In order to prevent school shootings, Minnesota lawmakers direct funds and policy towards school lockdown drills and security infrastructure. The Violence Project's co-founders Jillian Peterson and James Densley believe this approach is inadequate in actually preventing school shootings. Rather than lockdown drills, Peterson argues for putting … [Read more...]
Experts: Minnesota’s strategy on school gun attacks wrong
MN researchers’ mass shooter database gets federal funding
The Violence Project's Jillian Peterson spoke with reporters at Kare 11 about the risk factors for mass shooters. While there was no pattern, the number of risk factors people experienced before a mass shooting was consistent. There was also often a trigger before the shooting, and suicidality was common among mass shooters. Dr. Peterson also … [Read more...]
Local researchers compile mass shooting database
The Violence Project's co-founders Jillian Peterson and James Densley sat down with Jana Shortal to discuss initial findings from their mass shooter database. The two talk about the difficulties of creating a profile of a mass shooter, commonalities between shooters, and the relationship of mental health and suicidality to mass shooters. Watch … [Read more...]
‘This shooter is a little different’: Hamline professor studies mass shootings
Professor Jillian Peterson spoke with John Wanamaker on MPR about the differences between the Las Vegas gunman and other mass shooters she has studied. Dr. Peterson is working with Professor James Densley to better understand why mass shootings happen and ways to prevent them. Listen to the segment on MPR here. The Associated Press … [Read more...]
Hamline team researches the ‘why’ behind mass shootings
The Violence Project's Jillian Peterson sat down with Jana Shortal to discuss her research into mass shooters. As opposed to looking at mass shootings individually, Peterson and a team of students are looking at more than 25 years of mass shootings to compile a list of 130 mass shooters and identify commonalities. "When we try to prevent crime, … [Read more...]