The suspect in yesterdays shooting at the YouTube headquarters in California is 39-year-old Nasim Najafi Aghdam. The attack left three people injured, one critically, and Aghdam dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. While details are still emerging about the incident and the potential motives, one aspect of the shooting is getting particular attention – Aghdam was a woman.
Indeed, when looking at figures collated by Mother Jones, a female attacker in a mass shooting in the U.S. is very uncommon. Of the 97 incidents recorded by the source from 1982 to February 2018, only 3 involved a woman pulling the trigger. In the case of the San Bernardino shooting in 2015, both a man and a woman opened fire, killing 14 and injuring more than 20.
It is important to note in the collation of the list, Mother Jones defined a mass shooting as “indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed by the attacker.” So far at least, yesterday’s shooting would not fit these criteria.
source: statista