tangent4ronpaul
12-15-2013, 07:29 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/15/mass-killings-main/3821897/
Mass killings such as the Newtown school massacre and the slaughter of moviegoers in Aurora have led many to think the country is getting more murderous, but a USA TODAY analysis shows it is not.
Amario Dominguez III was only 6 months old when he was shot in the head in Oklahoma City in August. The infant was the youngest victim of a mass killing this year. The oldest: Dottie and Bob Pape, both 84, of Fernley, Nevada, shot during an apparent robbery.
Amario and the Papes are three of the 137 people who died in 30 mass killings in 2013.
In the year since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School horrified the world and prompted calls for laws that would prevent mass killings, little has changed. The violence and victims in 2013 are in line with the average since 2006 — 29 mass killings and 147 victims a year,according to an exclusive USA TODAY database.
"Everyone is always asking 'Why are these mass killings increasing?' '' says criminologist James Alan Fox, professor of criminology at Northeastern University. "They are not.''
The perception of a dramatic increase is understandable given the attention killings receive, says Fox, professor of criminology at Northeastern University and co-author of Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder.
In an effort to look behind the bloodshed, USA TODAY examined FBI data and hundreds of media reports and police documents and compiled a database of mass killings — four or more people killed, not including the killer — from 2006 to date. The numbers tell a chilling story. Beyond the numbers, the horror and pain of the sudden and senseless loss of 137 souls resonates among family, friends, communities and, in some cases, the nation.
The USA TODAY analysis shows the killings fall into three main categories: Public massacres, family violence and deaths that are linked to other crimes — robbery, burglary, drug deals.
HIGH PROFILE BUT RARE
It is the public killings that attract the most attention.
(cont)
-t
Mass killings such as the Newtown school massacre and the slaughter of moviegoers in Aurora have led many to think the country is getting more murderous, but a USA TODAY analysis shows it is not.
Amario Dominguez III was only 6 months old when he was shot in the head in Oklahoma City in August. The infant was the youngest victim of a mass killing this year. The oldest: Dottie and Bob Pape, both 84, of Fernley, Nevada, shot during an apparent robbery.
Amario and the Papes are three of the 137 people who died in 30 mass killings in 2013.
In the year since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School horrified the world and prompted calls for laws that would prevent mass killings, little has changed. The violence and victims in 2013 are in line with the average since 2006 — 29 mass killings and 147 victims a year,according to an exclusive USA TODAY database.
"Everyone is always asking 'Why are these mass killings increasing?' '' says criminologist James Alan Fox, professor of criminology at Northeastern University. "They are not.''
The perception of a dramatic increase is understandable given the attention killings receive, says Fox, professor of criminology at Northeastern University and co-author of Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder.
In an effort to look behind the bloodshed, USA TODAY examined FBI data and hundreds of media reports and police documents and compiled a database of mass killings — four or more people killed, not including the killer — from 2006 to date. The numbers tell a chilling story. Beyond the numbers, the horror and pain of the sudden and senseless loss of 137 souls resonates among family, friends, communities and, in some cases, the nation.
The USA TODAY analysis shows the killings fall into three main categories: Public massacres, family violence and deaths that are linked to other crimes — robbery, burglary, drug deals.
HIGH PROFILE BUT RARE
It is the public killings that attract the most attention.
(cont)
-t