Page 6 - AT

A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 23 SepteMber 2019

U.S. police assess rise in threat tips after 3 mass killings

By LISA MARIE PANE and there's no one basic pro-
STEFANIE DAZIO file for the attackers. The
Associated Press demographics of school
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It had shooters and their motiva-
all the makings of a mas- tions are vastly different
sacre. Six guns, including a from someone who carries
Colt AR-15 rifle. About 1,000 out carnage in a place of
rounds of ammunition. A worship. The same holds
bulletproof vest. And an true for those who carry out
angry Southern California workplace shootings.
man who threated to kill his "When it comes to thinking
co-workers at a hotel and about the profile of a mass
its guests. shooter what our research
But a concerned colleague is starting to uncover is
intervened, alerting author- there's not really one profile
ities who arrested 37-year- of a mass shooter," Densley
old Rodolfo Montoya, a said.
cook at the Long Beach But the one common
Marriott hotel, the next day thread is that there are
and discovered the arse- usually warning signs in the
nal where he lived in a run- days and weeks leading up
down motor home parked to the shootings, with many
near industrial buildings. shooters taking to social
In the weeks after three media to vent outrage at
high-profile shootings in This undated file photo released by the Long Beach, Calif., Police Department shows weapons whatever is troubling them.
three states took the lives of and ammunition seized from a cook at a Los Angeles-area hotel who allegedly threatened a Greg Shaffer, a retired FBI
more than two dozen peo- mass shooting. agent who now is a private
ple in one week in August, Associated Press security consultant spe-
law enforcement authori- cializing in active shooters
ties nationwide reported a in which intense media the first week of August in And the general pub- and terrorism, said in an
spike in tips from concerned coverage of mass shoot- Gilroy, California; El Paso, lic in turn becomes more interview that the chal-
relatives, friends and co- ings leads to more people Texas; and Dayton, Ohio aware of the possibility of lenge for law enforce-
workers about people who seeking to become copy- that killed 34 people and mass shootings, heighten- ment is the juggling act
appear bent on carrying cat killers. In other cases, it's wounded nearly 70. ing people's willingness to of trying to balance the
out the next mass shooting. a reflection of the general Mass shootings tend to speak out if a friend, rela- public's safety while not
Some of those would-be public being more aware plant the idea of carrying tive or co-worker appears trampling on Americans'
shooters sent text messages of warning signs when a out a rampage or at least to be in the midst of a cri- constitutional rights. For ex-
to friends or posted on so- friend or relative or co- encourage the idea in po- sis and plotting carnage, ample, at what point does
cial media that they hoped worker is in an emotional tential mass shooters, each Densley said. In addition, a troubling social media
to one-up previous mass crisis — and more willing to seeking notoriety or striv- the media focuses not only post constitute an illegal
shootings by killing more tip off police. ing to "out-do" others with on the actual shootings, threat versus simple venting
people. On average, the Federal higher death tolls, said so- but also on those that are that's protected by the First
The reasons for the in- Bureau of Investigation re- ciologist James Densley, a foiled. Amendment? "The real rub
crease in tips and height- ceives about 22,000 tips criminal justice professor at But identifying and predict- is where do you draw the
ened awareness of thwart- about potential threats of Metropolitan State Univer- ing who the next shooter line between First, Second
ed mass shootings vary, law violence weekly. That vol- sity in St. Paul, Minnesota, will be is challenging for au- and Fourth Amendment
enforcement officials said. ume increased by about who studies mass shootings thorities, he said. rights?" he said. "We allow
In some cases, it's the so- 15,000 following the high- and the people who per- The reason? Mass shootings hate speech. It's freedom
called "contagion effect" profile shootings during petrate them. remain rare events and of speech. q