FBI says study shows mass shootings could be prevented

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After looking into 100 shooting incidents around the country, the FBI says it believes mass shootings can be prevented.

The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit examined 160 shootings that occurred over a 13-year period in its study, Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters in the United States. 

Statistics developed through the study show that some suspects displayed suspicious behavior prior to committing acts of violence: 

• 95 percent of suspects verbally communicated concerning behavior
• 86 percent of the shooters had some kind of questionable physical actions
• 27 percent had written communication that raised eyebrows
• 16 percent behaved suspiciously online and
• 89 percent had questionable behavior that was observed in a variety of ways.

“They may not know exactly what the shooter is going to do, but in the vast majority of cases, somebody in retrospect had recognized some type of behavioral change that could’ve been significant,” said Grant Mendenhall, the Special Agent in Charge for the Indianapolis FBI Division.

Mendenhall says events like the shooting at Noblesville West Middle School could be prevented if people would report suspicious behavior. But instead, Mendenhall says, more than half of people who recognized odd behavior just ignored it. 

“Knowledge to reporting, that’s the gap we have to close. That’s where the change is going to come. That’s the purpose of this study,” he said. 

The study looked at 63 shooters from incidents from 2000-2013. The shooters’ ranged in age from 12 to 88; 73 percent of the shooters had some kind of personal connection to their attack site. 

“The objective of that is to see if there are lessons learned from those events that we can share with first responders, teachers, mental health providers, parents,” said Mendenhall. 

According to Mendenhall, the findings of the study will be distributed to schools, police agencies and throughout the community. Click here if you would like to take a look at the study in its entirety.