FBI releases report examining mass shootings
While I wanted to post it on my blog, (the best blog discussing events in East Asia) , I thought Mikeb30200 may be a better place for the article.
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The
number of shootings in which a gunman wounds or kills multiple people
has increased dramatically in recent years, with the majority of attacks
in the last decade occurring at a business or a school, according to an
FBI report released Wednesday.
The study focused on 160
"active shooter incidents" between 2000 and 2013. Those are typically
defined as cases in which a gunman in an attack shoots or attempts to
shoot people in a populated area.
The goal of the report,
which excluded shootings that are gang and drug related, was to compile
accurate data about the attacks and to help local police prepare for or
respond to similar killings in the future, federal law enforcement
officials said.
"These incidents, the large majority of
them, are over in minutes. So it's going to have to be a teaching and
training of the best tactics, techniques and procedures to our state and
local partners," said James F. Yacone, an FBI assistant director who
oversees crisis response and was involved in the report.
According
to the report, an average of six shooting incidents occurred in the
first seven years that were studied. That average rose to more than 16
per year in the last seven years of the study. That period included the
2012 shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, as well as last year's
massacre at the Washington Navy Yard in which a gunman killed 12 people
before dying in a police shootout.
The majority of the
shootings occurred either at a business or a school, university or other
education facility, according to the study, conducted in conjunction
with Texas State University. Other shootings have occurred in open
spaces, on military properties, and in houses of worship and health care
facilities.
A total of more than 1,000 people were
either killed or wounded in the shootings. In about one-quarter of the
cases, the shooter committed suicide before the police arrived. The
gunman acted alone in all but two of the cases. The shooters were female
in at least six of the incidents.
Not all of the cases
studied involved deaths or even injuries. In one 2006 case in Joplin,
Missouri, a 13-year-old boy brought a rifle and handgun into a middle
school, but his rifle jammed after he fired one shot. The principal then
escorted the boy out of school and turned him over to the police.
Law
enforcement officials who specialize in behavioral analysis say the
motives of gunmen vary but many have a real, or perceived, personally
held grievance that they feel mandates an act of violence. Though it's
hard to say why the number of shootings has increased, officials say
they believe many shooters are inspired by past killings and the
resulting notoriety.
"The copycat phenomenon is real,"
said Andre Simons of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. "As more and
more notable and tragic events occur, we think we're seeing more
compromised, marginalized individuals who are seeking inspiration from
those past attacks."
Beyond studying the shootings, the FBI has promoted better training for local law enforcement, invariably the first responders.