This study comparatively examines whether suicide school shooters differ from non-suicide school shooters. Although the research on school shootings is increasing, there is limited research on school shooters who attempt, threaten, or plan suicide or die by suicide in comparison to those who do not. The American School Shooting Study (TASSS) includes data on all school shooting events occurring in the United States between 1990 and 2016 that resulted in at least one injury. This study extracts event and individual characteristics from TASSS to quantitatively explore which attributes explain differences across these groups. We conclude by discussing recommendations on responding to school shootings and highlighting directions for future research.
AgrestiA. (2012). Categorical data analysis (Vol. 792). John Wiley & Sons.
2.
AllisonK.KleinB. (2019). Pursuing hegemonic masculinity through violence: An examination of anti-homeless bias homicides. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13-14), 6859–6882. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518821459
3.
AndersonJ. A.BlairV. (1982). Penalized maximum likelihood estimation in logistic regression and discrimination. Biometrika, 69(1), 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/69.1.123
BorumR.CornellD. G.ModzeleskiW.JimersonS. R. (2010). What can be done about school shootings? A review of the evidence. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X09357620
6.
BrowneA.BarberC. W.StoneD. M.MeyerA. L. (2005). Public health training on the prevention of youth violence and suicide: An overview. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29(5), 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.08.024
7.
ByarsJ.GraybillE.WellonsQ.HarperL. (2020). Monitoring social media and technology use to prevent youth suicide and school violence. Contemporary School Psychology, 24(3), 318–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00277-x
8.
CapellanJ.JohnsonJ.PorterJ.MartinC. (2019). Disaggregating mass public shootings: A comparative analysis of disgruntled employee, school, ideologically motivated, and rampage shooters. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 64(3), 814–823. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13985
9.
CapellanJ. A.SilvaJ.MillsC. E.SchmuhlM. A. (2023). Who lives, who dies, who decides: Differences between mass public shooters who survive, are killed, and commit suicide. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 20(1), 80–96. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1608
ChermakS.FreilichJ.ParkinW.LynchJ. (2012). American terrorism and extremist crime data sources and selectivity bias: An investigation focusing on homicide events committed by far-right extremists. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 28(1), 191–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-011-9156-4
CzeislerM.LaneR.PetroskyE.WileyJ.ChristensenA.NjaiR.RajaratnamS. (2020). Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic—United States, June24–30, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(32), 1049–1057. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a1
14.
DardasL. A. (2019). Family functioning moderates the impact of depression treatment on adolescents’ suicidal ideations. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 24(3), 251–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12323
15.
EarlyK.AkersR. (1993). “It's a White thing”: An exploration of beliefs about suicide in the African-American community. Deviant Behavior, 14(4), 277–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.1993.9967947
ErpsK.OchsS.MyersC. (2020). School psychologists and suicide risk assessment: Role perception and competency. Psychology in the Schools, 57(6), 884–900. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22367
FelittiV. J.AndaR. F.NordenbergD.WilliamsonD. F.SpitzA. M.EdwardsV.MarksJ. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8
20.
FlanneryD.FoxJ.WallaceL.MulveyE.ModzeleskiW. (2021). Guns, school shooters, and school safety: What we know and directions for change. School Psychology Review, 50(2–3), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2020.1846458
21.
ForsterM.GrigsbyT. J.GowerA. L.MehusC. J.McMorrisB. J. (2020). The role of social support in the association between childhood adversity and adolescent self-injury and suicide: Findings from a statewide sample of high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 1195–1208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01235-9
22.
FreilichJ.ChermakS.ConnellN.KleinB.Greene-ColozziE. (2022). Using open-source data to better understand and respond to American school shootings: Introducing and exploring the American school shooting study (TASSS). Journal of School Violence, 21(2), 93–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2021.1991804
23.
FreilichJ. D.ChermakS. M.BelliR.GruenewaldJ.ParkinW. S. (2014). Introducing the United States extremist crime database (ECDB). Terrorism and Political Violence, 26(2), 372–384. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2012.713229
24.
FreilichJ.ParkinW.GruenewaldJ.ChermakS. (2017). Comparing extremist perpetrators of suicide and non-suicide attacks in the United States. Terrorism and Political Violence, 31(5), 943–965. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2017.1297708
25.
GammellS.ConnellN.HuskeyM. (2021). A descriptive analysis of the characteristics of school shootings across five decades. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 47, 818–835. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09636-7
GruenewaldJ.AllisonK. (2018). Examining differences in bias homicide across victim groups. Crime & Delinquency, 64(3), 316–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128717715735
29.
GruenewaldJ.PridemoreW. (2012). A comparison of ideologically-motivated homicides from the new extremist crime database and homicides from the supplementary homicide reports using multiple imputation by chained equations to handle missing values. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 28(1), 141–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-011-9155-5
30.
GruenewaldJ.KleinB. R.ParkinW. S.FreilichJ. D.ChermakS. (2019). A situated comparison of suicide and non-suicide terrorist plots and homicides in the United States, 1990-2014. Crime & Delinquency, 65(9), 1187–1217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128718796461
31.
HarterS.LowS. M.WhitesellN. (2003). What have we learned from Columbine: The impact of the self-system on suicidal and violent ideation among adolescents. Journal of School Violence, 2(3), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1300/J202v02n03_02
32.
Huff-CorzineL.CorzineJ. (2020). The devil’s in the details: Measuring mass violence. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(1), 317–333. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12482
33.
Ivey-StephensonA.CrosbyA.JackS.HaileyesusT.Kresnow-SedaccaM. (2017). Suicide trends among and within urbanization levels by sex, race/ethnicity, age group, and mechanism of death—United States, 2001–2015. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 66(18), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6618a1
34.
Ivey-StephensonA. Z.DemissieZ.CrosbyA. E.StoneD. M.GaylorE.WilkinsN.LowryR.BrownM. (2020). Suicidal ideation and behaviors among high school students—youth risk behavior survey, United States, 2019. MMWR Supplements, 69(1), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su6901a6
35.
KimmelM.MahlerM. (2003). Adolescent masculinity, homophobia, and violence: Random school shootings, 1982–2001. American Behavioral Scientist, 46(10), 1439–1458. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764203046010010
36.
KleinB.AllisonK. (2018). Accomplishing difference: How do anti-race/ethnicity bias homicides compare to average homicides in the United States?Justice Quarterly, 35(6), 977–1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2017.1351576
37.
KleinJ. (2005). Teaching her a lesson: Media misses boys’ rage relating to girls in school shootings. Crime, Media, Culture, 1(1), 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659005050245
38.
KoperC. (2020). Assessing the potential to reduce deaths and injuries from mass shootings through restrictions on assault weapons and other high-capacity semiautomatic firearms. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(1), 147–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12485
LaFreeG.DuganL.KorteR. (2009). The impact of British counterterrorist strategies on political violence in Northern Ireland: Comparing deterrence and backlash models. Criminology, 47(1), 17–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00138.x
41.
LaFreeG.DuganL.XieM.SinghP. (2012). Spatial and temporal patterns of terrorist attacks by ETA 1970 to 2007. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 28(1), 7–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-011-9133-y
42.
LaFreeG.JensenM.JamesP.Safer-LichtensteinA. (2018). Correlates of violent political extremism in the United States. Criminology, 56(2), 233–268. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12169
43.
LankfordA. (2013). A comparative analysis of suicide terrorists and rampage, workplace, and school shooters in the United States from 1990 to 2010. Homicide Studies, 17(3), 255–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767912462033
44.
LankfordA. (2015). Mass shooters in the USA, 1966–2010: Differences between attackers who live and die. Justice Quarterly, 32(2), 360–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2013.806675
45.
LankfordA. (2018). Identifying potential mass shooters and suicide terrorists with warning signs of suicide, perceived victimization, and desires for attention or fame. Journal of Personality Assessment, 100(5), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2018.1436063
46.
LankfordA.AdkinsK.MadfisE. (2019). Are the deadliest mass shootings preventable? An assessment of leakage, information reported to law enforcement, and firearms acquisition prior to attacks in the United States. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 35(3), 315–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986219840231
47.
LankfordA.SilverJ. (2020). Why have public mass shootings become more deadly? Assessing how perpetrators’ motives and methods have changed over time. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(1), 37–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12472
48.
LearyM. R.KowalskiR. M.SmithL.PhillipsS. (2003). Teasing, rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings. Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression, 29(3), 202–214. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.10061
49.
LiemM. (2010). Homicide–parasuicide: A qualitative comparison with homicide and parasuicide. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 21(2), 247–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/14789940903335144
50.
LiemM.BarberC.MarkwalderN.KilliasM.NieuwbeertaP. (2011). Homicide–suicide and other violent deaths: An international comparison. Forensic Science International, 207(1–3), 70–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.09.003
51.
LongJ. S.FreeseJ. (2006). Regression models for categorical dependent variables using Stata (Vol. 7). Stata Press.
52.
LubellK. M.VetterJ. B. (2006). Suicide and youth violence prevention: The promise of an integrated approach. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11(2), 167–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2005.07.006
53.
MarracciniM. E.BrierZ. M. (2017). School connectedness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A systematic meta-analysis. School Psychology Quarterly, 32(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000192
MeloyJ.HempelA.MohandieK.ShivaA.GrayB. (2001). Offender and offense characteristics of a nonrandom sample of adolescent mass murderers. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(6), 719–728. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200106000-00018
56.
MironO.YuK.Wilf-MironR.KohaneI. (2019). Suicide rates among adolescents and young adults in the United States, 2000-2017. JAMA, 321(23), 2362-2364. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.5054
57.
MoonS. S.KarlsonA.KimY. J. (2015). Peer victimization and adolescent suicide: The mediating effect of risk behaviors. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 32(3), 257–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0365-1
Naval Post Graduate School Center for Homeland Security and Defense. (2022). Shooting incidents at K-12 schools (Jan 1970–Jun 2022) [Data set]. https://www.chds.us/sssc/data-map/
60.
NewmanK.FoxC. (2009). Repeat tragedy: Rampage shootings in American high school and college settings, 2002–2008. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9), 1286–1308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764209332546
61.
NewmanK.FoxC.RothW.MehtaJ.HardingD. (2004). Rampage: The social roots of school shootings. Basic Books.
62.
O’BrienR. M.StockardJ. (2006). A common explanation for the changing age distributions of suicide and homicide in the United States, 1930 to 2000. Social Forces, 84(3), 1539–1557. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2006.0063
63.
O’TooleM. (2000). The school shooter a threat assessment perspective. DIANE Publishing.
PetersonJ.EricksonG.KnappK.DensleyJ. (2021). Communication of intent to do harm preceding mass public shootings in the United States, 1966 to 2019. JAMA, 4(11), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33073
66.
RobinsonJ.BaileyE.WittK.StefanacN.MilnerA.CurrierD.PirkisJ.CondronP.HetrickS. (2018). What works in youth suicide prevention? a systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine, 4, 52–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2018.10.004
RouchyE.GermanaudE.GarciaM.MichelG. (2020). Characteristics of homicide-suicide offenders: A systematic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 55, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101490
69.
SchildkrautJ. (2012a). Media and massacre: A comparative analysis of the reporting of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings. Fast Capitalism, 9(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.32855/fcapital.201201.014
70.
SchildkrautJ. (2012b). The remote is controlled by the monster: Issues of mediatized violence and school shootings. In School shootings: Mediatized violence in a global age. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2050-2060(2012)0000007015
SchildkrautJ.HernandezT. C. (2014). Laws that bit the bullet: A review of legislative responses to school shootings. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 39(2), 358–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-013-9214-6
73.
SchildkrautJ.MuschertG. (2014). Media salience and the framing of mass murder in schools: A comparison of the Columbine and Sandy Hook massacres. Homicide Studies, 18(1), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767913511458
SilvaJ. R.CapellanJ. A. (2019). The media’s coverage of mass public shootings in America: Fifty years of newsworthiness. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 43(1), 77–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2018.1437458
78.
SilvaJ. R.SilverJ.Greene-ColozziE. A. (2023). A behavioral sequence analysis of mass school shooters examining stressors, antisocial behaviors, mental health issues, and planning and preparation activities. Deviant Behavior, 44(10), 1480–1497. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2023.2210730
79.
SilverJ.HorganJ.GillP. (2018). Foreshadowing targeted violence: Assessing leakage of intent by public mass murderers. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 38, 94–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.12.002
SpillerH. A.AckermanJ. P.SpillerN. E.CasavantM. J. (2019). Sex-and age-specific increases in suicide attempts by self-poisoning in the United States among youth and young adults from 2000 to 2018. The Journal of Pediatrics, 210, 201–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.02.045
VossekuilB. (2004). The final report and findings of the safe school initiative: Implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States. Diane Publishing.
86.
WebsterD.McCourtA.CrifasiC.BootyM.StuartE. (2020). Evidence concerning the regulation of firearms design, sale, and carrying on fatal mass shootings in the United States. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(1), 171–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12487
87.
XiaoY.LindseyM. A. (2022). Adolescent social networks matter for suicidal trajectories: Disparities across race/ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, and socioeconomic status. Psychological Medicine, 52(15), 3677–3688. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721000465
88.
ZeoliA.ParukJ. (2020). Potential to prevent mass shootings through domestic violence firearm restrictions. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(1), 129–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12475
89.
ZiskA.AbbottC. H.BounouaN.DiamondG. S.KobakR. (2019). Parent–teen communication predicts treatment benefit for depressed and suicidal adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(12), 1137–1148. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000457
