To be fair, in the European countries I've visited, the media coverage is less sensational, and less relentless. That said, I do agree the gp's explanation is

To be fair, in the European countries I've visited, the media coverage is less sensational, and less relentless. That said, I do agree the gp's explanation is simplistic. There's clearly some kind of quest for transcendence involved in school shootings (not unlike e.g. Islamic terrorism); recognition for the act is definitely one element of that, but I think there's got to be more.