Even in a country that has grown numb to the horror of school massacres, Monday’s shooting death of a student and a teacher at a private Christian school in Wisconsin was shocking.
Surprisingly, Natalie Rupnow, the culprit who allegedly committed suicide during the outburst, was a girl and only 15 years old. The number of mass shootings committed by women is quite low.
For live coverage, follow along.
According to an NBC News examination of Gun Violence Archive data, less than 60 of the more than 2,000 mass shootings since 2013 in which the gender of the offender was known involved female attackers. According to the nonprofit organization that monitors gun violence, the Gun Violence Archive, a mass shooting occurs when four or more persons are shot in a single occurrence, excluding the gunman. Although active shooter incidents in public settings, such as schools, are frequently thought of by the public as mass shootings, these incidents constitute only a small portion of total shootings, which can also include drive-by and domestic assaults.
Jennifer Sanmarco, a 44-year-old postal worker, killed seven people and then herself at a Santa Barbara postal facility in 2006 after feeling that she was the victim of a plot. After a normal background check, she was able to purchase a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun without any issues, according to law enforcement sources, despite having a lengthy history of mental illness and having been placed on retirement disability leave for psychological reasons in 2003.
In 2014, Cherie Lash Rhoades, a 44-year-old former tribal chairwoman, opened fire at the Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office in the isolated hamlet of Alturas, Northern California, killing four people and seriously injuring two more. Her scheduled eviction from a property on tribal lands was the subject of the shooting during a hearing.
Among the deceased were Rurik Davies, Rhoades’ 50-year-old brother; Glenn Calonicco, his 30-year-old nephew; and Angel Penn, her 19-year-old niece, who was shot while cradling her newborn child. A court heard that the baby was unhurt.
Rhoades, one of the fewer than 50 women on death row, was given a death sentence in 2017.
Before taking her own life in 2018, 26-year-old Sochia Moseley, a Rite Aid distribution center employee in Aberdeen, Maryland, killed three people and injured three more. Despite her history of mental illness, she was lawfully the owner of a 9 millimeter handgun.
Last year, 28-year-old Audrey Hale carried out another massacre at a Christian school in Nashville, killing six people, including three children, before being shot and killed by responding police. Hale used the pronouns he/him and identified as transgender, according to police later.
The 38-year-old San Diego native Nasim Aghdam opened fire on YouTube’s San Bruno, California, headquarters in 2018.
Before killing herself, the American Iranian badly harmed three others.
Her bewildered family said she had become angry with the video platform for policies that she believed were an attempt to discriminate against her, reduce views for her animal rights videos and stop her from earning money from them.
According to the authorities, she lawfully purchased the Smith & Wesson 9 mm semiautomatic weapon.
A profoundly masculine act
Women s rights campaigners say the overwhelming representation of men as the perpetrators in violent shootings is inextricably linked to statistics showing the victims to be typically women.
A 2019 study in theCalifornia Law Reviewcalled mass shootings a profoundly masculine act and pointed out that many of the victims of violent and fatal crime in the U.S. are women and are linked to a wider pattern of domestic violence and ideological misogyny.
Even when mass shootings involve neighbors, strangers, and police, women and children overwhelmingly pay the price, the study said.
The study cited research from the campaign group Everytown for Gun Safety that showed that of the 57% of mass shootings involving an intimate partner or other family member, 64% of the victims were women and children.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!