Disaggregating Mass Public Shootings: A Comparative Analysis of Disgruntled Employee, School, Ideologically motivated, and Rampage Shooters

Abstract

This study compares the demographic, background, motivation, and pre‐event and event‐level behaviors across four types of mass public shooters: disgruntled employee, school, ideologically motivated, and rampage offenders. Using a database containing detailed information on 318 mass public shootings that occurred in the United States between 1966 and 2017, we find systematic differences in the characteristics, motivations, target selection, planning, and incident‐level behaviors among these offenders. The results show that ideologically motivated shooters to be the most patient, and methodical, and as a result the most lethal. Conversely, disgruntled employees, who are driven by revenge, tend to have little time to plan and consequently are the least lethal shooters. These, among other differences, underscore the need for prevention strategies and policies to be tailored to specific types of offenders. Furthermore, the results also highlight commonalities across offender type, suggesting that the social and psychological pathways to violence are universal across offenders.

Untitled

“…In other words, incel homicide offenders, seeking ultimate power and revenge, simply bypass rape, committing sexualized mass murder instead (also see Murray, 2017). Although mass murder motivated by incel ideology seems to be its own unique type of crime, it is consistent with the pseudocommando style mass murderer (Knoll, 2010), while also reflecting some, though not all, elements of ideologically motivated mass public shootings (Capellan, et al, 2019). Incels feeling extreme helplessness and hopelessness in multiple areas of life functioning crave ultimate power and revenge via mass murder, not rape.…”

“…A recent study examining characteristics of mass public shootings, which is applicable to six of the seven offenders in this sample (albeit one of the six used a vehicle as the sole weapon in his public massacre), identified specific features of different types of mass public shooting offenders-disgruntled employees, school shooters, ideologically motivated, and rampage shooters (do not fit one of the other types) (Capellan, Johnson, Porter, & Martin, 2019). While incel mass murderers are motived by a unique ideology rooted in sex-negativity, which is different than other ideological motivated mass shooters (i.e., political and religious-based), several offenders in the current sample experienced such severe employment problems that perhaps it is a little surprising that they did not seriously consider bifurcation at a workplace setting as part of their attacks.…”

Why have public mass shootings become more deadly?

“…In addition, Capellan, Johnson, Porter, and Martin () found that a larger proportion of active and mass shooters since 2010 have been ideologically driven than during any prior decade since the 1960s, so a significant proportion of these perpetrators may have been seeking attention for their cause (and/or themselves). In fact, committing a public mass shooting may have become significantly more attractive to ideological extremists than attacking with other weapons because the likelihood of “success” is so much higher.…”

Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede von Amokläufen an Bildungseinrichtungen und islamistisch motivierten terroristischen Taten in westlichen Ländern 1999-2017

“…Des Weiteren gibt es Vergleiche von Amokläufern in den USA und Selbstmordattentätern im Nahen Osten (Lankford & Hakim, 2011) sowie terroristischen Einzeltätern/Amokläufern und nichtideologischen Mördern (Liem, van Buuren, de Roy van Zuijdewijn, Schönberger & Bakker, 2018). Eine Studie verglich Amokläufer an Schulen und ideologisch motivierte Attentäter in den USA in Bezug auf demographische Charakteristika, Motivation und Verhalten vor und während der Tat (Capellan, Johnson, Porter & Martin, 2018). Sie zeigte, dass Amokläufer und Attentäter meist männlich sind.…”