A Serial Bomber is a type of serial offender whose modus operandi, as the name implies, involves the use of bombs. They differ from generic bombers as they usually alternate their acts with "cooling-off periods", much like a serial killer would do.
Typology and Motivations of Bombers/Serial Bombers[]
- Power Seeker - They are primarily motivated by the exertion of power through their acts.
- Mission-Oriented - They are thrilled by the act of constructing and placing the bomb, and come up with some overarching cause as an excuse.
- Technician - They are gratified by the elegance of the bomb design.
- Criminal Enterprise - They are extortionists or profit-oriented offenders.
- Dispute-caused - They are set in political, religious, racial, or labor disputes.
- Revenge - They set bomb for, as titled, revenge.
- Suicidal - They use bombs as a dramatic means of suicide.
On Criminal Minds[]
- Season One
- Adrian Bale ("Won't Get Fooled Again") - A cop killer, hacker, and one-time mass murderer who killed ten people, including six FBI agents.
- Season Two
- Kenneth Roberts ("Empty Planet") - A spree killer who used pipe bombs to recreate events from a novel, which he believed contained prophecies.
- Season Seven
- Robert Adams ("Painless") - an "injustice collector"-type copycat of Randy Slade, and serial-turned-spree killer who was motivated by being discredited for looking Randy in the eye as well as being an outsider.
- Matthew Downs ("Hit" and "Run") - A symphorophilic homegrown terrorist, hacker, serial killer, and mass murderer who was a member of The Face Cards, a terrorist group who bombed several banks.
- Izzy Rogers ("Hit" and "Run") - An international and symphorophilic serial killer, thrill killer, assassin-turned-terrorist, bank robber, cop killer, one-time mass murderer, and one-time abductor who led The Face Cards, a terrorist group who bombed several banks.
- Season Nine
- Tivon Askari ("200") - A prolific and international torturer, serial killer, and abductor, who committed two bombings, one of which resulted in the death of JJ's unborn baby.
- Season Ten
- James Burke ("Hero Worship") - A "wound collector"-type budding serial killer, one-time school bomber, and arsonist whose bombings only killed one individual. The bombings being motivated by his high narcissism and the belief that he had been challenged.
- Season Eleven
- Sharon Mayford ("Entropy") - An international gangster, serial killer, one-time mass murderer, and hitwoman who carried out a hit for Brian Cochran, which led to the deaths of at least 173 people.
- Season Thirteen
- Jake Logan ("Killer App") - A serial-turned-spree killer, workplace shooter, mass murderer, one-time cop killer, and one-time abductor who bombed a school, killing 372 people, after mistaking it for a terrorist training camp. He also presumably carried out similar bombings before hand.
- Season Fifteen
- Shelby Mattson (“Spectator Slowing”) - A serial killer and stalker who sent bombs to a group of people who had been a part of a tour of the house where his mother had been murdered.
Real-Life Serial Bombers[]
- Edgar Pearce
- Eric Rudolph
- George Metesky
- Luke Helder
- Theodore Kaczynski