Most shooters are white and obtain weapons legally, FBI report finds

An FBI study examining the behavior of shooters who have carried out deadly attacks has returned a number of eyebrow-raising statistics, including almost nine out of 10 having no criminal convictions.  

Investigators found most mass shootings were carried out by white men who obtained their weapons legally.

Only 25 percent of active shooters were diagnosed mentally ill, a low figure considering common assertion that attackers are in some way insane.

FBI outside the Sutherland Springs church in Texas, where a gunman carried out a fatal mass shooting last November killing 26 people

The FBI said there were 30 active shootings in the United States in 2017, the largest ever recorded since they began tracking 17 years ago.

In an attempt to detect behavioral patterns in the lead up to attacks, the bureau looked at 63 cases involving suspects between 2000 and 2013.

A combined 75 percent of suspects obtained their firearms legally for the purpose of the attacks, either by already owning guns — 35 percent — or purchasing them — 40 percent — to carry out their atrocities. 

Others stole, robbed or borrowed guns.

The sample was overwhelmingly male, with 59 out of the 63 killings — 94 percent — carried out by men or boys.

Most attackers were white at 63 percent followed by 16 percent black. 

Minorities Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Native American made up the rest in that order.

Remarkably there was a ‘limited history’ of attackers having committed violent crimes as adults.

Some 89 percent of active shooters had no convictions for crimes against other people while only five percent had felonies including charges for sexual assault and endangering a person.

Six percent had misdemeanors considered ‘not dangerous’.

But there was evidence of anti-social behavior where criminal proceedings may not have taken place.

For that, the bureau found 62 percent of suspects had a history of being abusive, bullying or oppressive to others.

Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz legally obtained weapons before he went on a rampage killing 17 students at a school in Florida

Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz legally obtained weapons before he went on a rampage killing 17 students at a school in Florida

The report intended to eradicate assumption that anyone who commits an active shooting is mentally unwell, an assertion deemed ‘misleading and unhelpful’.

Only 25 percent of the gunmen could be verified to have had any type of mental illness including issues with mood, anxiety and personality disorders.

About 62 percent however were dealing with ‘stressors’ in their lives such as depression, anxiety and paranoia prior to attacks.

‘In light of the very high lifetime prevalence of the symptoms of mental illness among the US population, formally diagnosed mental illness is not a very specific predictor of violence of any type, let alone targeted violence,’ the study says.

‘Careful consideration should be given to social and contextual factors that might interact with any mental health issue before concluding that an active shooting was ’caused’ by mental illness.’

It took some time before investigators were able to determine Stephen Paddock had an 'undiagnosed' mental illness

It took some time before investigators were able to determine Stephen Paddock had an ‘undiagnosed’ mental illness

The FBI’s report is a reminder of horrifying mass shootings that have recently taken place in America.

In February, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 17 and wounded 17 others in a shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 

Chilling videos from the day of the murders revealed he planned to kill ‘at least 20 people with an AR-15’.

President Donald Trump put Cruz’s wicked acts down to ‘the difficult issue of mental health’ while avoiding the topic of gun control.

He also said last year’s Texas church shooting in Sutherland Springs, where Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 people, was caused by a mental health issue. 

When Stephen Paddock massacred 58 people on the Las Vegas strip from his Mandalay Bay hotel room, investigators believed he had an undiagnosed mental illness.



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