There's a Perpetrator to U.S Shooting Patterns And It’s Right in Front of Us.

Sandy Hook, Parkland, Columbine, and Virginia Tech. Adam, Nikolas, Erik, and Seung-Hui. These are just a few of U.S school shootings and their perpetrators. Do you notice a pattern? Here in America, it’s no longer a culture shock when ‘Breaking News’ headlines include a male and his gun. As a student, why do I feel as though I’d be more likely to fear a suspicious man in the hallways than a woman?

We’ve become accustomed to looking for the nearest exit in our stadiums and movie theaters. According to Sandy Hook Promise, a website generated in hopes of spreading awareness toward school shootings, “Each day 12 children die from gun violence in America. Another 32 are shot and injured.” Why is it that we feel like nothing is being done about this issue? Gun violence is a storm that we are all a part of, yet we all seem to have different ideas of the root causes. Some may look at shooting causes from the perspective of security issues or guns themselves being the problem, yet we fail to recognize that these are just subcategories of the violence, like raindrops of the storm. What we need to truly look at is the perpetrator of all evil, the raincloud of the storm, which is the stigmatization of men acknowledging their mental health.  

Suicide rates of males in the US are four times higher than that above females as well as 79% of all suicides being male deaths, according to HeadsUpGuys. While we can recognize that these numbers are especially high, men still have trouble accessing help or acknowledging their feelings in fear of being vulnerable. Most men are expected to follow the socially-imposed norm of learning to withhold their emotions from the day they are born.

So what does this have to do with the pattern of men’s involvement in gun violent crimes? NPR journalists Michael Martin and Emma Bowman investigate the reasoning behind men and their violent tendencies in their article “Why Nearly All Mass Shooters are Men.” Martin and Bowman write “researchers say that men, more than women, tend to externalize their problems and look for others to blame, which can translate into anger and violence.” If we do not start to catch these mental health problems in men and acknowledge they are present, this cycle will continue.

Research also points toward men viewing shooters and the popularity they obtain, as somewhat of a mirror for themselves. A researcher at NPR reports, “Many school shooters study Columbine, for example; other university shooters study the Virginia tech shooting. They really are kind of using those previous shootings as a blueprint for their own.” This idea could also link to the reason many school shootings are planned months or even years in advance, to mimic strategies. 

Adam Lanza, shooter of Sandy hook, dealt with anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and anorexia which altered his mental state. Nikolas Cruz of Parkland had a damaged childhood leading him to untreated depression and impaired intellectuality. According to the New York Times article, “Adam Lanza’s Mental Problems ‘Completely Untreated’ Before Newtown Shootings, Report Says”, “school histories of Mr. Lanza, 20, found he was ‘completely untreated in years before the shooting.” But what if Adam Lanza was treated for his mental health, put on helpful medications, and offered therapy to discuss his violent tendencies? Would that have saved the lives of the 20 students and 6 staff members who lost their lives in 2012? What if Nikolas Cruz had found a health professional in support of discussing his troubled childhood, someone who would not label him as ‘weak’ or ‘unmanly’ for acknowledging his mental health. Would that have saved Parkland friends and family from the hole that is forever left in their hearts? 

The next time you think about mental health, please do not leave men out. Do not disregard the victims, the survivors, or the activists who have been affected by gun violence. Do not fail to recognize the lifelong effects this issue has on students, on families, and on the people of America. Remind the men in your life that it is okay to discuss their internal thoughts. Recommend professionals. I am sick and tired of driving to school every morning wondering if it will be the day I take a bullet for my classmates. 

Works Consulted

Cowan, Alison Leigh. “Adam Lanza's Mental Problems 'Completely Untreated' Before Newtown Shootings, Report Says (Published 2014).” The New York Times, 21 November 2014, nytimes.com/2014/11/22/nyregion/before-newtown-shootings-adam-lanzas-mental-problems-completely-untreated-report-says.html. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Martin, Michel, and Emma Bowman. “Why Nearly All Mass Shooters Are Men.” NPR, 27 March 2021, npr.org/2021/03/27/981803154/why-nearly-all-mass-shooters-are-men. Accessed 28 April 2023.

“17 Facts About Gun Violence And School Shootings — Sandy Hook Promise.” Sandy Hook Promise, sandyhookpromise.org/blog/gun-violence/facts-about-gun-violence-and-school-shootings/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

“Stats on Suicide in Men - What You Need to Know.” HeadsUpGuys, headsupguys.org/suicide-stats-men/. Accessed 28 April 2023