1 in 15 adults in the U.S. have been present at the scene of a mass shooting, CU Boulder study says

University of Colorado Boulder research shows about 7% of adults in the United States — or 1 in 15 people — have been present at the scene of a mass shooting and 2% have been injured during one, according to a new study published Friday.

The research, published in the JAMA Network Open medical journal, also concluded younger generations — particularly Gen Z, or adults born after 1996 — were significantly more likely to have been exposed to a mass shooting than their parents or grandparents.

“This study confirms that mass shootings are not isolated tragedies, but, rather, a reality that reaches a substantial portion of the population, with profound physical and psychological consequences,” senior author David Pyrooz, a professor of sociology and criminologist in the Institute for Behavioral Science at CU Boulder, said in a news release. “They also highlight the need for interventions and support for the most affected groups.”

Pyrooz and his colleagues surveyed 10,000 adults in the study, which defined “mass shooting” as a gun-related crime in which four or more people were shot in a public space. The study defined “present” as in the immediate vicinity of where the shooting happened at the time it happened.

Pyrooz was not surprised by the seemingly high numbers, noting that a single mass shooting can impact far more people than someone might think.

For example, during the 2017 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music festival in Las Vegas, a gunman killed 60 people and wounded 413 others. But another 454 people were injured during the ensuing panic. More than 20,000 people attended the concert overall, not to mention onlookers and tourists in the area.

“That translates to about one out of every 11,000 Americans who were on the scene of that shooting alone,” Pyrooz said. “Continue that to other events that have occurred around the country and the numbers, unfortunately, add up.”

The study also found that Black people and males were more likely to have witnessed a mass shooting.

More than half of those who took the survey said their experience happened in the last decade, reaffirming the notion that “younger generations are experiencing a cultural phenomenon their parents didn’t have to deal with,” according to a CU Boulder news release on the study.

“Our findings lend credence to the idea of a ‘mass shooting generation,’ ” Pyrooz said. “People who grew up in the aftermath of Columbine have these unique experiences that are really distinguishable from the older population.”

While this study did not get into the mental health of survey respondents, Pyrooz and his colleagues are publishing a forthcoming paper that found about three-quarters of people present at a mass shooting scene who were uninjured still experienced psychological distress such as fear, anxiety and depression.

For comparison, about 20% of people in the general population report these symptoms, the study said.

“It’s not a question of if one will occur in your community anymore, but when,” Pyrooz said. “We need to have stronger systems in place to care for people in the aftermath of this tragic violence.”

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