Photos of a Templeton Secondary student posing with a sawed-off shotgun that were circulating online have a lot in common with images of notorious school shooters, according to a criminologist.

The photo of the teen shows that just like the gunmen at the Columbine massacre or the shooting at Montreal's Dawson College, the youth is attracted to the power that carrying a gun gives, said Simon Fraser University's Brenda Morrison.

"Weapons are a source of power, but they're a source of corrosive, hard power and destructive power," said Morrison.

"We are all seeking identity, we are all seeking to be understood. We all seek that power in ways that are healthy and also unhealthy," she said.

CTV News obtained the photo, which shows the student wearing dog tags, combat gloves, and posing with a shotgun.

His classmates reported him to the police, and he was arrested last week for allegedly stockpiling weapons for use against people on a 117-person 'hit list' at his school.

CTV News has decided not to name the student as some of the charges he faces deal with incidents that took place before the teen turned 18.

But the photo has similar elements to pictures and video of Cho Seung Hui, who filmed a video of himself and took pictures of himself holding handguns before he shot and killed 33 people at Virginia Tech in 2007.

In Montreal, Kimveer Gill posed with a variety of assault rifles on his blog before shooting 20 people at Dawson College.

And in the Columbine massacre, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold let anyone with internet access know what they were planning before they carried out.

Just as one might post vacation photos, these people posted photos of weapons to give themselves feelings of power and control.

"What we learned post-Columbine is that it's not about snapping," said Morrison. "These young people were reinventing themselves slowly through these social networks that validate their behaviour."

The Vancouver School Board says it does not allow social networking sites in classrooms. But they often let teachers be Facebook friends with students so they can keep in touch with the online worlds.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward