Mass Shooting, Media's Role, and Your Protection
I read an article in Security magazine where Dr. Park Dietz, M.D., M.P.H., PhD.,- the Founder and President of Threat Assessment Group, Inc- discussed how individuals get to the point where they commit mass murders.
When we talk about extreme crime and violence committed by active shooters, I immediately think of Columbine High School’s shooting in 1999. Since 1999 there have been a few notable shootings to include:
December 14, 2012- Newton, Connecticut- 1 gunman shot his own mother, before then fatally shooting 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as 6 adult staff members in a local elementary school, before committing suicide.
April 15, 2013-Watertown, MA- 2 terrorists detonate bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon race fatally killing 5 and injuring several who lost limbs.
December 2,2015- San Bernardino, California- An armed couple shot county employees leaving at least 14 dead, and 17 wounded.
June 12, 2016- Orlando, Florida – 49 people were killed and 53 people were injured at the Pulse nightclub.
July 7, 2016- Dallas, TX- Five Dallas police officers were killed in a sniper attack during a demonstration.
October 1, 2017- Las Vegas, Nevada- a gunman opened fire on concert attendees in Las Vegas killing 58 people and injuring more than 500.
The article cite several similarities between the gunmen responsible for these mass murders. The similarities mentioned below are both necessary and sufficient conditions for the gunmen to to commit such violent and egregious acts:
Extremist Belief Systems
Justifications for Violence
Imagined Rewards
Constricted views of alternative courses of action, and opportunity
What is most interesting to me is the article cites that the media, and even social media play a role in spreading the details of the crimes. The article suggests that this often leads to copy cat mass shooting events and the main solution to prevent this type of violence is the media should avoid naming the violent offenders, especially online.
Read more by clicking the link to the below article:
Check out this video discussing how the media influences copy cat shootings.
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