F.B.I. Confirms a Sharp Rise in Mass Shootings Since 2000
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

WASHINGTON — A report released by the F.B.I. on Wednesday confirmed what many Americans had feared but law enforcement officials had never documented: Mass shootings have risen drastically in the past half-dozen years.

There were, on average, 16.4 such shootings a year from 2007 to 2013, compared with an average of 6.4 shootings annually from 2000 to 2006. In the past 13 years, 486 people have been killed in such shootings, with 366 of the deaths in the past seven years. In all, the study looked at 160 shootings since 2000. (Shootings tied to domestic violence and gangs were not included.)

Many of the sprees ended before the police arrived, the report said. In 44 of the 64 cases in which the F.B.I. was able to determine the length of the shooting, the gunfire lasted less than five minutes. Twenty-three shootings ended in less than two minutes. In 64 of the 160 total cases, the gunmen committed suicide.

The report was prompted by the spate of mass shootings in recent years, like those at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

After the Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 children were killed, President Obama announced that administration and law enforcement officials would study how the country could stop the shootings from occurring.

There was a widespread belief that the number of shootings had risen significantly, but the federal government had no uniform way of tracking them. As part of the administration’s efforts, the F.B.I., which keeps track of national crime statistics, was asked to determine whether the shootings had increased. The report was the first time that the federal government had determined the number of mass shootings over a significant period of time, according to the F.B.I.

Academics had previously tried to quantify mass shootings by using news media reports. In the new study, the F.B.I. relied on court documents, reports from all of its 56 field offices, and news media reports. The team of agents and analysts who worked on the study said they would use the numbers as a baseline in studying other shooting trends.

The report raised questions about the effect the mass shootings are having on law enforcement officers who respond to the grisly scenes. It also reinforced one of the recommendations from the administration’s study: that local officers need to be better trained and equipped to stop gunmen intent on slaughter.

In 21 of 45 shootings in which officers confronted the gunmen, nine officers were killed and 28 were wounded. Four officers were killed in ambushes, and in three cases, armed security guards who were not law enforcement officers were killed. In two other shootings, two unarmed security officers were killed and two were wounded.

Officers killed the gunmen at the scene in 21 of the cases. Nine gunmen who exchanged fire with the police committed suicide, and two surrendered.

Just two of the 160 shootings involved more than one gunman, and six of the killers were women. Two of the twelve shootings that occurred at colleges or universities were by women.

Roughly 45 percent of the shootings occurred in offices or stores, and about 25 percent at schools or universities. Other sites included military bases, government offices, homes, places of worship and medical facilities. In 24 of the 160 shootings, the gunmen attacked more than one location. Mass shootings occurred in all but 10 states.

The most deadly shooting occurred at Virginia Tech in 2007. In that shooting, 32 people were killed and 17 were wounded. The most injuries — 58 of them — resulted from the shooting at the Aurora, Colo., movie theater, where 12 people were killed.

F.B.I. analysts said that many of the gunmen had studied high-profile shootings, like the one at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, before going on their own killing sprees.

The analysts said the gunmen had been attracted to the attention that mass killers received. They were often motivated by a sense that they had no other way to resolve the issues they faced other than violently lashing out, the analysts said.

美大規模濫射 近7年暴增

美國聯邦調查局（FBI）廿四日公布調查報告，證實美國大規模濫射案在過去十四年來顯著增加，這也是美國執法單位首次針對濫射事件製作統計報告。

紐約時報報導，FBI統計2000年迄今的一百六十起濫射案，排除家暴和幫派暴力事件，結果發現，2000至2006年平均每年發生六點四起濫射案，但2007年至2013年平均每年發生十六點四起。過去十三年來，共四百八十六人死於濫射，其中三百六十六人死於過去七年內；槍手部分，所有案件當中，有六十四起的槍手自殺。

報告指出，多數濫射案在警方抵達前就結束。FBI能夠判斷樣本數中的六十四起案件作案時間，其中四十四起犯案時間不到五分鐘，而有廿三起不到兩分鐘。

美國總統歐巴馬在康乃狄克州桑迪胡克小學前年十二月十四日發生槍擊血案，造成廿多名師生喪命後，要求行政與執法單位研擬如何防止濫射案發生。但相關單位缺乏統一方法追蹤濫射案，學術界過去根據媒體報導量化濫射案，FBI此次則綜合法院文件和媒體報導製作第一份這類報告。

美國五十州只有十州未曾發生濫射案，2007年維吉尼亞理工學院槍擊案造成卅二人死亡、十七人受傷，是死亡人數最多的濫射案；前年七月科羅拉多州奧羅拉市的戲院濫射案造成十二人死亡、五十八人受傷，為傷者最多的案例。

FBI分析師說，槍手作案前會研究過往案例，如1999年科倫拜恩高中校園血案（造成十三名師生死亡），推測濫射案增加可能與模仿效應有關。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/us/25shooters.html

2014-09-26．聯合報．A21．國際．編譯陳韻涵