Title: VOA Special Report | History of mass shooters
Headings: History of Mass Shooters
VOA Special Report
History of Mass Shooters
Who commits public mass shootings? What motivates them to kill? With the help of a landmark database, VOA examines the social, psychological, emotional and environmental factors that contributed to these rare crimes.
Mass shootings (1966 - 2019)
Mass shooting locations
Fatalities and mass shootings
The researchers
About the data
Mass Shooters (1966 - 2019)
Number of shooters by age
Where mass shooters killed
Number of mass shootings by location
Multiple profiles
Female shooters
Childhood trauma
Mental illness
Signs of crisis
Immigrant
“I do not quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I do not really understand myself these days.”
—Charles Whitman
‘Unusual, irrational thoughts’
Mystery unsolved
Comparing the shooter data
How mass shooters got their guns
Types of guns used
77%
24%
22%
22%
Global perspective

Content: Mass Shooters (1966 - 2019)
Between 1966 and 2019 there were 166 mass shootings in the United States, defined by the Congressional Research Service as “a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms — not including the offender (s) — within one event, and at least some of the murders occurred in a public location or locations in close geographical proximity (e.g., a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public settings), and the murders are not attributable to any other underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance (armed robbery, criminal competition, insurance fraud, argument, or romantic triangle).” Put in perspective, mass shootings are statistically rare, accounting for fewer than 1% of all firearm homicides in the United States. But they are occurring regularly in a growing number of venues, leaving a trail of mass destruction that emotionally outweighs their numbers. According to The Violence Project, nearly all mass shooters have four things in common: Early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age
An identifiable grievance or crisis point
Have studied the actions of past shooters and seek validation for their methods and motives
The means to carry out an attack
Number of shooters by age
Years old
The average age for a mass shooter was 34 years old. The youngest was 11 years old, and the oldest was 70. Where mass shooters killed
The past decade has seen an increase in mass shootings in a variety of settings. This troubling trend has prompted a debate among proprietors, school administrators and religious leaders about the need to balance openness and inclusiveness with physical security measures. Number of mass shootings by location
Current or former workplaces of perpetrators were the most common sites for mass shootings. Most of the shooters had been fired.