I frequently confuse that detail of Hinckleys shooting with Chapmans, sorry. - Edit 1
Before modification by Joel at 26/12/2012 06:54:10 PM
Look at people like the Zodiac and other serial killers who send letters to newspapers bragging of their crimes and taunting law enforcement as inferiors. Why did Mark David Chapman kill John Lennon? Because he thought it would impress Jody Foster, but how did he know she would even find out about it? Because it would put his name alongside Lennons in every headline.
zodiac: killed and stayed alive to tell people about it
chapman: killed and stayed alive to tell people about it
hinckley: attempted assassination of reagan in order to impress jodie foster (btw, i can't believe you got this one wrong.... )
manson: killed and relished the media attention he got from it
i would distinguish between mass murderers and mass shooters. yes, a mass shooting is technically a mass murder, but far and away most mass shooters are NOT looking for celebrity.
We are still parsing the fact some mass shooters have and others have not sought celebrity, whether or not they intended to survive. For my money it is just one of many factors, because shooting rampages have unfortunately become so common they do not all share the same major contributing factors. We cannot say "it is all because of notoriety/mental illness/resentment" because, while each has been a major factor in many shootings, each has been absent in many others. However, I maintain that the notoriety mass murderers receive remains a prime motivator for many of them, whether or not they intend to survive. If infamy is the sole desire, survival is not required, and, as with so much else, spectacular destruction is easier than spectacular creation (making it, of course, an admission of inadequacy.)