Context Matters: Variation in Pathway-Related Behavioral Accumulation in Mass Public Shootings

Research on the Path to Intended Violence has identified a range of pre-attack behaviors associated with mass public shootings, yet limited attention has been paid to whether these behaviors vary across attack contexts. This study examined whether documented behavioral accumulation differed across contexts using a multi-source dataset of 175 perpetrators across 171 incidents in the United States from 1999 to 2024. Behavioral accumulation was measured as the number of pathway-related stages present per case. Results indicated significant contextual differences, with workplace cases exhibiting lower levels of documented behavioral accumulation than other contexts. Differences between school and other contexts were not statistically significant after accounting for age. Findings highlight the importance of considering contextual influences on pre-attack behaviors.