Report: Mass attack suspects had stressors
WASHINGTON — Many suspects in mass attacks in the U.S. last year had experienced stressful situations, like losing their job, or had struggled with substance abuse or mental health issues, according to a Secret Service report released Thursday.
The cases highlight the importance for law enforcement that people report suspicious or concerning behavior to head off potential attacks, officials said.
The report, compiled by the Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center, examined 34 attacks that killed or injured three or more people in 2019. A total of 108 people were killed, and 178 were hurt.
Investigators found nearly half of the suspects who had used guns had possessed them illegally, and about two-thirds of those accused of committing the mass attacks had exhibited behavior that was concerning to others.
About one-third of the attacks were motivated by some type of grievance, the agency said. Those included feuds with neighbors, bullying, being in debt or not being able to find gainful employment.
Seven of the 37 suspects had been motivated by some kind of extremist views, and nine showed interest in past incidents of mass violence, the Secret Service said. Some of the attacks were carried out by multiple suspects.
Connor Betts, who killed nine people and injured about 20 others at a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio, before being fatally shot by police on Aug. 4, 2019, had “a history of concerning communications,” which included harassing female students in middle school and high school and had made “a hit list and a rape list in high school,” the report said.
The 24-year-old also told others he had attempted suicide and showed his girlfriend videos of a mass shooting, officials said.