Connecting Active Shooter Offender & Incident Characteristics: Do Different Types of Offenders Commit Different Types of Incidents?

• In Event: Offenders and their Crime Scenes: Understanding Behavioral Distinctions and Patterns in Serious Violent Crime

Abstract

Active shooter incidents have been described as situations wherein individuals enter a public setting and with a firearm kill or injure multiple people. Previous literature on this topic tends to employ case-study methodologies and uses descriptive statistics to identify frequent characteristics of these offenders and incidents. Recently, however, research has placed a greater emphasis on empirical testing to better examine the connection between active shooter offenders and their incidents. Currently, the extent to which offender-level characteristics influence incident-level characteristics remains unknown. Importantly, an empirical assessment of whether different types of active shooters commit different types of incidents can help practitioners be better prepared for different types of situations, as well as more informed when designing risk assessment models for a variety of individuals. The present study examined information pertaining to both offender-level and incident-level characteristics of active shooter incidents that were carried out between 2000 and 2013. Using Multidimensional Scaling techniques, distinct subtypes of incidents were identified. Results will be discussed in the context of practical implications for law enforcement involved in an active shooter incident.

Authors

• Jeffery R. Osborne, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center

• C. Gabrielle Salfati, John Jay College of Criminal Justice