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Mass shootings: In wake of El Paso and Dayton, threats are on the rise
The three arrests reported Thursday for threats of mass killings bring the total to at least 30 people detained on similar charges since the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month.
Even in a country where such attacks have become a fact of life – there have been 263 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines them as four or more people wounded or killed – those numbers are staggering.
What’s behind them? Not all assaults with multiple fatalities are alike, but experts on gun violence have warned about the “contagion effect’’ spurred by the media attention given mass shootings, which often prompt copycat incidents.
In addition, the back-to-back massacres in El Paso and Dayton, less than a week after a gunman killed three and injured 12 at a festival in Gilroy, California, have put both authorities and regular folks on heightened alert. Not all the threats are serious, but police have little choice but to treat them as such.
Why, why, why? Weeks since Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton: What if motives behind mass shootings never emerge?
"I think people are on edge and there’s more concern in communities, more concern among police," said Vanderbilt University professor Jonathan Metzl, who teaches sociology and psychiatry.
Law enforcement officials have asked the public to report suspicious activities, which are often noticed but not reported by peers and relatives of potential assailants.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mass-shootings-in-wake-of-el-paso-and-dayton-threats-are-on-the-rise/ar-AAGcGS1?li=BBnbcA1
Even in a country where such attacks have become a fact of life – there have been 263 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines them as four or more people wounded or killed – those numbers are staggering.
What’s behind them? Not all assaults with multiple fatalities are alike, but experts on gun violence have warned about the “contagion effect’’ spurred by the media attention given mass shootings, which often prompt copycat incidents.
In addition, the back-to-back massacres in El Paso and Dayton, less than a week after a gunman killed three and injured 12 at a festival in Gilroy, California, have put both authorities and regular folks on heightened alert. Not all the threats are serious, but police have little choice but to treat them as such.
Why, why, why? Weeks since Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton: What if motives behind mass shootings never emerge?
"I think people are on edge and there’s more concern in communities, more concern among police," said Vanderbilt University professor Jonathan Metzl, who teaches sociology and psychiatry.
Law enforcement officials have asked the public to report suspicious activities, which are often noticed but not reported by peers and relatives of potential assailants.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mass-shootings-in-wake-of-el-paso-and-dayton-threats-are-on-the-rise/ar-AAGcGS1?li=BBnbcA1
The common link behind all these mass shootings and threats? The guns. Something *HAS* to be done.
