{"id":10462,"date":"2017-11-14T21:13:38","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T21:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10462"},"modified":"2017-11-14T21:13:38","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T21:13:38","slug":"most-mass-killers-are-men-who-have-also-attacked-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/most-mass-killers-are-men-who-have-also-attacked-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Most mass killers are men who have also attacked family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lisa Aronson Fontes, Ph.D.<\/a>, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What do most mass killers have in common? <\/p>\n

As a researcher who studies coercive control in intimate relationships<\/a>, I can point out a few key characteristics. First, they are men. Additionally, they have a history of controlling and abusing their wives and girlfriends \u2013 and sometimes other family members \u2013 before \u201cgraduating\u201d to mass killings.<\/p>\n

Considering a few recent examples makes the pattern clearer.<\/p>\n

Mass shooters practice at home<\/h2>\n

Devin P. Kelley, 26, who shot to death 26 people and injured 20 more at a Texas church on Nov. 5, had kicked, beaten and choked his first wife and infant stepson, fracturing the baby\u2019s skull. In the following years, he was investigated for other charges of violence against women including sexual assault and rape<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Since 1996, those convicted of domestic violence \u2013 even misdemeanor offenses \u2013 are supposed to be entered into the National Criminal Information Database and permanently barred from legally purchasing guns<\/a>. However, Air Force officials neglected to register Kelley\u2019s conviction, leaving him free to walk into a sporting goods store and purchase the rifle used to murder Texas churchgoers. A congressional report determined such registration failures happen at least 30 percent of the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Esteban Santiago<\/a>, charged with killing five travelers in a mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport in January 2017, was previously accused of assaulting and strangling his girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Spencer Hight<\/a> shot and killed his estranged wife and seven of her friends who had gathered to watch football on TV in Plano, Texas. These family-based mass shootings rarely gain the same kind of publicity as those conducted in public, perhaps because the average person mistakenly thinks they can avoid being victimized if the shooting occurs \u201cin the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n