Mass killings can be defined as the killing of many people in a single incident, usually more than four people. Mass killings have greatly increased in the modern days. When mass killing occurs, there is always a motive behind the killings. Studies show that mass shooting has increased three times since 2011 (Esteban, Morelli & Rohner, 2015). In the United States, for example, between 2011 and 2014, mass killings have increased greatly. After every sixty-four days, there is always at least one mass killing.
Revenge is one of the major motives of mass killing. One may unleash the anger of being offended by others to avenge something. Also, the desire to be famous may push people to perform mass killings. Some perpetrators kill because they want to gain fame. When such incidents occur, the news always spread everywhere, and because of this, some people decide to get fame from such (Esteban, Morelli & Rohner, 2015). The use of drugs is another motive for the mass killing. When one is under influence of drugs, they are not in control of their actions and can just decide to do anything including killing people. Domestic violence can also lead to mass killing if the issues in the family are not solved at the right time. Mental problem is another major factor which can lead to mass killing.
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It can be hard to control someone who is mentally challenged because these people cannot differentiate right from wrong. Some people cannot handle failing in life. For example, failing a job interview or failing exams in college or even losing a job can be too heavy for some people to bear. These people may think of killing people or even killing themselves to reduce the pain. That fact that most people own guns encourages mass killings (Overberg, Hoyer, Hannan, Upton, Hansen & Durkin, 2016). In the case of small fights, people choose to fight with guns.
Many different types of guns have been reported to have been used by perpetrators during mass killings in America and in the world. These include shotguns, rifles, and handguns. These perpetrators arm themselves with an accurate weapon, highly customizable, lightweight and with the low coil. These mass killers prefer rifle because it is s similar to the one used by the policemen. The police refer rifle to any other gun because it is less powerful. It's chances of penetrating through the walls to injure unintended people are very limited and that is why the police prefer it. Between 2006 and 2017 a reliable report by USA Today recorded all mass killings where the participant killed more or four people (Fox, Levin & Fridel, 2018). It reported that by firearm alone there were 271 cases which affected 1358 people.
Examples of Mass Killings
At least forty nine people were killed and fifty more others injured in Orlando at a nightclub by a 29 years old man known as Saddiqui Mateen when he opened fire inside Pulse which was a gay's club. Police managed to kill Mateen as they were trying to rescue people who were held hostages in the club. This incident happened on 12th June 2016.
Another incident was 1st October 2017 where fifty-eight people were killed and five hundred seriously injured after a 64 years old Stephen Paddock of Nevada opened gunfire in Bay Resort Casino. The officers found Paddock dead in his hotel room and it is believed that he killed himself. A former student of Douglas High School in Parklands Florida also released gunfire killing seventeen people. Nikolas Cruz who is only 19 years old was charged with premeditated murder. Adam Lanza killed twenty seven people on 14th December 2012. Twenty children were among the dead. Lanza later ended up killing himself. Even Nancy Lanza who was Adam's mother was also found dead with gunshot wounds.
At least twenty five people died and twenty others injured on 5th November 2017 after a gunman known as Devin Patrick opened fire on a church in Texas (Fox, Levin & Fridel, 2018). The gunman was later found dead under unclear circumstances. A married couple Tafsheen Malik and Syed Farook killed 14 people buy a gun on 2nd December 2015 on employee gathering in Califonia.
Aaron Alexis, 34 years old opened fire inside Washington Navy Yard on 16th September 2013 which left 12 people dead. Alexis was also killed in the process. Twelve people died and fifty-eight wounded on 20th July 2012 in Aurora Colorado as they were shooting Batman film (Krouse & Richardson, 2015). A 24 year James E. Holmes showered the theatre with bullets after setting on two devices to confuse people who were in the theatre. Holmes was found guilty on 15th July of one hundred and forty attempted murder, 24 first degree murder and possession of explosive materials. Holmes was charged and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Christopher Sean Harper Mercer killed nine people 1st October 2015 leaving another nine with serious injuries. This incident happened at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg Oregon. A total of thirteen weapons were recovered, seven at his home at six others were taken from him after the police killed him (Fox, Levin & Fridel, 2018). Other nine people died on the same year June 17th a 21-year-old Dylann Roof sprayed bullets inside African Methodist Church in South Carolina. He was arrested and the police said that he confessed and was taken to court, and later sentenced to death.
Eight people died on 8th October 2011 in Seal Beach Califonia. Scott Evans Dekraai was arrested as he was trying to escape from the scene. His ex-wife was amongst the eight people who died. He was charged and sentenced to life imprisonment. Eight people were again killed on 3rd August 2010 at Hartford Distributors. Omar Thornton killed his co-workers and later killed himself. He was asked to resign from his work after was caught selling the alcoholic beverages which he had stolen. The most recent incident happened on 18th May 2018 in Texas when a seventeen-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered a class and fired on students and teachers. The incident left two teachers and eight students dead. He was charged with capital murder.
References
Esteban, J., Morelli, M., & Rohner, D. (2015). Strategic mass killings. Journal of Political Economy , 123 (5), 1087-1132.
Fox, J. A., Levin, J., & Fridel, E. E. (2018). Extreme killing: Understanding serial and mass murder . Sage Publications.
Krouse, W. J., & Richardson, D. J. (2015, July). Mass murder with firearms: Incidents and victims, 1999-2013. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Overberg, P., Hoyer, M., Hannan, M., Upton, J., Hansen, B., & Durkin, E. (2016). Explore the data on US mass killings since 2006. USA TODAY .
