An analysis of 46 active shooters in schools revealed several common characteristics they tend to share. The majority of active shooters were current or former members of the school, were in crisis and suicidal before the shooting, acquired guns by borrowing or stealing them from friends or family, and the majority of shooters leaked their plans in … [Read more...]
School shootings: What administrators need to know
Colorado shooting eerily recalls Columbine massacre
A few weeks after the 20-year anniversary of the Columbine massacre, the nation is grappling with yet another school shooting. The Violence Project founders Jill Peterson and James Densley used their research into mass shootings to show the similarities between the recent tragedy and Columbine. The two shootings were both committed by two school … [Read more...]
University of North Carolina at Charlotte shooting has these things in common with other campus shootings
The Violence Project's founders Jill Peterson and James Densley wrote an article in The Conversation examining the University of North Carolina at Charlotte shooting and comparing it to prior campus shootings across the country. Peterson and Densley review common characteristics of campus shooters, from demographics to childhood trauma. Their … [Read more...]
School shootings didn’t start in 1999 at Columbine. Here’s why that disaster became a blueprint for other killers and created the ‘Columbine Generation’
Why did the April 20, 1999, mass shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado become a blueprint for future shooters? After all, it was hardly the first time that shootings took place on school campuses. This post looks into how “society and culture have reared a Columbine generation,” and what role the media played. Read … [Read more...]
Terrorism is a performance. Don’t watch. And, Facebook, stop making us.
"They want you to watch." James Densley and Jill Peterson write about how the prevalence of violence in the media serves terrorists' interests in spreading destruction. The widespread use of social media platforms paved the way for the mass shooting of 50 worshipers to be livestreamed on Facebook: a performance of violence for the world. Densley … [Read more...]