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: He used handguns legally obtained, and left a video or manifesto detailing his intent. Densley suggests prevention plans for all of these types of shooters should include domestic violence programs, the disruption of online hate groups and Extreme Risk Protection Orders, also known as red flag laws. Under these laws, police and family members can petition courts to temporarily remove weapons from people who may present a danger to themselves and others. Female shooters
Of the 171 mass shooters studied, only three were women. In one case, the woman acted in partnership with a man. While the difference in numbers between female and male mass shooters is stark, it was represented in all U.S. homicides in which 80% to 90% of offenders in a given year were men. There are few statistics on female perpetrators of homicide, but those that are available help to explain why women tend not to commit mass shootings. According to a U.S. Justice Department report that looked at U.S. homicide trends from 1980 to 2008, women who committed murder almost always killed someone they know, and 58% of the time, they killed a significant other or immediate family member, compared to only 18% for male killers. Women committed just 6% of all murders with multiple victims. The circumstances and means of killing also differed between men and women.