This article seeks to understand the mass murders that took place at Dunblane in 1996 and to consider if we might see aspects of this mass shooting as prophetic of other mass murders, such as those that took place at Columbine, Sandy Hook and on Utoya Island. It does this by using what we describe as a ‘criminological autopsy’ about the shootings and, in doing so, considers why this mass murder – still the worst in British history – has rarely been considered within criminology.