A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013 (original) (raw)
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a sk informed people about terrorist attacks on u.S. soil and they are likely to identify two as the most significant: al Qaeda's 2001 attack on New York and Washington, which killed about 3,000 people, and Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma city in 1995, which killed 168 people. In the al Qaeda attack, the terrorists used box cutters and large commercial jets with filled fuel tanks. In the Oklahoma city attack, the weapon was an ammonium nitrate bomb. ask informed u.S. citizens how terrorists kill our military personnel and other citizens in the Middle east and they are likely to identify suicide car bombings and roadside IeDs (i.e., improvised explosive devices) as the two primary weapons of choice. Guns do not play a prominent role in the answers to either of these basic questions about the weapons used by terrorists against u.S. citizens throughout the past several decades. 11 ask criminologists about the weapon choice of terrorists in the united States and they might say, "let's look at the data," which ordinarily is a good idea. One of the most extensive data sets available is the one collected under the american Terrorism Study (aTS), documenting cases and case outcomes of more than 300 terrorists prosecuted in federal courts since 1980 (Smith and Damphousse, 2002). analysis of this data set tells a story quite different from that expressed by our hypothetical sample of informed people: Firearms turn up as systematically associated with cases of terrorism-they are more likely to be used by terrorists than by other federal felons (legault and Hendrickson, 2009, this issue). Now, a database of federal cases can serve many purposes; for example, it can help answer questions on the effects of various charging and plea bargaining practices on conviction and the author thanks dick Bennett, tom Brady, Jim lynch, and Kelley moult for their helpful comments on a draft of this essay.
In recent years, the US has experienced a substantial number of mass shooting incidents. This type of shooting incident has been termed “active shooter event” and encompasses shootings that occur in school settings as well as public settings and workplace venues. Much of the recent published literature addressing active shooter events appears to focus on tactical issues, such as training for and responding to this type of incident. Very little research, however, has examined the individual and contextual characteristics associated with active shooter events. In the current study we examine a number of factors related to 88 active shooting events involving 92 perpetrators. Our findings indicate a history of psychological and behavioral issues reported in more than 50% of the active shooters studied. In addition, 60% of shooters had evidence of additional stressors beyond those associated with psychological and behavioral issues. These findings highlight the need to continue to explore potential risk factors associated with this form of violence.
Peek or Push: An Examination of Two Types of Room Clearing Tactics for Active Shooter Event Response
SAGE Open, 2019
Prior to the modern era of active shooter events, the standard training for patrol officers responding to an ongoing shooting event required the responding patrol officer(s) to contain the shooter in the building where the attack was occurring, control access to the location, attempt to communicate with the shooter, and call the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. Recently, research has been undertaken to empirically examine different law enforcement response options. This article details one such experiment. The article details a tactic known as the peek. Utilizing an experimental design, we present findings regarding the peek room entry technique.
Correlates of the Number Shot and Killed in Active Shooter Events
Homicide Studies, 2020
Active shooter events have captured the public’s attention since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Although there has been research on various aspects of these events, only a single study has attempted to identify factors that are related to the number of people injured or killed in these events. This study was limited in that it only considered the presence or absence of a semi-automatic rifle. This paper expands on the existing research by examining several other factors that may impact the total number of people shot or killed during active shooter events.