Every potential mass shooter is different. Still, prospective killers often exhibit the same pre-attack behaviours, and their actions can be monitored to help prevent future murders, FBI special agent,Karie Gibson told a conference of security and law enforcement officials at Northeastern University. Many prospective shooters can be depressed and withdrawn, preoccupied with mass murder, and have a keen interest in acquiring firearms and tactical gear, said Gibson, who studies the characteristics of mass shooters at the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. Most of them are brittle people, lacking the social ties to deal with stress in a non-violent way. She expresses, “A paper cut for us is like a stab in the heart for them.”
Gibson, who works with state, local, and federal partners to prevent targeted violence, delivered one of her 12 presentations at the inaugural Campus Safety and Security Summit,organised by the Department of Homeland Security and held at Raytheon Amphitheater. The two-day event featured talks on such security and emergency response issues as, hate crimes on college campuses, how to report suspicious activity, and “swarm leadership,” which is what happens when people spontaneously pitch in to help victims of a calamity. Presenters included officials from Crime Stoppers USA, the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, and the National Center for Campus Public Safety.
“Campus security organisations in some cases are larger than municipal police departments, and their challenges are often unique,” said Wesley Moy, chief of partner engagement at the Department of Homeland Security. She added, “We wanted to get peers together to share best practices.” Gibson summarised the six steps on the “pathway to violence,” a common phrase in discussions of the evolution of murderous acts. The first step is the grievance, a slight or humiliation that the potential perpetrator can’t move past. Other measures include planning, preparation, and implementation. The hard part is trying to find mass shooters before they come on the premise with a firearm. We have to foster a culture where people feel comfortable coming forward to share this information.
Harminder Singh