The FBI has published a report on Wednesday that detailed the increase in incidents involving (mostly) solo gunmen shooting at private citizens in public areas.
According to the report, 160 separate incidents were identified between the years 2000 and 2013.
Incidents that were involved in the study [pdf] include the shootings that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, The Aurora Cinemark Century 156 cinema, and other infamous mass shootings that have made headlines in the past decade.
The numbers show that shootings are becoming more frequent and often end in tragedy and multiple fatalities before local law enforcement are able to arrive on the scene.
In the first 7 years of the time frame of the study, only 6 shootings occurred annually. But in more recent years, the number more than doubled to about 16 per year.
One reason for the rise in occurrences may be copycats of marginalized individuals who were inspired by past shootings to go on killing sprees on their own.
Other significant statistics about the shootings include:
- 90 of the shootings ended because the shooter committed suicide or surrendered.
- 21 shootings ended because of unarmed citizen intervention.
- Only 6 of the shootings were orchestrated by women. 2 shootings involved multiple gunmen.
- 1,043 people, excluding the shooters themselves, were wounded or killed in the shootings.
One of the goals of the study was to aid law enforcement be more prepared in recognizing and responding to future incidents.
James F. Yacone, an FBI assistant director for crisis response, wants to help local police receive better training and equipment in order to respond better to mass shootings.
"These incidents, the large majority of them, are over in minutes. So it's going to have to be a teaching and training of the best tactics, techniques and procedures to our state and local partners," he said.
Yacone added that elite SWAT teams are not normally relied upon as first-responders to shooting incidents since it takes them at the very least half an hour to suit up and arrive at the scene. And unless they are facing highly trained gunmen, a SWAT team is unlikely to have any significant impact on the end result.
It will be more important for local law enforcement to be equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to get in and out of the situation as soon as possible.
Kerry Sleeper, of the FBI, remarked that some suggestions to help police deal with shooter could be providing them with "go-bags" in their vehicles that contain extra bullet-proof vests, a medical kit, and access to a patrol rifle for heightened threat situations.
The FBI reports that a follow-up to the study may include the types of guns involved in the shootings as well as how the gunmen obtained their weapons.
