Multiple Murder: Mass Murderers & Serial Killers Flashcards
(39 cards)
Spree Murder
- Least common of three types of multicide
- Spree murders involve multiple victims at multiple locations
- Occur over relatively short period of time and don’t‘ seem to have much direction or planning.
- Rampage usually stopped only when the killers are captured or killed
Spree Killings in Canada - 2020 Nova Scotia Attacks
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Spree Killings in Canada - 2019 Northern B.C. Homicide
Two males allegedly kill 3 people in remote B.C. over six-day period before committing suicide by firearm in the province of Manitoba
Spree killingthat took place on theAlaska HighwayandStewart–Cassiar Highwayin theCanadian provinceofBritish Columbiabetween July 14–19, 2019.Kam McLeodandBryer Schmegelskyare alleged to have killed Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, before killing Leonard Dyck within a six-day time frame.[1]
Spree Killings - 2018 Toronto ‘Danforth Shooting’
Night of July 22nd on public street, gunman kills two, wounds 13 before committing suicide during shootout with Toronto police.*
Mass shootingthat occurred onDanforth Avenuein theGreektownneighbourhood ofToronto,Ontario, Canada, on the night of July 22, 2018.[4]Faisal Hussain killed two people and wounded thirteen using aSmith & Wesson M&P.40-calibrehandgun.[2][3]He committedsuicideafter a shootout withToronto Police Service(TPS) officers.* Note doesn’t meet criteria of textbook definition
Mass Murder - Time & Distance
Key defining features are time and distance
When someone kills three or more victims in one location at one general point in time
- May last over period of hours, but generally part of same emotional outburst
Can occur in variety of settings, including workplace, school or public setting
- term “going postal”
Mass Murder - Erupts
Mass murder scene erupts with form of violence that paralyzes the community
- Widespread fear and sense of panic absent in other multicides
- Perception that no real protection from mass killer perhaps most alarming feature – sense of vulnerability
Mass Murder - Majority of Mass Killings
Vast majority of mass killings committed by white, middle-aged men
- Often frustrated and angry individuals who tend of have history of written complaints against them and by them
- Perceive they have been wronged and suffer from sense of injustice as result
- Disconcerting aspect is availability of high-powered and semi-automatic weapons which help to facilitate lethal violence
Mass Murder - Suicide by Cop
In many incidents, mass murderers end up killing themselves directly or die by “suicide by cop”
While there are multiple causes, it has been recognized that some mass killers have mental or physical problems that could have influenced their deeds.
Mass Murder - School Shootings
Big issue is prevalence of guns and regulation in United States.
From a Canadian perspective, school shootings less frequent in comparison
School shootings can be divided into college, high school, and secondary school settings.
One issues that generates a great deal of debate is prevalence of guns and their regulation in United States.
School Shootings - La Loche Community School, Sask
Four people were killed and two were critically wounded in a shooting in a northern Saskatchewan Dene community Jan. 22, 2016. Shots were fired at the La Loche high school building around 1 p.m.
School Shootings - Les Racines de vie Montessory, Gatineau, Quebec
On April 5, 2013, two men die during a shooting at the school’s daycare. The shooter is identified as Robert Charron. Thirty-eight-year-old Neil Galliou is killed before Charron takes his own life. Charron told staff to take the 53 children to safety before he opened fire.
School Shootings - C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, Toronto
On May, 23, 2007, 15-year-old Jordan Manners is found in a hallway with single gunshot wound to the chest. He later dies in hospital. Two teens were charged with first-degree-murder and were later acquitted.
School Shootings - Dawson College, Westmount, Quebec
On Sept. 13, 2006, 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa was killed and 20 others were hurt when gunman Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Gill was killed in a police gunfight.
Guns and Violence - Most Common Weapon in Homicides
Handguns
Handguns are by far the most common weapon in homicides: For example, in 2017, there were over 456,000 nonfatal incidents of nonfatal violence that included a firearm, including rapes, robberies, and assaults.
In these cases, the majority of nonfatal firearm violent crimes are also perpetrated with handguns.
In such situations, the gun may simply be brandished to intimidate the victim, it may be used as a club to pistol whip an uncooperative victim, or it may involve shooting and missing the intended target.
Guns and Violence - Equal Risk
Not everyone is at equal risk of experiencing gun-related violence: A person’s vulnerability varies widely according to certain demographic characteristics.
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), approximately one in three male violent crime victims faces an armed offender, compared with one in five female victims of violence.
Guns and Violence - Race & Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity are also important variables: African Americans are also more likely to be the victims of firearm-related homicides compared to other subgroups of the population.
The young are also more at risk of firearm violence, with those victims 20 years of age and younger being more likely to face an offender with a firearm compared with those 21 years of age or older.
Guns and Violence - Household Income Vulnerabilities
Vulnerability to weapon violence is also related to household income.
With individuals living in households making less than $7,500 are generally more likely to face offenders with firearms compared to those with higher household incomes.
It is clear, then, that poor and minority populations are particularly vulnerable to gun violence.
Guns and Violence - Availability of Guns
Availability of guns increases the likelihood that a violent interaction will result in death: When a conflict arises in the home, the availability of a gun rather than a knife increases the likelihood of death by three times.
The same pattern holds true for other crimes. Robberies and assaults in which a gun is present are three to five times more likely to result in a homicide than the same crimes committed with a knife, and are six to ten times more likely to result in a killing than when that robbery or assault is perpetrated with other weapons.
This isn’t to suggest that a knife, for example, is not potentially a deadly weapon; it is, but the difference is that it is not as easy to kill someone with a knife compared to a gun.
Guns and Violence - Semiautomatic Weapons
Increased firepower offered by semiautomatic weapons also plays a significant role in both the lethality of an incident and the number of victims.
In fact, the production of handguns has increasingly moved away from revolvers to semiautomatic weapons, which can fire more rounds.
Guns and Violence - Ammunition
Ammunition has also become more lethal.
For example, certain bullets are designed to expand or mushroom after hitting the target.
Others have hollowed-out tips that are filled with very soft lead that enlarges on impact, and still others are designed to tumble after they hit and can travel large distances within the body, bouncing off bones and slicing through organs, arteries and veins, and as much tissue as possible.
The availability of guns in general and semiautomatic handguns in particular is inextricably linked to the dangerousness of the violence played out on our streets and in our homes.
Guns and Violence - Enshrined & Mythologized Guns
We have enshrined and mythologized guns and the role they played in our past: Bumper stickers alerting people that “This Vehicle Is Protected by a Colt 45” or “You Can Have My Gun When You Pry It From My Cold Dead Fingers” are not something you would see on automobiles in the majority of industrialized nations, yet messages like this are not uncommon on the streets of the United States.
Guns and Violence - Americans are the Most Armed
Compared with other industrialized nations, Americans are the most armed: We have more guns per capita than any other nation in the world. According to the Gallup Poll in 1993, about 51% of Americans reported having a gun in their homes. By 2008, 42% reported having a gun at home and these numbers haven’t significantly changed since then, with 43% of respondents reporting a gun in the home in 2018.
Guns and Violence
Majority involve handguns
Serial Murders
A more comprehensive definition of serial murder was developed by Steven Egger, who identified a number of additional characteristics that typically characterize serial murders:
- There is generally no prior relationship between the victim and the attacker.
- Subsequent murders are at different times and have no apparent connection to the initial murder.
- Subsequent murders are usually committed in a different geographical location.
- The motive is usually not material gain but the murderer’s desire to have power or dominance over his victims.
- The victims may have symbolic value for the murderer or are perceived to have little status or prestige and, in most instances, are unable to defend themselves or alert others to their situation. Individuals who are particularly at risk are those whose situations make them powerless, such as prostitutes, homeless people, missing children, and single women.
