The Signs Were There: Public Perceptions of School and Mass Shootings

Recent years have seen an increase in the frequency of school and mass shootings. Two studies examined people’s perceptions of school and mass shootings, with a particular focus on respondents’ perceptions of influences on the perpetration of school and mass shootings, as well as the warning signs exhibited prior to the shootings. In Study 1, focusing on mass shootings, 395 Prolific workers completed a Qualtrics survey. Participants in Study 2, examining respondents’ perceptions of school shootings, were 150 undergraduate or graduate students. Respondents in both studies perceived mental illness/psychological problems, lack of empathy, and disregard among the top perceived influences on a mass/school shooter’s motivation to perpetrate a shooting. Participants perceived that not only did mass/school shooters have a disregard for their victims (Study 1: M = 4.52/5.00; Study 2: M = 4.09/5.00), but also that the shooters felt disregarded by others (Study 1: M = 4.00/5.00; Study 2: M = 4.13/5.00). Posting violent content on social media was perceived as the top warning sign for both school and mass shooters. Although respondents in both studies perceived the reporting of warning signs to be very important, of those who had witnessed suspicious behavior, only 29.5% of participants in Study 1 and 37.9% of participants in Study 2 reported it. This could stem from the lack of training in identifying warning signs as reported by participants in Study 1 (82.0%) and Study 2 (38.7%). Implications of these findings for prevention/intervention efforts are discussed.