Orlando rampage reflects convergence of terrorism and mass shootings

Orlando rampage reflects convergence of terrorism and mass shootings


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From left to right: Suspected Orlando shooter Omar Mateen; San Bernardino killer Tafsheen Malik; Fort Hood shooter Hasan Nidal. ( Omar Mateen via Myspace via Reuters; FBI via AP; Bell County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images )


The deadly attack at an Orlando nightclub early Sunday is raising serious concerns among global security experts and criminologists about a convergence between terrorism and the American phenomenon of mass shootings.

Armed with an AR-15 — the weapon of choice for mass shooters — Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during an attack that killed 50 people at a popular gay club called Pulse, authorities said. The rampage echoed several recent high-profile terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in which extremist sympathizers used firearms instead of explosives, once a terrorism staple. Nidal Malik Hasan, a follower of radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki, gunned down 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood, Tex. Last July, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, seeking martyrdom, fatally shot five service members in Tennessee. And late last year, not long after terrorists in Paris shot up cafes and a theater, a radicalized couple in San Bernardino, Calif., killed 14 people at an office holiday party.

Terrorism and mass shooting experts say the use of firearms in terror attacks, particularly among lone wolves, is probably not a coincidence. For attackers without direct ties to experts in terrorist networks, the country’s nearly 60,000 gun dealers offer plenty of high-caliber options.

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“It’s becoming increasingly apparent that mass shootings can be just as deadly as bombings,” said Adam Lankford, a University of Alabama criminal justice professor and author of a book on mass shooters and suicide bombers. “And the scary part is that it’s often much easier to pull off.” Making bombs is complicated. Buying materials and seeking assistance from others — online or in person — can tip off law enforcement officials. And bombs have a way of either blowing up attackers during construction or failing to detonate when needed.
“It’s much easier to purchase and learn how to shoot a gun than it is to learn how to make a bomb,” said James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University professor who studies mass killings. “You have more tactical control with a gun than a bomb.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/orlando-rampage-reflects-the-scary-convergence-between-terrorism-and-mass-shootings/2016/06/12/539a0a6e-30c7-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html