Our series on gun violence prevention made possible by the underwriting support of Protect Minnesota . In the wake of the traumatic mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota an event in her neighborhood Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty sought to understand . She produced her eighth podcast episode of We Dont Have to Choose with James Densley, one of the nations leading experts on mass shootings, for a discussion about why these tragedies occur and how to stop them
. Densley, a criminologist and co-founder of The Violence Project, has spent years compiling detailed life histories of mass shooters in the United States . The Violence Project database covering around 200 cases aims to illuminate patterns behind an epidemic that feels senseless yet remains disturbingly predictable. Moriarty began the conversation by noting how quickly the public labels perpetrators as monsters . Densleys book, The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, opens with a chapter challenging that reflex. What they have done is monstrous, he says, but calling them monsters explains nothing . The label provides psychological distance and absolves communities of responsibility. Madmen do mad things, he notes, and that circular logic keeps us stuck. Instead, Densley argues for recognizing the perpetrators humanity before the act . Every shooter was someones son, classmate, or neighbor, he says. If we can see them before they pull the trigger, perhaps they never will. Prevention, he stresses, begins with connection . Densley and his research partner, psychologist Jillian Peterson, have developed a pathway model of mass shootings built around four interlocking elements: trauma, crisis, script, and opportunity . Early Childhood Trauma: Many shooters experience severe abuse, neglect, or instability. While most trauma survivors never become violent, untreated trauma can create a fragile foundation for future despair. Crisis of Self: Nearly every case involves an existential or suicidal crisis . The mindset of a mass shooter is someone who no longer cares if they live or die, Densley explains. Mass shootings are, in essence, suicides turned outward
. Preventing them means restoring peoples will to live through kindness, intervention, and purpose. The Script: In an age of online radicalization, potential shooters dont act in a vacuum. The Internet provides both a community and a how-to guide . Densley describes a disturbing digital subculture where past shooters are idolized and ranked by kill counts. Forums and gore videos serve as initiation rites, numbing users and deepening their identification with previous killers . The Annunciation shooters journal, Moriarty notes, revealed direct engagement with these online worlds studying videos, critiquing past perpetrators, and treating their acts as blueprints. They even analyzed school lockdown drills for tactical advantage . Weve literally scripted this, Densley warns. Children rehearse what to do in a shooting, and one in a million might think, Maybe Ill do this. Opportunity: Finally, access to firearms transforms intent into action . Densley emphasizes that most mass shooters acquire their weapons legally. Many are young adults who once had easy access through careless adults. Friends dont let friends borrow guns, he says bluntly . Minnesotas red-flag law allowing temporary removal of firearms from people in crisis is one underused prevention tool. Moriarty adds that her office created an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) coordinator and public toolkit to make such interventions easier . Its not a cure-all, she admits, but it saves lives. Densley and Moriarty explore the performative nature of modern shootings. Many perpetrators seek recognition or infamy; media coverage and social algorithms can unwittingly reward that goal . When we plaster their faces everywhere, Densley says, we give them what they wanted most: attention. He advocates the No Notoriety movement, which withholds shooters names and focuses instead on victims and prevention
. He also points to how online recommendation systems feed despair: If youre in a dark place and you search dark content, the algorithm will keep you there. Parents and educators, he says, must assume exposure and start honest conversations rather than punishment . Ask with curiosity, not fear: What content have you seen that disturbed you? Who do you follow online
? Moriarty recounts how the Annunciation shooters fixation began years earlier with a pop-up about a mass shooting while at school proof, she says, that exposure can start innocently and spiral dangerously
. Both guests challenge the booming school safety industry. Metal detectors, AI scanners, and armed officers, Densley says, dont match the data. Most school shooters are insiders who know the security systems. Some even seek suicide by cop . Deterrence fails when the perpetrator expects to die. Weve created a fortress mentality, Densley says, when what we need is community . He applauds Minnesotas new Trauma-Informed Active Shooter Drill law, which bans hyper-realistic simulations and requires post-drill debriefings. Thats how we change the script, he says . The conversation ends on a note of hope. Mass shootings are not inevitable, Densley insists. Prevention can happen at many levels: policy, institution, and individual . He calls for investments in belonging: after-school programs, mentoring, sports, faith communities, and any structures that replace isolation with connection. Moriarty closes with a direct appeal: legislative action matters too . We know these shooters favor assault-style rifles, she says. We can keep them out of dangerous hands through sensible laws. For Densley, the core message is simpler: Public acts of violence start in private loneliness
. He says that countering that loneliness online and off is societys best defense.