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18 Homicide Stud. 3 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/homcst18 and id is 1 raw text is: Article Homicide Studies 2014, Vol. 18(1) 3-6 Mass Murder in Perspective: 2013 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: Guest Editor's Introduction sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1088767913514406 hsx.sagepub.com SAGE jack Levin' Police reports are filled with familiar cases ofhomicide-those in which a killer takes the life of a single victim after having a heated argument that escalates into a physical attack. Two men in a bar have a verbal exchange; one pulls out a gun and shoots the other. Or, a married couple argues at home. One takes a knife from the kitchen drawer and stabs to death his partner. Or, a teenager shoots a rival gang member after feeling disrespected by a challenging glance or an obscenity shouted in his direction. This special issue of Homicide Studies goes beyond the more traditional and mun- dane cases of single-victim homicide to examine the causes, characteristics, and con- sequences of a type of murder that is relatively rare but also extremely consequential. The articles in this issue focus on mass murder-incidents of multiple homicide in which a number of victims are slain simultaneously in one or two locations. Single-Victim Homicide Versus Mass Murder Mass murder differs from its single-victim counterpart in a number of important respects: First, unlike the many homicides that are spontaneous or impulsive acts, most mass murders are premeditated and methodically planned-sometimes for days or weeks, other times for months. The Columbine High School killers who took 13 lives at their school in April 1999 had planned for more than a year before they opened fire on their schoolmates. Similarly, R. Gene Simmons who, in 1987, shot to death 14 family members in Dover, Arkansas, made his preparations for 8 months after being rejected by his wife and children at a family meeting. In December 2000, Michael McDermott placed firearms and ammunition under his desk where he was employed at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Then, he waited 24 hr before opening fire on his seven coworkers. In December 2008, 45-year-old Bruce Pardo walked into a Christmas Eve party in Covina, California, where he shot to death nine 'Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA Corresponding Author: Jack Levin, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, The Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict, 500 Holmes Hall, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Email: Jlevin 1049@aol.com

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