Talovic motive elusive

Sulejman Talovic may have simply snapped.

"That's what it looks like at this point," Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank says. "Something in his makeup, his experience, everything else, caused him to think that this was a way to deal with his problems or emotions."

In an interview with the Deseret Morning News, Burbank acknowledged that the motive for Talovic's homicidal rampage at the Trolley Square mall may be something that the killer took to his grave.

"I think at the end of the day, we will have an idea of contacts and influences in his life," Burbank said Friday. "My fear is we're not going to be able to point to any one thing and say, 'This is what caused him to do what he did."'

Detectives have been able to eliminate a number of potential motives. Police have questioned schoolmates, co-workers, family and friends of the 18-year-old to gain insight into his life.

"I think it will be a collective of all of these influences that may have led him down this road," Burbank said. "But what makes an individual choose that, such a violent act and such an apparently random act?"

Profile of a loner

Homicide detectives and FBI agents have been building a profile of Talovic. A picture is emerging of a quiet "loner guy" who didn't interact with a lot of people. One of the biggest influences in Talovic's life appears to be his childhood in war-scarred Bosnia, the chief said.

"Some of the things he experienced and may have seen and been involved in. I think coming to a new country, being a refugee, trying to fit into schools, (the) language barrier," Burbank said. "All of these things go into that. You never know how that affects an individual."

Police said it appears Talovic had very little access to a computer. There was no video-game system in his home. Authorities don't believe he had any links to gangs or was trying to join one.

Burbank said they also do not believe there are any links to terrorism. To be sure, the chief said the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force ran Talovic's name through national security databases to determine if there were any possible ties.

"We're not seeing any of that," he said.

Numerous interviews have not produced any evidence that anyone even knew what Talovic was plotting. Salt Lake City police said the shooting appears to be completely random. Talovic had no connection to his victims or even the mall itself.

"It could have been something he decided that day or something he decided a year ago," Burbank said.