NPR (8/6, Chatterjee) reports on its “All Things Considered” program and in its “Shots” blog research indicates mass shooting “incidents usually occur in clusters and tend to be contagious” and that “intensive media coverage seems to drive the contagion.” In a 2015 study published in PLOS One, “researchers at Arizona State University analyzed data on cases of mass violence.” Lead researcher Sherry Towers said, “What we found was that for the mass killings – so these are high profile mass killings where there’s at least four people killed – there was significant evidence of contagion.” Investigators “also found that what distinguished shootings that were contagious from those that weren’t was the amount of media coverage they received.” In addition, they “found that there is a window when a shooting is most likely to lead to more incidents – about two weeks.”
Related Links:
— “Mass Shootings Can Be Contagious, Research Shows, “Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, August 06, 2019