Understanding the Social Networks of Mass Public Shooters: A Case Study on Virginia Tech

• In Event: Social Network Perspectives on Violence and Co-offending

Abstract

Mass public shooters are often portrayed as socially isolated. The perpetrator of the 2007 attack on Virginia Tech had few close friends, little interaction with family and roommates, and a contentious, but distant relationship with his professors. We reviewed more than 1,500 pages of official investigative reports and documents gathered from the Library of Virginia Archives to map out the social network surrounding the perpetrator as he descended down the pathway to violence and contextualize the intimacy and positionality of his social network, as well as the observation and reporting of leakage and other behaviors of concern. Our analyses reveal a vast and dense network of individuals who noted significant concerns about the perpetrator and tried to intervene, contradicting the widely held perception that he plotted and prepared his attack under the radar of those surrounding him. We discuss implications for prevention, especially regarding which social network members observed more leakage, which members reported and intervened, and the flow and distribution of information among social network members.

Authors

• Emily Greene-Colozzi, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Lauryn Krebs, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Lucia Arrigo, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Jaclyn Schildkraut, Rockefeller Institute of Government, SUNY Albany

• Brent Klein, University of South Carolina