The (Un)usual Suspects: Placing Active Shooter Offender Characteristics in Context

• In Event: Mass Shootings: Risk Factors and Prevention

Abstract

Typical active shooter offender characteristics and motivations have been identified in previous literature. While this body of work has helped categorize commonalities among these offenders, it has been widely acknowledged from a practitioner standpoint that efficient risk assessment and prediction is difficult. This is due in part to the fact that the common features of active shooter offenders are also present in the general population, and thus it can be difficult to differentiate potential offenders from people who are unlikely to commit this rare form of violence. Thus the question still remains as to whether these offenders are unusual in some manner that can identifiably set them apart from others. This issue was examined in the present study by using 199 active shooter incidents from the United States (2000-2013). Data were collected via open-source online coding. Through multidimensional scaling analyses the thematic nature of offender characteristics and motivations were examined. Findings from the study indicate that offender characteristics and motivations can be categorized into thematic groups that help explain the theoretical underpinnings of their behavior. The presentation connects these findings to risk assessment issues, such as exploring how these themes might be present in members of the general population.

Authors

• Jeffery Osborne, The Graduate Center, John Jay College / CUNY

• C. Gabrielle Salfati, The Graduate Center, John Jay College / CUNY