Military Times: Military Service a factor in mass casualty attacks

 

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"Domestic extremists who plot or commit mass killings often share characteristics, like mental health problems and criminal histories. But the most common thread is a record of military service, according to new analysis of three decades of attacks inside the U.S.

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, known as START, analyzed thousands of cases of extremist-driven crimes from 1990 through 2022, and found that a military background is the single strongest predictor of whether a perpetrator committed or planned a mass casualty attack – and their military training made them twice as deadly, according to research first made available to Military Times."

“We thought having a criminal history or undiagnosed mental illness were the things that would come out as distinguishing the mass casualty offenders. Those matter, but the thing that came out as being the most significant predictor was having a military background,” said Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at START. “That was surprising and alarming and runs counter to what decades of criminological research would have you believe about who’s most likely to engage in this type of activity.”

Military Times article HERE.