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The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit defines classic mass shootings as four or more gun fatalities in a public setting. This narrow definition isolates a specific type of shooter — one who plans to kill as many people as possible by controlling the place, the guns, the time and the ammunition. This shooter is also often very concerned with how the media covers other mass shooters and how the media will cover his (and it’s almost always his) crime. We know this because mass shooters often communicate their fame-seeking fantasies and desire for media attention in letters left behind, online and in interrogations.
Mass shooters even refer to other mass shooters. Some researchers have linked media coverage to massacres, others posit that “media” itself is the contagion. What’s clear is that even though less than one percent of all gun deaths are caused by a mass shooting, coverage of such dramatic events can lead to imitation.
The media and mass shooters must co-exist; journalists must cover mass shootings because they are newsworthy. On the other hand, how we describe mass shootings is powerful. The way a story is told can mislead audiences, distort perceptions and contribute to stereotypes about things like mental illness. It is rare for a mass shooter to be delusional, for example. Rather, mass murderers are usually men with substance misuse problems who perceive themselves as being unjustly treated, are rigid, obsessive, self-involved, narcissistic and suspicious. This type of hateful predator craves attention and wants to be famous.
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