Yet Another Mass Shooting Is Preceded By Domestic Violence
Despite decades-long research, America continues to ignore the connections between misogyny and mass shootings. This is a wake-up call.
EntertainmentEntertainment

While America braces itself for the final death toll of the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, the country is, yet again, left wondering why these senseless killings keep happening. Even though we have yet to learn the 18-year-old shooter’s motive, what we have learned—from all the other thousands of mass shootings in this country—is that there’s a connection between mass shooters and domestic violence.
The shooting on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas is no different. CBS news reported that the gunman allegedly shot his grandmother right before he arrived at Robb Elementary, where he killed at least 19 children and a teacher. Information on his background has yet to be released, but what seems clear is the common thread he shares with other mass shooters: a history of assaulting women they’re either related to or have been romantically involved with.
According to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (EFSGB), more than two-thirds of mass shootings are preceded by domestic violence-related incidents, or perpetrated by shooters with a history of domestic violence. Domestic violence-related mass shootings are also associated with higher fatality rates than those unrelated to domestic violence.
“These things aren’t happening in a vacuum. Women and girls are canaries in a coal mine,” Gabrielle Perry MPH, the Founder of Thurman Perry Foundation told Jezebel in a phone interview Tuesday night. “The Virginia Tech shooter, the Aurora shooter, Las Vegas, who beat his mother and stole her car. Pulse nightclub shooter who was abusing his wife. People think these are inconsequential things, but it starts with women.”