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WVU Researcher Sees Shooter Status Threat in Mass Killings

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia University researcher says there likely will be more mass shootings at U.S. schools and that apparent underlying issues include shooters’ perceived threat to their “masculine status” and their sense of entitlement.

WVU’s Research Center on Violence Director Walter DeKeseredy notes the bulk of the mass shootings “involve angry white men, who are experiencing … aggrieved entitlement.”

In Parkland, Florida, last week, authorities say 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz slaughtered 17 people with a semi-automatic rifle at his former high school.

Another student says Cruz had been abusive to his ex-girlfriend and his expulsion last year was over a fight with her new boyfriend.

DeKeseredy says separation is “a very dangerous time for women and research shows there is a strong correlation between school shooters’ masculine status and their murders.”