He was accused of threatening to kill his roommate.
He believed his family tried to poison him.
He thought his co-workers were conspiring against him.
These are abridged details from profiles of the suspected or convicted perpetrators of more than 150 mass shootings in the United States.
They had been collecting firearms and armor in their basement.
His parents said they had no warning.
One of his only friends died from a heroin overdose.
He suffered from severe back pain.
He was obsessed with school shootings.
He dropped out of college and lied to his parents about it.
He published books detailing mass murder fantasies .
The profiles are based on news reports, public documents and our conversations with the shooters’ friends, colleagues, social workers and teachers.
He tortured animals.
He had intense mood swings and alcohol problems.
He planned to commit suicide by cop.
He was known for being paranoid with a short temper.
He believed he was straying from his faith.
He posted a series of disturbing videos on Facebook.
He had been isolating himself from his online friends.
These events have become more frequent and more deadly over time. One-third of all the mass shootings in our study occurred in the last decade.
He told his neighbor that spies were following him.
He believed that Jews were Satanic imposters.
She stopped working and was evicted from her condominium.
He threatened his neighbor with a gun.
He had considered suicide.
He stopped communicating with his mother and ex-wife.
He had been convicted of domestic violence.
He had expressed violent thoughts.
This is no coincidence. The killings are not just random acts of violence but rather a symptom of a deeper societal problem: the continued rise of “deaths of despair.”
He argued loudly with his mother and kicked holes in the walls.
He was engrossed in antisemitic rhetoric online.
He believed that his ex-wife cheated on him.
He pleaded guilty to harassing a former classmate.
He had paranoid schizophrenia.
He told friends that people were out to get him.
His mother had died and he was stockpiling weapons.
He was jealous when his ex-girlfriend began dating someone else.
This term has been used to explain increasing mortality rates among predominantly middle-aged white men caused by suicide, drug overdose and alcohol abuse.
He had been arrested for stabbing a neighbor.
He became depressed and had a shorter temper.
He lost a significant amount of money gambling.
He was broke and blamed himself for getting fired from his job.
He was very angry about having to pay child support.
He told the F.B.I. that he was being mind-controlled.
He had always been angry, volatile and violent.
He thought white police officers were carrying out a genocide.
We think the concept of “deaths of despair” also helps explain the accelerating frequency of mass shootings in this country.
He left the house carrying a bag of guns.
He had been depressed.
Neighbors said he was often moody and drank until he passed out.
He was withdrawn and quiet, with no friends.
He was depressed, suicidal and upset about a recent D.U.I.
He got drunk and boasted about plans to start a race war.
He sent his girlfriend suicidal text messages.
Nearly all the killers we profile are men.
He believed that women conspired to make him miserable.
She was being investigated for embezzlement.
He heard imaginary voices and thought he was being followed.
He sent abusive emails to former co-workers.
He told friends that he wanted to hurt people.
He had anger issues and shot his ex-girlfriend with a BB gun.
He lost contact with his family and refused to talk to an old boss.
He became obsessed with mass murderers and stopped eating.
Many were socially isolated from their families or their communities and felt a sense of alienation.
He was depressed and thought people were following him.
He said that he thought about killing people.
He told people that he was a member of a C.I.A. death squad.
He dropped out of school and was angry about tuition.
He was getting divorced and threatened to kill his wife.
He told a priest that he feared demons were after him.
He removed the batteries from all the clocks in his house.
Many of these men felt that their identities were under attack.
He was erratic and frightened his teachers and classmates.
He showed increasing hostility toward his neighbors.
He was forced to resign from his job.
He was distressed that his wife had left him.
He believed that he could fly and would save the world.
He struggled to reconcile his religion and his military duties.
He thought he was the target of a police conspiracy.
Often, they turned to extreme ideologies to cope with their failures and to find a sense of purpose.
He threatened his wife with a gun after she left him.
He had serious mental health issues and was under supervision.
He hit a co-worker and threatened to kill his supervisor.
He stopped taking his medication for paranoid schizophrenia.
He lost his job and stopped taking his antidepressants.
His fight against the local city government consumed him.
He sent hate mail and had recently lost his job.
Most chose not to ask for help when confronted with hardship, like a breakup or being fired from their job.
He had been in and out of mental hospitals since he was a child.
He threatened suicide and stalked several female classmates.
He had bouts of depression after the death of one of his children.
He abused his romantic partners for decades.
He did not have many friends or a steady job.
She developed psychosis and talked to imaginary people.
He threatened his neighbors with obscenities and guns.
They chose mass shootings as a way to seize power and attention, forcing others to witness their pain while attempting to end their lives in a way that only they controlled.
He harmed himself and posted violent stories online.
He had been noticeably depressed and angry at church.
He had schizophrenia and talked about killing people.
He became exhausted and depressed working two jobs.
He lost his job and his home.
He called his old workplace and left drunken messages.
He had anger issues and threatened violence against Black people.
These are public spectacles of violence intended as final acts.
He was unstable, unemployed and looking for work.
He threw tantrums at work and fought with his co-workers.
He attacked his ex-girlfriend’s car with an ax.
He frequently believed that he was the archangel Michael.
He thought his wife was having an affair.
He learned that the I.R.S. would start garnishing his paychecks.
He believed that the F.B.I. was monitoring him.
Whether it’s self-inflicted, or comes at the hands of police officers or after life in prison, a mass shooting is a form of suicide.
He was paranoid and thought co-workers were sabotaging his work.
He began taking his father’s prescription medications.
He killed his daughter’s cat because he was upset.
He was fired for missing work shifts.
He turned in school assignments with violent imagery.
He created a website that threatened a classmate.
His wife was leaving him and he attempted suicide three times.
This is something that separates mass shootings from other crimes and is why traditional preventive measures like increased armed security or harsh criminal sentences will do little to stop them.
He tried to buy a stolen gun at school.
He was often in trouble at school for behavioral problems.
He was upset he had been passed over for a promotion.
He felt that he had been unfairly fired.
He was angry about being forced out of his business.
He believed that he had been fired because of racism.
He blamed city officials for his wife’s death from cancer.
Mass shooters are not the victims. But in order to prevent future tragedies we must treat the underlying pathologies that feed the shooters’ despair.
He lost his job and his water heater broke.
He had schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication.
He was upset about a performance evaluation at work.
He was discharged from the Air Force.
He stopped eating and sleeping and began committing robberies.
He was obsessed with racism and believed it caused all his failures.
He struggled to get a job for years and became isolated.
Mass shootings must no longer be written off as “inexplicable” episodes of “unthinkable” violence.
He became depressed after learning he needed knee surgery.
At a party, he told children to shoot and kill Black people.
He was bankrupt and had liens on his property.
He was evicted and his wife and daughter left him.
His wages were being garnished for child support.
He began hearing voices and talked about committing violence.
He was upset about a recent breakup.
Our communities and governments need to find ways to reduce social isolation more broadly and improve access to mental health care and substance abuse treatment.
He was fired from his job at the post office.
He was discharged from a psychiatric program for hitting a nurse.
He felt cheated because another student had won a school prize.
He sent a letter denouncing the women in his town as vipers.
His wife got a restraining order and his car was repossessed.
He lost his job and became isolated and angry.
He abused drugs and alcohol and had been arrested frequently.
Increased investment in suicide prevention, crisis intervention and reporting systems for violent threats will help prevent desperate people from becoming mass shooters.
He had PTSD from fighting in Vietnam.
He was distraught after his wife left him while she was pregnant.
He stalked a co-worker for years and was fired from his job.
He threatened neighborhood children with his gun.
He felt like he was being mistreated at work.
He had been under pressure at work and was worried about layoffs.
He was banned from a bar.
These steps must be taken not in place of but in addition to passing widely supported gun safety laws like background checks, longer waiting periods, safer gun storage requirements and red flag laws.
He was fired and had sought help at a mental health clinic.
He was upset that his wife had left him.
He ranted in his classroom and was suspended from teaching.
He was in a pay dispute with his employers.
He became reclusive and avoided all social interactions.
He began hoarding food and planning for the end of the world.
He thought his family and co-workers were trying to poison him.
Instead, we have allowed mass shootings to become normalized in American culture, and ask our children to participate in active shooter drills and pass through metal detectors on their way to class.
He was discharged from the Marines and was on probation.
His wife left him and he had attempted suicide.
He was delusional and had angry outbursts.
He quit his job suddenly and planned to commit suicide.
He denounced Christianity and began to drift from place to place.
He said he would rather die than go back to jail.
He believed that “the man” was after him.
We say “never again” and yet less than 48 hours elapsed between the shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, Calif. “Again” keeps happening because mass shooters are not monsters who appear out of thin air.
He only ate canned food because he feared poisoning.
He became obsessed with famous murderers.
He suffered mood swings and periods of overwhelming hostility.
Mass shooters live among us. They are us. They are for the most part the men and boys we know. And they can be stopped before they pull the trigger.