33, not 32

Today there was another memorial for the victims at Virginia Tech. The bell tolled 32 times. As I understand it, 32 were killed by the shooter, who then killed himself. I saw, on TV, one student who had 33 written on his arm in memory of all the victims. What if the bell had actually tolled 33 times? Why is it that people can't get their minds around the fact that the shooter was a victim himself--a victim of his own mental torments? If we could think in terms of 33 rather than 32, our perspective would change dramatically.