Usually a person who take action like the shooting that happen at the Pentagon can be traced back to event in his childhood and later adult years. A child who is experienced emotional abuse verbal or physical is already having an issue which he can carry throughout his adult years. There are many life events or experiences that can be a triggering factor for someone to take part in a shooting. He might feel isolated, verbal abuse from peers which he cannot bear to take, lack of meaning in his life or purpose, playing violent video games for a long time is also considered a factor.
But with the case of Patrick Bedell this is not due to a flaw in character but can be attributed to his mental instability plus his use of marijuana which also has great effects in his way of thinking. According to a report
Bedell proposed in 2004 that Pentatagon would fund his own research on smart weapons with his 28-page proposal outlined his idea for DNA nanotechnology research and this might have something to do with the shooting he has done at the Pentagon. Authorities are still looking at this angle.

According to an investigation as reported by msnbc.msn.com, on the Pentagon gunman Patrick Bedell, it was stated that "Investigators have found no immediate connection to terrorism, and the attack at the massive Defense Department headquarters appears to be a case of "a single individual who had issues," Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, said.......

The user named JPatrickBedell wrote the Sabow case was "a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions."

That same posting railed against the government's enforcement of marijuana laws and included links to the author's 2006 court case in Orange County, Calif., for cultivating marijuana and resisting a police officer."