A crime expert has warned Sunday night’s horrific massacre in Las Vegas could be followed by a copycat attack.
Associate Professor of Criminology at Bond University Dr Wayne Petherick said the ‘contagion effect’ is to blame for one in six mass shootings.
Perpetrators of such attacks can be driven by a desire for fame, Dr Petherick told Andrew Bolt on Sky News.
A crime expert (pictured) has warned Sunday night’s horrific massacre in Las Vegas could be followed by a copycat attack
Associate Professor of Criminology at Bond University Dr Wayne Petherick said the ‘contagion effect’ is to blame for one in six mass shootings (pictured is Stephen Paddock, the perpetrator of the Las Vegas mass shooting)
‘If your thing is becoming famous and you see this guy’s name repeated ad nauseam in every news outlet in virtually every country around the world you see this as a good or a valid way to become famous, to go down in history,’ he said.
‘So that increases the likelihood of that happening. The research on this is actually pretty clear and these type of events do actually spawn other events.’
Dr Petherick said the risk of another shooting increased immediately after a mass shooting such as the one in Las Vegas.
Perpetrators of such attacks can be driven by a desire for fame, Dr Petherick (pictured, right) told Andrew Bolt (pictured, left)
The effect can be seen on both school shootings and workplace shootings, and means roughly one in six shootings in triggered by a previous one.
‘There’s basically a one to five effect, so for every five shootings we see an added shooting on that,’ the crime expert said.
For workplace shootings the contagion effect is even stronger – responsible for one shooting for every three others.
‘There’s basically a one to five effect, so for every five shootings we see an added shooting on that,’ the crime expert said (pictured is the scene of the Las Vegas mass shooting)
The Poynter Institute recommends media outlets avoid glorifying mass shooters and naming them too often in order to minimize the impact of the contagion effect.
Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on a crowd of people from his hotel room in Las Vegas, killing 59 and injuring 527 more on Sunday night.
His motives for carrying out the attack are yet to be determined.
Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on a crowd of people from his hotel room in Las Vegas, killing 59 and injuring 527 more on Sunday night