We come out of the weekend shocked, again, this time with two mass shootings within a day in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. And Snohomish County has its own experience with mass shootings with the shooting at Maysville-Pilchuck High School.
The recent incidents will extend the debate, for some, on the actions the federal government should take to prevent mass murder from active shooter incidents.
Earlier this year, the Secret Service, the law enforcement arm of Homeland Security that protects the President of the United States and other executives of the federal government, published a report on a study of active shooters for the past two years titled “Mass Attacks in Public Spaces – 2018.
The report describes characteristics of the incidents and of the attackers giving readers a better sense for the motivations and triggers that cause an attacker to act.
Part of its conclusion includes the importance of citizens to say something when they see behavior that concerns them about a friend, coworker, classmate, neighbor, spouse, or relative. A report can be made to law enforcement- local, state, or federal, or to someone in authority such as a workplace manager, or school administrator.
The report noted that most of the attackers that it studied in 2017 and 2018 “…exhibited behaviors that caused concern in others.”
Behaviors that often triggered concern included social media posts with alarming content, escalating anger or aggressive behavior, expression of suicidal thoughts, writing about violence or weapons, inappropriate behavior toward females, stalking and harassing behaviors, increased depression, increased drug use, erratic behavior, purchasing weapons, threats of domestic violence, or acting paranoid.
The report noted that a wide variety of people often were concerned enough to take some sort of action. And actions individuals took ranged from parents confiscating weapons, friends and family spending more time with the attacker, online community members calling police, students telling school staff, or co-workers suggesting counseling.
Unfortunately, the report does not suggest a silver bullet that can solve this problem once and for all. Often serious crime problems have multiple causes that need to be addressed to reduce their occurrence. And modern crime prevention thinking elicits cooperation from many aspects of society to reduce or prevent any specific crime.
By not reporting to someone who can help a potential attacker from conducting a murderous act only perpetuates the killing that we have seen over the past few years. We, as a society may need to develop more effective methods to prevent mass shootings but waiting for those methods only prolongs the carnage. Acting now may save many lives.
You can read the report for yourself at this link,
United States Secret Service:
https://www.secretservice.gov/data/press/reports/USSS_FY2019_MAPS.pdf
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