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: 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. Densley said a prevention strategy for businesses could include ways for managers to intervene with employees before a tragedy occurs. Almost all of mass shooters at restaurants, bars and retail establishments were strangers to those businesses, while perpetrators in workplaces, houses of worship, and schools and colleges tended to be current or former students and insiders known to the victims. Densley believes shielding students with bulletproof backpacks and guiding them through lockdown drills, though useful, could also prove ineffectual when nearly all K-12, and college and university shooters are insiders, and likely familiar with the layout of a building and current safety policy. Multiple profiles
A one-size-fits-all profile of a mass shooter is nonexistent. Mass shooters have several profiles, unique to where a shooting occurred.