Randy Slade

"I am God. Now, who's brave enough to look God in the eye?"

Randy Slade was a school bomber and shooter of North Valley High School, which took the lives of 13 students and wounded dozens of others in 2001. He appeared in flashbacks in Season Seven of Criminal Minds.

History
Randy Slade was a student at North Valley High School, a Boise high school. Though he was an excellent student and varsity wrestler who had many girlfriends, underneath it all he was a high-functioning, narcissistic psychopath. He spent some time planning his massacre and even made a list of people he specifically targeted together with an outcast named Lewis Ramsey who was in the parking lot smoking pot at the time of the massacre. Ramsey also provided him with the SEMTEX he used to make the bomb, getting it from his father's construction company. What specifically sent Randy over the edge was that he was not included in the Top Ten, a list of ten "elite" students handpicked by the principal to represent the school in the media and during visits to other schools. Their names, as well as the principal's, were added to the list. In 2001, Slade carried out his massacre after posting his plan online, though he didn't give Ramsey any credit. He walked around the cafeteria with a gun in his hand, daring his hostages to look him in the eye and shooting those who couldn't. One of the people he dared was Robert Adams, who managed to look him in the eye and was spared from being shot. After shooting and killing three students and loudly declaring "I am God!", he detonated a bomb he carried in his backpack, killing himself and another ten students. Afterwards, the fact that he used SEMTEX, an explosive used at construction sites held behind locked doors, led the BAU to consider the possibility that he had a partner, though they never found him. Finally, in Painless, the BAU managed to find Lewis after ten years.

Profile
Randy was a narcissistic psychopath, unlike the majority of school shooters. He was popular and highly intelligent. For this reason, he neglected to name his partner in his plans, taking the credit for himself. He was also possible delusional, because at the beginning of the shooting and when he detonated his bomb, he ranted and screamed "I am God". He also taunted students, asking if they were "brave enough" to look him in the eye. He shot students who didn't do what he said.

Modus Operandi
Randy came to school with a handgun (possibly a M9 Beretta) and a SEMTEX bomb in his backpack. He detonated the bomb by using his cell phone. A newspaper article mentions that many of his gunshot victims were shot execution style. Reid also mentions that Slade used nails for shrapnel as a sadistic touch.

Known Victims
All of the following were killed in the 2001 North Valley High School massacre.

Fatalities

 * The execution-style shooting victims:
 * Natalie Gallo
 * An unnamed student
 * Brad Smith
 * Allison Humwald
 * The SEMTEX bomb victims:
 * Jay O'Brien
 * Steve Tossell
 * Tucker Cranwell
 * Janine Bergen
 * Six unnamed other students
 * Note: It was stated that Randy shot three students, but a flashback sequence depicts him opening fire on four. However, it is possible that one of the victims that was shot survived, or that student survived being shot, but was killed by the bomb blast.

Injuries

 * Robert Adams
 * Jerry Holtz
 * Dozens of unnamed others

Real-Life Comparison
Randy Slade's massacre has some similarities to the Columbine High School massacre, including:
 * Two people were involved (although only one committed the massacre in Criminal Minds).
 * Both Eric Harris and Randy Slade were both posthumously diagnosed as psychopaths.
 * Both massacres involved the usage of explosives and guns.
 * Both used weapons in cafeterias.
 * In both cases, the perpetrators committed suicide.
 * 13 victims were killed in both massacres.
 * Dozens were injured.
 * Slade's narcissistic statements, such as when he declares himself God, bears some resemblance to the kind of grandiose statements Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made in their journals.
 * In both cases, the perpetrators taunted students.
 * At the Columbine massacre, Dylan Klebold taunted Evan Todd, an injured jock. But he decided to spare him, despite his hatred for him. In Painless, Slade taunted Jerry Holtz but decided to spare him.
 * The way Slade kills Allison Humwald while she was praying is somewhat similar to a rumor that circulated in the aftermath of Columbine, but was concluded by the FBI and other witnesses not to have happened: Eric Harris asked a girl, Cassie Bernall, if she believed in God and shot her when she replied that she did. In reality, Dylan Klebold asked already injured student Valeen Schnurr if she believed in God. He spared her after she said yes and explained why.

Appearances

 * Season Seven
 * Painless