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Well it seems more like they are trying to improve the original with their own "unique" style. Probably for some odd reason such as being notived.
Or to make a statement. There are quite a few possiblities why someone would steal and alter the original version.

Also people might just wish to do the exact same thing to prove a similiar point etc.

However alot of this would have to be pyschologically examined.

I'll finish this post off when i get back right now i am rather tired.

I don't really see them as being copy-cat crimes, of course there are similarities between the shootings, but that doesn't mean one copied the other.

From the get go, man was a violent creature, we needed to be for survival. You often see people when they get angry screaming things to others a long the line of "I'm going to kill you!", because it's just a primal instinct and how we initially solved our problems.

Now the criminal in the Virginia Tech shooting hated the people around him, and he was very likely aware of what happened at Columbine and that was somewhere at the back of he's mind. Now i haven't researched he Virginia Tech shooting so my idea on how it went down might be false, but this is what I gathered from the news I've watched/read about the incident.

The killer was being counselled when he killed he's (EX?)Girl friend and the Counselor. He then went off, bought something at a store to aid him in what he was about to do, recorded some tapes then went off and killed all the people.

Basically, I didn't need to say that, but it's all in the past now. After he killed the first two people, he realised what was going to happen to him, and he'd probably already previously considered killing people, whether it be on a really basic level, so when he already did it, and knew what would happened, he probably thought about how the people at Columbine did, and thought that he preferred that over any other option that he had at that point. So, in my eyes, he acted on what he had already thought about, but might have been persuaded a little by the events at Columbine, but he didn't actually set out to copy them.

What I just wrote's all Bull sh-t, I'm not happy with it... So you probably shouldn't read it.

I think having similar crimes is a given, even if people are not intentionally copying one another. People have similar ideas, even when they are not currently "sharing" them. Some psychologists had similar theories at the same time, though they were no where near one another and did not have contact (I don't remember the exact psychologists- it's late, and I haven't been in psychology in three years now sweatdrop ), and it's obvious when reading books that authors share many motifs, most unintentionally.

I don't know how much sense that made- I'm on my way to bed, and it sounded right in my head...

They may mimic each others actions, in that essence they are copy-cats. The motivation, to each, however remains personal and unique. The idea suicide as a conclusion to a killing spree is nothing new either. Throughout history as a result of economical depression (such as that of the 1930's) farmers have murdered their families and commited suicide themselves. Why? because they were incapable of providing. This is off topic though. Anyway, the Charles Whitman massacre is similar to, but not the same motive as the most recent school shootings, Columbine and VT. Charles Whitman was mentally ill, he admitted in a letter found on his dead wife that "maybe research can prevent future tragedies like this." His motivation remains unclear to this day expect that he was self-admitting that he wasn't himself recently.

With Columbine and VT the motivation was similar and more correlation can be concluded. Each of these was a result of being "bullied" or "picked on". There is also the connection between Cho and Whitman of mental illness. The Columbine shooters could also probably be considered mentally ill, however, evidence to this end is lacking.

The Problem of Cho:
Neither Whitman nor Harris and Klebold left a message saying "copy me." Cho, to this extent left his "manifesto". This makes him somewhat of an older brother influence for future Harris and Klebolds to follow. Cho knew what he was doing by mailing his package to NBC. He knew that if he mailed it to the police, or some other government authority that it may have been altered or not get the publicity he wanted. The media happily abliged Cho by throwing his manifesto up all over the news and the web. This action will make it so that he will not be doomed to obscurity (as most people couldn't tell you who Charles Whitman is). In the end, Cho's manifesto left an open invitation for copy-cats. Thankfully, we haven't, and hopefully won't, ever see one.

I actually think these people probably don't care. There's something about killing other people that goes beyond imitating a school shooting. Maybe it just helps reinforce their idea of what reasonable resolution is.

Maybe I'm being optimistic here but does anyone think that such a thing matters to a guy who is willing to kill so many people? I don't think it's nearly the same as hacking mimics or things like it.

Someone can do some crime and know it's been done before without copying them.

It almost like saying that I shouldn't wear pants because it's already been done before and I might be copying.