Predicting Violence in Public Venues
News reports in the aftermath of an incident involving extreme violence frequently quote victims and witnesses as saying things like “it came out of nowhere”, or “he just snapped”, or “he seemed like such a nice guy, I never would believe he could do it”. All are common quotes and all are likely incorrect. While specific incidents of violence can never be entirely predictable, the capacity for violence is often entirely predictable. When situations are predictable, they are preventable. In the recent tragic case of the...
