Why the YouTube Shooting Suspect Being Female is Unusual

Tuesday’s shooting at YouTube HQ in California had one major difference from the usual grim pattern we see in American mass shootings: the suspect was a woman. Nasim Aghdam who was in her 30s, opened fire on an outdoor dining area at lunchtime, motivated by what authorities believe was a domestic dispute, multiple senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. ‘Small-Format’ Target Store Planned for North Park It is rare to see a female shooter. The San Bernardino shooting, Alturas Tribal shooting, and Goleta Postal shooting are the only three instances in the past three decades which involved a female mass shooter. In the broader category of mass killings such as arson, only 6 percent of perpetrators are women, according to a database compiled by USA Today. “The more extreme the violence, the more likely the perpetrator is to be male,” said Sherry Hamby, research professor of psychology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Source: NBC San Diego