New York – The early October massacre at a music festival in Las Vegas is a brutal reminder that mass murder continues to bedevil America. But features of the crime and its identified perpetrator raise key questions that demonstrate this to be a more confounding tragedy than earlier thought. Dr. Michael Welner, forensic psychiatrist and Chairman of The Forensic Panel, recently appeared on Fox and Friends, Fox Radio, and The Dr. Oz Show to share lessons from his experience on numerous mass shooting incidents, as well as research he has undertaken on the topic.
Since news of the crime broke, Dr. Welner has underscored the significance of Stephen Paddock being 64 years old and targeting people completely unknown to him. The mass homicide of strangers by an older man, noted Dr. Welner on the Dr. Oz program, reflects murder in furtherance of a cause, opposed to the mass homicide for notoriety’s sake alone, as seen in younger male perpetrators who equate idealized manhood with grand destructiveness.
A mass killer will often broadcast their adopted cause, yet in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre no electronic or published missive, letter, or manifesto has been reported. Dr. Welner added on Fox and Friends that a cause may also be served by instigating a reaction to the crime, wherein instigation is effected by the spectacle itself, rather than personal communication about one’s self. In this instance, however, the ideological agenda motivating Paddock remains unclear based on publicly available information.
Essential to understanding the planning of mass homicide is discerning why the timing was selected as it was. Be it weeks or many months earlier, a fuse is lit for spectacle mass killing. But resolving to proceed on a particular day serves to shed light on motivation and the perpetrator(s). On Fox Radio, Dr. Welner described how a killer’s personal circumstances enable his “readiness to die,” typically a result of irretrievable failure or continued romantic rejection. No such hallmarks have been revealed in the life of the 64-year-old identified in this case, however. The last known such attacker was James Hodgkinson, who attempted a mass killing of Republican lawmakers earlier this year.
Dr. Welner also raised the importance of recognizing that demonization in mass communication of potential target victims enables the dehumanization that a mass killer uses to conclude the victims deserve to die.
On The Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Welner also pointed out a key aspect in preventing mass shooting. On the one hand, the intended crime is concealed by someone invested in its secrecy, and the Las Vegas shooting is no different. On the other hand, the perpetrator(s) must practice in the preparation. Witnessing a practicing perpetrator using offensive weapons and explosives may be the only opportunity that outsiders get to expose a plot that the deviant plans in careful isolation.
Important discrepancies between the Las Vegas tragedy and other mass shootings remain. One is the enormity of the arsenal in the hotel room and vehicle of the identified suspect. Mass shooters are often heavily armed, but the number of weapons far exceeded what customarily are brought to the staging scene, even by the most heavily armed perpetrators. This is especially noteworthy given the degree of planning and attention to detail that police have found to have accompanied this crime, as with other spectacle mass murders.
Police have also noted that the 64-year-old perpetrator had plans to escape. Planning for escape after a spectacle murder is most unusual to notoriety-seekers, and more indicative of those acting as part of a longer-term plan. In the aftermath of America’s most lethal mass shooting, deeper scrutiny may reveal something very different from what we know right now. In cases with so many details yet unknown, Dr. Welner reflects, “As a forensic scientist, when it feels like there is more to the story, it’s because there’s more to the story.”
For Dr. Welner’s appearance on Fox and Friends, Click here.
For Dr. Welner’s interview on Fox News Radio, Click here.
For Part 1 of Dr. Welner’s interview with Dr. Oz, click here.
For Part 2 of Dr. Welner’s interview with Dr. Oz, click here.
For Part 3 of Dr. Welner’s interview with Dr. Oz, click here.
For Part 4 of Dr. Welner’s interview with Dr. Oz, click here.
