doc_text: Here is a profile of the gunman who took the lives of five children at a Stockton, Calif., school Tuesday.
  It is based on information from police and relatives, and on background reported by the Sacramento Bee newspaper.
   NAME:
  Patrick Edward Purdy, also called self Eddie Purdy West.
  AGE: 24.
  DESCRIPTION: 5-foot-11, 150 pounds, blue eyes, blond hair.
  FAMILY:
  Parents married in Stockton, Calif., and divorced after short time.
  Mother remarried and took Purdy to Lake Tahoe, Nev., area and on to Sacramento area, where she still lives.
  Father, a Lodi, Calif., taxi company employee, was struck and killed by car in September 1981.
  CHILDHOOD:
  Described by aunt as child alcoholic and loner.
  EDUCATION:
  Records indicate a Patrick Edward Purdy attended Cleveland Elementary School, scene of Tuesday's shooting, through third grade, from 1969 to 1973.
  Dropped out of high school.
  Early in 1988, began attending vocational classes in welding at San Joaquin Delta Community College in Stockton.
  EMPLOYMENT:
  Began drifting 10 years ago, crisscrossing country in search of work.
  Worked for now-defunct Green Keys Nursery in Key West, Fla., from October 1984 to April 1985, using name Eddie West.
  Left nursery to work briefly for construction company, then apparently departed for West Coast.
  Was hired in January 1988 and worked for about a month at Numeri Tech, a Stockton machine shop.
  In June 1988, traveled to Oregon, where worked in Portland as welder, then continued on to Colorado, Texas and Connecticut.
  Workers at Blount Bros. Construction Co. in Memphis, Tenn., said Purdy worked with them for short time in October 1988 as boilermaker mechanic.
  ARRESTS: 1980, Los Angeles, charges involving prostitution; 1982, Los Angeles, marijuana charge; 1983, Beverly Hills, weapons charge; 1983, Los Angeles, charge of receiving stolen property; (date unreported), Woodland, Calif., robbery charge.
  Apparently served time in jail for last two offenses.
  OTHER PROBLEMS: In 1986, his mother called Stockton police to complain that he and his half-brother vandalized her car after she refused demands for drug money.
  Twice tried to kill himself while in police custody in El Dorado County in April 1987, after he and half-brother fired at trees near Lake Tahoe with a semi-automatic pistol.
  Made a rope out of torn shirt and tried to hang himself, then tried to cut his wrists, police said.
  When arrested, was carrying a book about the white supremicist group Aryan Nations.
  Told an El Dorado County sheriff's deputy it was his "duty to help the suppressed and to overthrow the suppressor."
  In subsequent mental health report, was described as dangerous and suffering from "mild mental retardation."
summary_text: Patrick Edward Purdy, aka Eddie Purdy West, who killed five children at a Stockton, California, school on Tuesday had a history of problems with the law.
  Described as a child alcoholic and loner who was mildly retarded, Purdy was a high school dropout who held a series of jobs around the country.
  Arrested numerous times since 1980, he served at least two jail terms and twice tried to commit suicide while in custody.
  In one of his arrests, Purdy was carrying a book about the white supremacist group Aryan Nation.
  At the time, Purdy said it was his duty to help the oppressed.