Mass shooting analysis by Girgis et al shows rising suicide attempts among shooters (40.5% in 2000-2019 vs. 23.2% in 1980-1999). Many had no psychiatric history, indicating a broader issue. Key takeaway: suicide common post-shooting, complicating cases like Crooks’ who died before capture.
Changes in Rates of Suicide by Mass Shooters, 1980-2019 Current Rate of Shooter Suicide is 40.5% Sun, 21 Jul 2024 09:33:50 GMT https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/changes-in-rates-of-suicide-by-mass By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Many have watched numerous videos from the mass shooting at the Trump rally in Butler, PA. Thomas Matthew Crooks was fatally shot by law enforcement counter snipers without a chance of escape. What would have happened if law enforcement came up the ladder or by helicopter and confronted Crooks?
Girgis et al from the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, performed a review of these events focussing on the shooter. They examined the outcomes in 528 mass shootings.
“A greater proportion of mass shooters from 2000 to 2019 took or attempted to take their own lives (40.5%) compared with those from 1980 to 1999 (23.2%, p < 0.001). More than double the proportion of perpetrators who made a fatal or nonfatal suicide attempt had a history of non-psychotic psychiatric/neurologic symptoms (38.9%), compared with perpetrators who did not make a fatal or nonfatal suicide attempt (18.1%; p < 0.001). Among mass shooters who made fatal or nonfatal suicide attempts, 77 of 175 (44%) did not have any recorded psychiatric, neurologic, or substance use condition. Of the 98 mass shooters who made fatal or non-fatal suicide attempts and had a psychiatric, substance use, or neurologic condition, 41 had depressive disorders.”
The point of this paper is that suicide is a common outcome even among those without a psychiatric history. It would have taken special efforts to keep Crooks alive as a witness and then later held for trial of murder and other related charges.
Courageous Discourse™ with Dr. Peter McCullough & John Leake is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Please subscribe to Courageous Discourse as a paying ($5 monthly) or founder member so we can continue to bring you the truth.
Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
Girgis RR, Hesson H, Brucato G, Lieberman JA, Appelbaum PS, Mann JJ. Changes in Rates of Suicide by Mass Shooters, 1980-2019. Arch Suicide Res. 2024 Jul 1:1-10. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2024.2345166. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38949252.