MANKATO — While public concern about mass shootings has grown dramatically, data suggests the perceived increase is driven largely by media saturation and changes in weapon capacity rather than a dramatic rise in incidents.
That was the messaged delivered Tuesday by Pat Nelson — chair of Minnesota State University’s criminal justice department, director of the Policing Studies Program at MSU and former Minneapolis police officer — who presented a seminar titled “Mass Shooting in the US: Is it an epidemic?” Nelson gave that talk for the Mankato Area Lifelong Learners program, which provides educational and social programming for older adults in the greater Mankato area.
Nelson’s presentation explored how law enforcement defines and responds to mass shootings and mass casualty incidents, as well as factors that influence public perceptions of the issue.
“Is this an epidemic? It sure feels like it, especially when we look at the media and when we listen to the media,” she said.
She explained that several terms commonly used in public discussions have distinct meanings in law enforcement. An active shooter event involves a person currently firing a weapon in a public space or building with intent to harm others. Not all active shooter incidents become mass shootings, and some result in no injuries.
A mass shooting, Nelson said, refers to incidents in which multiple people are shot, while a mass casualty incident is defined by whether the number of victims overwhelms available emergency resources. The threshold varies by location depending on the number of ambulances and medical facilities available.
Data from the Violence Protection Project identified 195 mass shootings taking place in the United States from 1966 to 2024 and public perception of them has intensified over time due to constant media coverage and real-time social media reporting, Nelson said.
In earlier decades, and in the case of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, information about the event appeared hours later through scheduled television broadcasts. Today incidents like the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis are reported instantly through television, social media and live video streams, creating a sense of constant exposure.
While early 20th-century stories and media largely focused on conflict between clearly defined groups —soldiers, police, criminals and cowboys — where violence was portrayed as occurring between opposing sides. These narratives, Nelson said, avoided depicting harm to innocent people and in contrast, modern movies and documentaries normalize mass destruction as entertainment.
“One of the reasons we have mass shootings is because we as a public lap it up. We look at the videos and we watch the documentaries,” she said.
Nelson also said modern firearms and ammunition technology have changed the scale of potential casualties. Higher-capacity magazines and faster-firing weapons allow more rounds to be fired in shorter periods of time compared with older firearms such as revolvers.
During the presentation, Nelson also described how law enforcement officers respond to active shooter situations. Officers are trained to move directly toward the source of gunfire to stop the threat as quickly as possible. This approach reflects training developed after lessons learned from past incidents, including Columbine. Emergency response protocols now emphasize rapid entry and intervention to prevent additional casualties.
She discussed challenges officers face during these situations, including unfamiliar building layouts, chaotic environments and ethical dilemmas.
Responding to a question about what some of these ethical dilemmas might be, attendee Laurie Evans spoke saying it would be hard to not stop and help the injured, “but you have to, to get the shooter to stop shooting.”
Responders may encounter injured victims before reaching the shooter and must continue toward the threat to stop further violence.
“That’s a switch that’s hard to flip, because we’re used to helping people. Our whole job is to help people. But now I have to go past an 8-year-old who’s reaching out trying to get me to stop for them, or I’m running through a bunch of kids who are all seeing a police officer, who they’ve been told is safe,” she said. “And I have to push them and tell them to keep running outside.”
Motivations among perpetrators vary widely and typically do not involve a single mental health diagnosis, though some individuals may experience depression or other mental health challenges. Steve Gilbert, chair of the Presentations Committee for Lifelong Learners, spoke noting a key concept in criminology distinguishes between organized and disorganized crimes, pointing out these perpetrators usually carry out highly organized actions.
Nelson said many attackers leave writings or manifestos describing grievances against individuals, institutions or society, often portraying themselves as central hero-like figures in a personal narrative.
Describing patterns in offender demographics, she said school shootings involving students most often have perpetrators ages 14 to 16, while attacks by non-students at schools often involve individuals ages 18 to 24. Another cluster of common incidents involves older white men aged 45 to 54, often linked to workplace conflicts or personal stressors.
Prevention efforts increasingly focus on identifying warning signs through school reporting systems and mental health screening. She said active-shooter simulations, school psychologists and threat-assessment processes have become important tools in identifying potential risks before violence occurs.
“We practice it to never, ever have to use it. We would rather know how to do it than not know how to do it and watch it fall apart,” she said.