While other countries definitely experience their own types of tragedies, Americans have become known for certain types of horror-filled events where one or a few individuals take the lives of many. Some liken these events in the United States to suicide bombings in other countries, both with tragic results and multiple deaths.

A mass murder is defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) as an event in which three or more people are killed (not including the killer) (FBI, 2005). The types of mass murders vary by the weapon used (such as a firearms, knives, explosives, vehicles, or even airplanes), by the perpetrator (such as a lone wolf, members of a cult, or religious extremists), by the amount of time between killings (meaning all in one event or with a “cooling-off period” between each murder), and also by the motive (such as hate/bigotry, mental illness, religious extremism, or politics). What does not vary is that each type of mass murder includes the killing of at least three people by at least one perpetrator. With so many factors involved, there is a lot of variety in mass murders despite them being some of the least common crimes committed.

10.3.1 Serial Murder

Perhaps the most notorious and oddly sensationalized type of mass murder is that which is serial in nature. Serial is defined as it relates to a criminal element as “repeatedly committing the same offense and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern” (OED, n.d.). FBI Agent Robert Ressler is credited with coining the term “serial killer” in the 1970s during his work in behavioral psychology that led to creation of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit to represent someone who commits this type of crime. Serial murder is killing three or more people, but with an emotional cooling-off period between each of the murders. The cooling-off period between killings could be anywhere from weeks to even years.

Examples of these killings have been popularized through the entertainment industry. There are now docuseries, movies, and released interview recordings for many serial killers on various streaming services. Notorious serial killers in the United States include the BTK Killer (Dennis Rader), John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Son of Sam (David Berkowitz), and others. Specific to Oregon, several serial killers have committed most or some of their crimes here. The most famous include Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer shown in figure 10.2), Randall Woodfield (the I-5 Killer), Keith Hunter Jesperson (the Happy Face Killer), and Dayton Leroy Rogers (the Molalla Forest Killer).

Figure 10.2 1982 Mugshot of Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer).

There are some types of mass murder, however, that are not serial in nature. That means there is little to no chance they will be repeated by the same person. Often, these singular events also end in the death of the killer as well, which they often go into their plan expecting (similar to suicide bombers in other countries).

10.3.2 Spree Murder

Spree murder is, again, killing three or more people, but in this case the time frame can be up to 30 days allowing for some time between some of the killings, and the murders typically occur during the committing of an additional felony (Holmes & Holmes, 2001). One example is the Beltway Snipers in Washington, D.C., John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. While on the run following previous killings, most of their murderous work occurred in October 2002. Muhammad and Malvo shot strangers from the safety of their car that had been converted into a shooting platform providing stability, cover, and a quick get-away. They randomly killed a man crossing a parking lot on the 2nd, five more on the 3rd (plus wounding two others), killed two men on the 9th and 11th who were putting gas into their cars, killed an FBI analyst on the 14th, wounded a man outside a steakhouse on the 19th, and killed a bus driver on the 22nd. Their killing spree ended on October 24th, 2002 when they were finally caught by police.

10.3.3 Single-Event Mass Murder

A mass murder with no cooling-off period between killings that occurs in one single event at one general location is becoming alarmingly common. One of the earliest examples was a brutal slaying of college students by Richard Speck who has since been identified as one of the first and most significant “mass murderers.” In July of 1966, he killed eight young women who were students in a local nursing program in Chicago, Illinois. His weapon of choice was a knife and he committed all of the murders with either stabbing or strangling. He held the women hostage in one room during this time and paused for approximately 20-30 minutes between each killing, making the entirety of the event take hours.

Another example of a mass murder distinguished by no cooling-off period, but set apart by the perpetrators and their motive is the murder of Sharon Tate and four friends by members of the Manson Family cult in 1969. In this case, cult members carried out the order of their leader Charles Manson to kill Sharon Tate and her guests. In this case, there was not just one perpetrator as with so many other mass murders. A killing committed by a group like this is less common, but maybe even more alarming because of the increased harm they are capable of causing by working together.

10.3.3.1 Mass Shootings

Many contemporary mass murder single events are also termed mass shootings because of the use of firearms to kill or injure the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time. These killings all happening in the same location and at the same time is what distinguishes mass murder from serial killing or serial murder and also from spree murder. These include shootings at schools, workplaces, or public locations or events.

The origin of mass shootings in this country is tough to pin down because it was not formally tracked until it became more common. In 1949, Melvin Collins opened fire from inside a boarding house and killed eight people before then killing himself in Chester, Pennsylvania. Later that same year, Howard Unruh went on what has since been named his “walk of death” where he shot and killed 13 people and wounded four more during a 20-minute walk down a crowded street in Camden, New Jersey. Howard Unruh is considered the “father of mass murder” despite not being the first. This is credited to the fact that he lived to tell the police all about his motives and plans. He also received a significant amount of coverage in the media, making his murders famous.

Years later, on August 1st, 1966, Charles Whitman committed what many consider to be the first mass shooting (despite Collins and Unruh who came before him). From atop the clock tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Whitman shot and killed 16 people.

10.3.3.2 School Shootings

Shootings in schools where students arrive heavily armed ready to kill their classmates and teachers have gone from being extremely rare to becoming frighteningly common. The incident most often referenced as the one that started this horrible trend is the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999. Two high school seniors from the school, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher, and injured another 21 people. They then killed themselves in the school library. Columbine was, at the time, the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history and has since inspired countless others to commit similar horrific acts.

Even though Columbine was not the first school shooting in the United States, it changed how we saw safety in schools in our society. Schools now routinely practice lockdowns and have active shooter drills. Students and teachers alike are all very aware of the possibility of a school shooting on their campus.

Figure 10.3 President George W. Bush talks with former Columbine High School student Craig Scott during a panel discussion on school safety in 2006.

In Oregon, there have been two very significant school shootings, one of which occurred shortly before Columbine. On May 20th, 1998, 15-year-old freshman Kipland “Kip” Kinkel murdered his parents in their home in Springfield, Oregon. The next day, he went to school as usual at Thurston High School. He wore a trench coat to hide the five weapons he carried. This was a move later copied by the two shooters at Columbine. Kinkel had two hunting knives, a rifle, a 9x19mm Glock 19 pistol, and a .22-caliber Ruger MK II pistol. He also had 1,127 rounds of ammunition. He began shooting right as he arrived at the school patio, then continued into and across the cafeteria shooting even more. During this short walk, Kinkle fired a total of 50 rounds, killed two students and injured another 25 before being tackled and held down by seven students until the police arrived. He repeatedly begged other students and police officers to kill him. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 111 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kinkel was suffering from undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia and had an obsession from an early age with weapons and explosives. He reported that the voices in his head made him believe that he had to kill his parents and everyone at school.

The second large school shooting in Oregon happened at Umpqua Community College on October 1st, 2015. Twenty-six-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer arrived at his writing class that morning, firing a warning shot in the hallway as he approached the classroom. Using two handguns, Harper-Mercer was strategic about which students in class he shot and was reported to have taunted some in the process. He shot and killed the professor and eight students, plus injured another eight before killing himself. He forced one student to sit in the corner and watch all the shooting, giving her a package to deliver to the police on his behalf. The package contained his manifesto citing other mass killers and ranting about his hatred of women.

The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) analyzed 41 K-12 school shootings that occurred in the United States between 2008 and 2017. They looked at motives, behaviors, and situational factors related to the shooters to learn how future attacks may be prevented. They reported the following key findings (NTAC, 2019):

• There is no consistent profile of a school shooter. They have varied in age, gender, race, grade level, academic performance, and social characteristics.
• There is no consistent profile of schools that have been attacked. The schools have varied in size, grade-level, location, and type.
• There is no single motive of school shooters. The most common is a grievance with classmates, but have also included anger toward school staff, failed romantic relationships, or other personal issues. Some school shooters were also motivated by the desire to kill, being suicidal, and wanting fame or notoriety.
• Most attacks on schools are done using firearms. Those firearms were usually gotten from home.
• Most school shooters demonstrated psychological (depression, suicidal ideation), behavioral (defiance, misconduct), or developmental symptoms (delays, cognitive deficits).
• Half of the school shooters showed an interest in violence (such as being preoccupied with the Columbine shooting or Hitler).
• All school shooters had experienced stress in relationships with peers or romantic partners within six months of the attack (half of them within two days of the attack).
• Almost all school shooters had negative home lives, such as divorced parents, domestic abuse, or drug use in the household.
• Most school shooters had been victims of bullying.
• Most school shooters had previously gotten into trouble in school and many had prior contact with law enforcement through the school.
• All the school shooters exhibited some manner of concerning behavior in the days leading up to the attack. Most of them had told someone of their intent to attack the school.

Our ability to predict and intervene is getting only marginally better. The signs are too often only clear in hindsight after it is too late.