Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Secret Service Traces Half Of Mass Attacks To Personal Or Work Disputes
Reuters: Half Of U.S. Mass Attacks Sparked By Personal, Workplace Disputes, Report Finds
Half of the mass attacks in the United States from 2016-2020 were sparked by personal, domestic or workplace disputes, according to a new U.S. Secret Service report that aims to prevent violence by identifying warning signs. The attackers were overwhelmingly men, often with histories of mental health symptoms, financial insecurity or engaging in domestic violence. Guns were typically the weapon of choice. (1/25)
The Washington Post: Many Mass Attackers Motivated By Personal And Work Grievances, Report Says
The report, released by the Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center on Wednesday, examined 173 targeted attacks carried out by 180 perpetrators between 2016 and 2020 in public or semipublic locations. It defines a mass attack as an act of violence in which three or more people, excluding the perpetrator, were killed or injured. The researchers found that three-quarters of the perpetrators had displayed behaviors or communicated in a way that concerned others before the attack. About 29 percent of attackers were described either by themselves or others as “withdrawn, loners or anti-social,” the report said, and more than half had experienced mental health symptoms before the attack. (Cho, 1/26)
ABC News: As US Reels From Multiple Mass Shootings, Can Loneliness Be A Trigger For Violence?
There is a loneliness epidemic in the United States -- and it experts told ABC News it may be triggering violence. In California, there have been three shootings in as many days, tied to a perpetrator who may have exhibited signs of social isolation and/or violent behavior, according to authorities. In Monterey Park, police documents revealed the 72-year-old suspect had been divorced from his wife since 2006, lived alone in Hemet -- about 30 miles Southeast of Riverside -- and was angry and resentful. (Kekatos, 1/26)
More on the mass shootings in California —
The New York Times: California Gun Laws Can’t Keep Out The Violence From Mass Shootings
Gun policy experts said that a national culture that accepts routine violence, combined with an inability to enforce gun controls in one state that is surrounded by others where rules are more lax, means that California will continue to grapple with public mass violence. “We are part of a culture that celebrates violence as a means of problem-solving in a country that has made firearms more available than any industrialized country ever,” said Dr. Garen J. Wintemute, an emergency room doctor who directs the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center. “We have no right to be surprised when these things happen.” (Cowan, 1/24)
ABC News: Experts Explain Why California Is Still Rife With Gun Violence Despite Some Of The Most Stringent Gun Laws In The Country
Even the state with some of the strictest gun laws can't keep gun violence away from its borders. California has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country -- many of which were enacted in response to several of the violent mass shootings in recent years. But that hasn't stopped a wave of mass shootings from plaguing the state in the first few weeks of 2023. (Jacobo, 1/26)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Mass Shootings Add To Bay Area Asian Americans’ Years Of Pandemic Trauma
On Lunar New Year’s Eve, Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Cynthia Choi went to bed hopeful. Before going to sleep, she sent out a tweet: “I am all in for a year of calm, kindness and peace.” The next morning, Choi woke up to the news of the Monterey Park (Los Angeles County) mass shooting, where 11 Asian Americans were killed at a dance studio. (Li, Hao and Cano, 1/25)
BBC News: Why Number Of US Mass Shootings Has Risen Sharply
Data shows that all types of gun violence - from homicide to suicide to mass shootings - are on a mostly upwards trajectory in the US. In 2019, the total number of gun-related deaths in the US was 33,599. In 2022, the number of deaths rose to 44,290 - a 31% increase. Most of these deaths are suicides by a firearm, followed by homicides. While mass shootings often draw alarm, they make up a small fraction of gun-related deaths - in 2020, mass shooting victims made up 1.1% of overall firearm deaths. (1/25)
