The Violence Project's co-founders spoke with reporters from Global News about our research into the commonalities behind mass shooters. The most prevalent commonality after gun access was childhood abuse and neglect (92% of cases). This article examines the mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April 2020, and uses Drs. Peterson and Densley's … [Read more...]
How ending child abuse and improving mental health care could prevent mass shootings
Gun violence column points to need for more interventions on childhood trauma, other crises
The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County commends the efforts and research of Jillian Peterson and James Densley of The Violence Project in their March 26 column, “Why mass shootings stopped in 2020.” Oftentimes when there is a mass shooting, mental illness is blamed. However, individuals with … [Read more...]
America’s Failed Attempt to Ban Assault Weapons
As the U.S. begins to make progress against Covid-19, a different tragedy has returned to the headlines: mass shootings. On March 16, a gunman killed eight people at spas and massage parlors in the Atlanta area. Days later, another gunman killed 10 at a supermarket in Boulder, Colo. With the tragedies have come renewed calls from Democratic … [Read more...]
Why Nearly All Mass Shooters Are Men
This week, a shooting attack at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo., left 10 people dead. Just days earlier, eight people were fatally shot in a rampage targeting spas in the Atlanta area. As with almost every mass shooter in recorded U.S. history, both of the suspects in the recent attacks are men. A staggering 98% of these crimes have been … [Read more...]
Local expert: ‘Break in the cycle’ appears over following 2nd mass shooting in a week
The Violence Project's James Densley discussed the rapid return of mass shootings and what can be done to prevent more. "All too often what ends up happening is we fall into the trap of saying, it has to be one thing or the other and in doing so we explain these problems away. We say, 'It was an act of terrorism, terrorist do bad things,' 'It's … [Read more...]