Can potential mass shooters be identified? Some worry about civil liberties implications
Mass shooters often study past incidents and identify with the perpetrators, leading forensic psychologists to advocate for early identification of potential shooters.
Some mental health experts and educators worry that disclosing troubled individuals to authorities could lead to civil liberties concerns or violations of privacy laws, the New York Times reports. But the laws allow sharing of information to protect public safety, experts tell the newspaper.
The 26-year-old gunman who killed nine people at Umpqua Community College in Oregon last week had uploaded a video about the Sandy Hook shootings, committed by a youth who had studied the Columbine High School shootings.
The shooters in the Umpqua Community College and Sandy Hook massacres both lived with their mothers, both had a passion for guns, and both had a diagnosis of Asperger’s or a similar syndrome. According to J. Kevin Cameron, director of the Canadian Center for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response, the more that a person identifies with a past shooter’s story, the greater their level of risk.
Some experts are urging the media not to name shooting suspects and to avoid phrases such as “lone wolf” that some may seem positive to some. Many also urge parents, teachers, classmates and friends to report others who drop hints of their intentions to kill. Also key, experts say, is a coordinated response.
In Los Angeles County for example, police, educators and county health staffers are trained to detect problematic behavior and to share information. Monitoring of people at risk for committing the crimes is especially close after a mass shooting, when the probability of another mass attack is the highest.
