The Nature, Trends, Correlates, and Prevention of Mass Public Shootings in America, 1976-2020, [United States]

The first, second, and third datasets contain relational data files with information about the mass shooting incidents, the offenders, and their victims. In total, there are 72 variables: 28 in the incident file, 32 in the offender file, and 12 in the victim file. The datasets cover the years 1976-2020 includes 165 mass public shooting incidents, 169 offenders, and 1,208 victims (including 41 who died but not from gunshots). The first dataset contains information about the dates and locations of each incident, numbers deaths and injuries, and numbers and types of weapons used. The second dataset contains information about the offender in each incident, including demographics, criminal history, history of mental illness, whether or not they owned (or legally acquired) the guns used in the incident, whether they shared information about intent prior to the incident, and the outcome for the offender. The third dataset contains demographic information about the victims in each incident as well as their relationship to the offender. The fourth dataset contains 6,940 records (one for each day between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2018) and 12 variables: besides the date and the U.S. population (interpolated based on yearly figures), there are four pertaining to mass shootings and six concerning media coverage. The fifth dataset contains one record per offender and includes information about the incident, that offender, the victims (in the aggregate), and related news coverage--for a total of 24 variables. It covers the years 2000-2019 and includes 97 mass public shootings incidents, 99 offenders, and 763 victims. The sixth and seventh datasets contain information regarding averted or thwarted mass public shootings; the former pertains to the incident and the latter to the perpetrator. With respect to the incident, the researchers collected data on location, whether there were planned targets, whether the threat was in progress, who reported the threat and to whom, the length of the threat and plan, response to the threat, motivation and weapon information (whether firearms were available and how acquired). For the perpetrator file, the researchers collected demographic information (age, race, gender), whether they were employed or a student, mental illness and arrest information. There are 21 variables for the incident file and 18 for the offender file.