Secret Service Investigates: Profiles of Mass Shooters:
With this latest report, Mass Attacks in Public Spaces – 2018 (MAPS-2018), the Secret Service offers further analysis and operational considerations to our partners in public safety.2 Between January and December 2018, 27 incidents of mass attacks – in which three or more persons were harmed – were carried out in public spaces within the United States.3 In total, 91 people were killed and 107 more were injured in locations where people should feel safe, including workplaces, schools, and other public areas.4
- Most of the attackers utilized firearms, and half departed the site on their own or committed suicide.
- Half were motivated by a grievance related to a domestic situation, workplace, or other personal issue.
- Two-thirds had histories of mental health symptoms, including depressive, suicidal, and psychotic symptoms.
- Nearly all had at least one significant stressor within the last five years, and over half had indications of financialinstability in that timeframe.
- Nearly all made threatening or concerning communications and more than three-quarters elicited concern fromothers prior to carrying out their attacks.
THE WEAPONS: Though most of the attacks were carried out using a firearm (n = 24, 89%), three attackers used vehicles to cause harm (11%).6 Of the 24 who used firearms, at least 10 possessed their weapon illegally at the time of the incident. Two of those ten were minors. The remaining eight had felony convictions, were the subjects of protective orders, or had some other factor present that would have prohibited them from purchasing or possessing a firearm based on federal or state laws.7
THE PUBLIC SITES: The 27 incidents were carried out in 18 states, at 28 different sites, with most (n = 20, 70%) occurring at places of business. Those that took place in open spaces (n = 4) represented 14% and included such locations as a public sidewalk, street, and parking lot. Three attacks (11%) were carried out at high schools. One attack (4%) took place in a house of worship.
END OF THE ATTACKS: The most common ways the attacks ended were either by the attacker committing suicide at the scene (n = 7, 26%) or departing on their own (n = 7, 26%). Three of those who departed the scene on their own committed suicide soon after. Law enforcement intervention at the site brought six attacks to an end (22%). In four of these incidents, the attacker was killed. Other attacks ended when the weapon used became inoperable (n = 4, 15%) or due to bystander intervention
(n = 2, 7%).
GENDER AND AGE: While most of the attackers were male (n = 25, 93%), there was one female and one individual in the process of gender reassignment. Their ages ranged from 15 to 64, and the average age was 37 (see Figure 4).
SUBSTANCE USE: Nearly one quarter of the attackers (n = 6, 22%) were found to have a history of illicit drug use and/or substance abuse.
CRIMINAL CHARGES AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Approximately half of the attackers (n = 13, 48%) had histories of criminal charges beyond minor traffic violations. Those charges included both non-violent (n = 10, 37%) and violent (n = 6, 22%) offenses.
Looking specifically at the issue of domestic violence, eight attackers (30%) were found to have had such histories, with only some of those instances resulting in criminal charges or arrests.8
On September 19, 2018, a man shot and injured his wife, two bystanders, and a police officer in a municipal building. At the time of the attack, he was subject to a protective order resulting from incidents in which he assaulted and threatened to kill his wife because she wanted a divorce. About a month prior to his attack, he was arrested after he threatened to kill his wife and choked her with a belt. A judge agreed to issue a protective order; however, he denied the wife’s request that her husband be ordered to relinquish his firearms.
MENTAL HEALTH: Two-thirds of the attackers (n = 18, 67%) experienced mental health symptoms prior to their attacks. The most common symptoms observed were related to depression and psychotic symptoms, such as paranoia, hallucinations, or delusions. Suicidal thoughts were also observed (see Table 1). Nearly half of the attackers (n = 12, 44%) had been diagnosed with, or treated for, a mental illness prior to their attacks.
MOTIVES: The violence in this study resulted from a range of motives, with some attackers having multiple motives. In half of the incidents (n = 14, 52%), grievances appeared to be the main motivating factor. In these cases, the
attackers were retaliating for perceived wrongs related to their domestic situations (n = 6, 22%), workplaces
(n = 3, 11%), or other personal issues (n = 6, 22%), for example, losing a video game competition or having an argument with an owner of a retail establishment
(see Table 2).9
Beyond grievances, some motives were related to the attackers’ mental health symptoms (n = 5, 19%), while others were connected to ideological beliefs (n = 2, 7%). Of the two perpetrators motivated by an ideology, one was motivated by anti-abortion beliefs while the other was motivated by anti-Semitic beliefs. Additionally, one attacker appeared to have been motivated by the desirefor fame or notoriety. For the remaining incidents (n = 6, 22%), a motive was not identifiable given information that was publicly available.
BELIEFS: While only two of the attacks were primarily motivated by an ideology, nearly one-third of the attackers (n = 8, 30%) appeared to have subscribed to a belief system that has previously been associated with violence. Often the attackers’ beliefs were multifaceted and touched on a range of issues, including white supremacy, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories, sovereign citizens, animal rights, and the “incel” movement. Incels, or involuntarily celibates, are members of an Internet-based subculture of heterosexual males who view themselves as undesirable to females and therefore unable to establish romantic or sexual relationships to which they feel entitled.