Prosecutors in a high-profile US school shooting case have argued that the gunman should face the death penalty, as experts say many mass shooters share common traits that could help prevent future attacks.
In the days before the 2018 Parkland, Florida shooting, the killer repeatedly listened to the song 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster the People, which tells the story of a bullied teen seeking revenge. The gunman, Nikolas Cruz, wrote in a phone note about feeling 'agitated' and that his life was 'unfair'. He later opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others.
Lead prosecutor Mike Satz described Cruz as 'cold, calculated, manipulative and deadly', arguing the brutality warrants the death penalty. Cruz's attorneys portray him as a young man in crisis whose mother had recently died, and who was denied necessary support. The jury is deciding between death and life in prison.
Researchers say Cruz's trajectory fits a common pattern seen in mass shootings. The Violence Project, which has studied over 180 attacks since the 1960s, found a similar pathway: childhood trauma, run-ins with the law, a desire to end one's own life, and then a desire to end others' lives. Sociologist James Densley noted that gunmen are almost exclusively male, likely because men tend to externalise anger.
Densley described mass shootings as 'deaths of despair', linked to rising suicide and overdose rates. He said feelings of isolation can be easily weaponised online, as seen in the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack where the gunman live-streamed the massacre.
