Madison on December 16, 2024. The US press reported that Rupnow's father had shared a photo of his daughter at a shooting range on Facebook in the early months of 2024, saying that they had joined a local gun club. Below the photo, it read, "We're enjoying every second of it!" Natalie also knew the combination to the safe where the guns were kept.

As Meena Duerson's article pointed out, it emerged that Audree Heine, Natalie Rupnow, and others who considered carrying out attacks admired the two 17- and 18-year-old perpetrators of the "Columbine Attack" on April 20, 1999, and shared their symbols. The "Columbine attack" served as an inspiration for subsequent school shootings.

As revealed in her diary, Audree Heine's feelings of being ostracized and bullied led her to the "True Crime Community." Heine had fallen for a lie in which the perpetrators of the Columbine Attack were portrayed as the victims. Dave Cullen, known for his research on Columbine, noted in his article titled "The Columbine Killers' Fan Club" in The Atlantic on April 19, 2024, that this attack had become a legend for school shooters and had led to the spread of a broad subculture that glorifies violence.

Cullen said that "TCC followers" are deceived by a myth that the Columbine killers were misfit teens taking revenge on their bullies. According to this, the TCC twists the story, portraying the attackers as 'victims' and the victims as 'villains.' Cullen specifically pointed out that the killers never mentioned the bullying they supposedly suffered in the diaries, online posts, and videos they left behind to explain themselves.

On March 30, 2026, a 15-year-old boy carried out an attack at a high school in the city of San Cristóbal, Argentina. The perpetrator of this case was also linked to the TCC. Official statements noted that the incident had nothing to do with bullying and was solely related to an international online subculture, adding the phrase: "We are facing digital subcultures with anti-human behavioral patterns that aim to glorify and practice violence."