Mass Killing Trends (2015-Present)

Analyzing mass killing data to identify trends and insights.

Papers Published

King, D.M., Jacobson, S.H. 2017, "Random Acts of Violence: Examining Probabilistic Independence of Mass Killing Events in the United States" Victims and Violence, 32(6), 2014-2013.

Media Coverage

(18 October 2017) Mass killings happen randomly, yet rate has remained steady, study finds, based on the paper, “Random Acts of Violence? Examining Probabilistic Independence of the Temporal Distribution of Mass Murders in the United States,” which will appear in Victims and Violence. See also Study Finds Mass Killings Not On The Rise Over Past Decade (TV Report) (Nancy Harty, CBS Chicago, 18 October 2017), Mass killings in the US happen randomly - but at a steady rate for the last 10 years, study finds (Cheyenne Macdonald, Daily Mail (UK), 18 October 2017), U.S. Mass Killings Occurring at 'Uniform' Rate, Say Scientists (Peter Hess, Inverse, 18 October 2017), Mass Killings are not Becoming More Common (John Hinderaker, Powerline, 18 October 2017), Despite Vegas and Media Narrative, Mass Killings Aren’t on the Rise “The data doesn’t lie.” (Trey Sanchez, Truth Revolt, 18 October 2017), Mass Shootings are Not on the Rise, Study Shows (S. Noble, Independent Sentinel, 18 October 2017), New Study Says Mass Murders are Not on the Rise in the U.S. (Warner Todd Huston, American News 24/7, 18 October 2017), Study finds no spike in mass killings over past decade (Nikki McGee, Fox Illinois, 18 October 2017), The One Figure You Probably Haven’t Heard About Mass Shootings (Jazz Shaw, Hot Air, 19 October 2017), Mass killings rate steady over past decade, but totally random (Seth Augenstine, Forensic Magazine, 19 October 2017), Research Finds Mass Killings Are Not on the Rise (Police Magazine, 19 October 2017), Study: Despite More Coverage, Mass Killings Not Occurring More Often (Matt Masterson, Chicago Tonight, WTTW, 19 October 2017), Mass killings happen randomly, yet rate has remained steady, study finds (Victoria Ritter, Gears of Biz, 20 October 2017), Study Says Mass Killings are Hard to Predict (Security Magazine, 23 October 2017), New Research Can Help First Responders (Grant Stinchfield, NRATV, 24 October 2017), Comprehensive data shows mass shootings in America have risen sharply (The Hill, 31 October 2017).

People Involved

Douglas M. King (Industrial Engineering Graduate Student, University of Illinois)

Rahul Swamy (Industrial Engineering Graduate Student, University of Illinois)

Sara Kohtz (Industrial Engineering Graduate Student, University of Illinois)

Last updated: 2 February 2019

URL address: BTRI

Contact Information: Sheldon H. Jacobson, 217-244-7275, email, twitter