Essay on Mass Shootings: The Rise of an Epidemic

On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, perpetrated by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in minds of all. With a meticulously, thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs before performing the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists,

First of all, there were two shooters unlike most of the mass shooting recorded in the US. History tells us most of the mass shooting in the US involved one shooter or also known as the “Lone Wolf”. We can now agree that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold both suffered from mental illness but back then, it was unclear and unnoticed.

The day of the Columbine Massacre is a day that will forever burn a hole in America’s heart. The nation was shocked at the news that on April 20, 1999, high school seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on a precisely planned shooting rampage at their school, Columbine High School. This event killed a total of thirteen individuals, including twelve students and one highly heroic teacher, and wounded many. The reportedly troubled boys had often accused others of having bullied them, which raised the question of how apparent the warning signs were of their rampage. Because this incident was one of the first known school shootings throughout the nation, many of its specific details were taken into account to help protect schools all

After seventeen school shootings already this year, Americans seem to know the routine. They see the news of another shooting , wonder what the world has come to, tweet out their thoughts and prayers, and move on with their lives as though nothing happened. Some politicians will propose reforms, but opposers will shoot them down by claiming that we must wait until long after the tragedy to talk about politics. With an average of 1.4 shootings per week this year, when will it not seem too soon (Ahmed). In his book Columbine, author Dave Cullen takes a look at one of America’s most infamous tragedies, the Columbine High School Massacre. In the April of 1999, two boys entered Columbine High with deadly weapons and proceeded to kill fourteen of their peers, as well as injure others. As the first publicized school

“Shooting massacres” in school settings, a new phenomenon within the past 50 years, are extremely rare events. Over 23 years, 1990-2012, 215 fatal school shooting incidents resulted in 363 deaths, equivalent to 0.12% of national firearm homicides during that time period …… Among these, just three shooting rampages – Columbine High School, Virginia Tech University, and Sandy Hook Elementary School – accounted for 72 (53.3%) of these 135 deaths. The frequency of random/ rampage shooting incidents in schools has remained within the narrow range of 0 to 3 episodes per year.” (Shultz, et al., 2013, p. 84)

April 20th, 1999 is a day that will never be forgotten, on that day the first school shooting massacre accord. At around eleven fifteen a.m. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire on students at Columbine High School in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. What drives two teenagers to the point of mass murder? These kids had come to a dark road in their lives and they succumbed to it completely and that is when they began to plan for the biggest school shooting. What drove these two teens to their breaking point and what was the result of their choices?

Mass murders have become somewhat of an epidemic in the U.S. There are many notable shootings within our recent history; so many that they’ve become somewhat normalized in today’s society. The Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in 2012 is one of the well-known shootings that has occurred in the past five years. I remember when I first heard of the tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. Even though it occurred far away, it hit close to home, and I broke down after hearing that twenty young lives had been taken. The shooter, Adam Lanza, had been diagnosed with mental health disorders and reportedly had an obsession with mass shootings. In the article, “Adam Lanza’s Mental Problems ‘Completely Untreated’ Before Newtown Shootings, Report

Mass shootings have become one of the most fearful events that could happen in elementary schools, high schools, and College campuses. These violent actions committed by a number of individuals have happened for many years and will continue happening unless prevented. Individuals like James Holmes opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing twelve individuals and injuring twenty, John Sawahri shot five students dead in Santa Monica College also injuring four individuals. However Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold executed the most horrific act of school violence in United States History. These two individuals managed to take the lives of twelve students, a teacher and managed to take their own life in the process. This act of crime has spread through America, leaving no one safe.

The idea of violence is instilled in everyone’s head in some way or another. From the time we are born we are equipped with the idea that we must react when we are upset. When someone affects us in a negative way, there is an idea in our minds that urges us to fight back or cause harm to that person. This idea of causing harm stays with us from childhood until we take our last breath. Since 2013, there have been 242 school shootings within America. Even worse, there have been over a thousand mass shootings in the country resulting in mass casualties. Most recently, one single man murdered fifty-eight people at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada and injured over 240 others. Although the motive may have been different between these shootings, one thing remains the same for all of them, the act of violence.

Nine students were killed at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. A man opened fire in a church, in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people, including the pastor. Twenty-seven were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Twelve were killed in the Washington Navy Yard. This is only a few examples from a very long list. The grim truth is that mass shootings are becoming the new normal. Every few months, another mass shooting occurs and the public goes through the same routine of mourning, honoring, and ultimately debating. What causes these manic episodes of multiple, indiscriminate gun deaths? Some push for more gun control, others argue that the U.S. mental health system is a failure. Controversy aside,

There has been an average of one school shooting every week in America since the Sandy Hook shooting. On the fourteenth of December, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, 20-year-old Adam Lanza not only killed his mother in her home, but also twenty children and six members of staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. This was to be the third deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The Huffington Post reports that as of 2014, there have been over 200 school shootings. These have resulted in at least 94 deaths and over 156 serious and minor injuries. And, with an issue as emotive and contentious as the murder of school children, the question has been frequently asked: why do school shootings happen?

Mass shootings have been a growing epidemic in the past years in the United States. According to CNN between the years 1966 and 2017 there have been 90 Mass Shootings in the United States; with the shootings more likely to occur at the workplace or at schools(1). But why is this happening? Why are unlikely citizens rising up and performing such vulgar actions? What truly has people baffled is what is causing people to commit such a horrific act of violence? We are baffled because we don’t understand what is the cause that the some of the people committing these shootings are thought to be normal, well raised, and stable-mind people. There are many theories as to why people commit these mass shootings. One is that it is that a people's thresholds for the act and they are joining in. Another is that is is testosterone and natural dominance causing those viewed as outcasts to commit the shooting. But I believe it is both of those but that there is a stronger one that explains the reason why good people are committing horrific shootings. My theory is the psychological act of splitting.

There is an assumption that if you understand the minds of serial killers, or persons who commit mass shootings, that it may help prevent mass shootings. “Mass shootings are not on the rise, but have held steady over three decades, randomly clustering in time to trick our brains into finding a pattern of increase where none actually exists” (Shermer 3). Mass shootings happen at varying times without rhyme or reason. Some think that a psychological disorder or some genetic defect could be the reason people commit these crimes. Although we cannot prevent mass shootings, we can educate on how mental health issues can be a precursor to such a tragedy, and how better laws can create a safer environment.

On October 1, 2017 America was, yet again, devastated when Las Vegas suffered the United States worst mass shooting. One man killed over 50 people and injured 527. After he was finished firing from the 39th floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, he committed suicide. His name was Stephan Paddock (Yan and Park). When most people think of a mass shooting, they think of a terroristic act or someone shooting at a large group of innocent citizens, like Columbine High School or Sandy Hook Elementary School. In actuality, most people do not realize that whenever two or more people are injured or killed by a gun, it is considered a mass shooting. These “mass shootings” happen every day in America and they are one of the leading causes of death in

On April 20th 1999 the world was forever changed as two seniors from Columbine High School walked into their school and commenced, what is now known as, “The Columbine Massacre”. This act of terrorism was school violence like the world had never seen before. The two students, who were later identified as Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, shot and killed twelve students, as well as one teacher. They injured twenty-one others and three students were hurt trying to escape the massacre. Guns were not all that were used to wreck havoc on the high school. Klebold and Harris had premeditated a very strategic plan using a firebomb, that they placed three miles away from the school’s campus, to divert firefighters. They also used bombs made from propane tanks, ninety-nine explosives, and car bombs. [1]