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13.1: Mass Murder

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    While other countries experience their own types of tragedies, the United States has become known for certain types of horror-filled events where one or a few individuals take the lives of many. A mass killing or mass murder is federally defined as a single incident in which three or more people are killed in a public place (Investigative Assistance, 2013). The types of mass murder vary by the weapon used (such as a firearms, knives, explosives, vehicles, or even airplanes), by the perpetrator (such as a lone wolf, members of a cult, or religious extremists), by the amount of time between killings (meaning all in one event or across multiple locations), and by the motive (such as hate/bigotry, mental illness, religious extremism, or politics). What does not vary is that each type of mass murder includes the killing of at least three people by at least one perpetrator. Given the range of factors involved, mass murders exhibit considerable variation in their characteristics, despite being among the least frequently occurring crimes.

    Many contemporary mass murder single events are also termed mass shootings because of the use of firearms to kill or injure the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time. These killings happen in the same location, such as at a school, workplace, public location, or event – and at the same time. School shootings, in which students arrive heavily armed and ready to kill their classmates and teachers, have gone from being extremely rare to becoming frighteningly common. The incident most often referenced as the start of this horrible trend is the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Two high school seniors from the school, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher and injured another 21 people. They then killed themselves in the school library. At the time, Columbine was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, and even though it was not the first school shooting in the United States, it changed how we viewed safety in schools. Schools now routinely practice lockdowns and have active shooter drills. Students and teachers alike are all very aware of the possibility of a school shooting on their campus.

    Understanding the reasons, motives, and causes of different types of mass murder events may be key to reducing them. The debate over gun control and accessibility in this country is a controversial policy discussion that comes up in every election and, typically, after every mass shooting on the news. Criminologists are well-situated to meaningfully contribute to this conversation.

    This page titled 13.1: Mass Murder was last modified on Sat, 26 Sep 2026 19:44:22 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Antoniette Aizon.