When threat assessment professionals analyze past mass and targeted shootings for educational and preventive purposes, a familiar set of visual references is frequently deployed. Instructors show students and trainees photographs of notorious perpetrators from incidents at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to illustrate behavioral patterns and warning signs. Even without captions, audiences universally recognize these individuals by name. Decades after their crimes, these killers retain a dark form of infamy, complete with online fan clubs hosted on Discord and various social media platforms where impressionable youths—such as subcultures identifying with the Columbine perpetrators—go so far as to tattoo the killers’ likenesses onto their bodies, demonstrating an alarming level of idolization.
However, when instructors present photographs of female perpetrators or individuals who plotted similar acts of violence, a stark contrast emerges. Attendees routinely fail to identify any of the women pictured. In some instances, viewers mistake the female perpetrators for victims rather than violent actors.
This widespread recognition gap carries profound real-world consequences. When the public, educators, and even security professionals fail to internalize that women are capable of mass and targeted violence, the early warning signs exhibited by dangerous females are frequently overlooked or entirely dismissed. Consequently, female perpetrators face a greater likelihood of slipping through the cracks of safety interventions, leaving communities vulnerable to tragedies that mirror the devastation typically associated with male attackers.
Industry experts point to three primary drivers behind the enduring misconception that females simply do not commit acts of mass or targeted violence: semantics, media reporting patterns, and deeply ingrained sexism.
Examining the role of semantics reveals that the public and sometimes official trackers utilize terms like "mass," "rampage," and "targeted" killings interchangeably. Because widely accepted definitions for mass shootings often require a specific casualty threshold—frequently four or more victims—incidents involving female perpetrators, which historically result in lower casualty counts or are thwarted before execution, are frequently excluded from official data sets.
This semantic exclusion feeds directly into media coverage trends. News outlets naturally focus heavy attention on high-fatality incidents, which are statistically more likely to be perpetrated by males. This creates a feedback loop where the public perception of mass violence remains exclusively male-centric.
Finally, sexism underpins the pervasive assumption that when women do commit acts of extreme violence, they must be acting under the direct influence of a male partner, or that their actions stem exclusively from isolated crimes of passion rather than calculated plots for notoriety or revenge. This accumulation of misinformation has obscured critical behavioral indicators, resulting in missed interventions and preventable tragedies.
What the Mind Can’t Grasp
The psychological barrier preventing society from recognizing the potential for female-perpetrated violence is deeply embedded in cultural conditioning. Because individuals are raised with the implicit belief that females do not commit school shootings or mass attacks, recognizing an active threat can cause acute cognitive dissonance, even for trained professionals on the front lines.
A striking example of this phenomenon occurred at Rigby Middle School, where teacher Kristy Gneiting found herself face-to-face with a female student holding a gun in the middle of a regular school day. The student had already shot and wounded three people before Gneiting intervened. Reflecting on the harrowing encounter afterward, Gneiting candidly admitted that her brain struggled to process the reality of the situation. She noted that it was a young girl standing before her, and her mind simply could not grasp it initially. Nevertheless, recognizing the immediate danger of the weapon, Gneiting relied on her training and instincts to disarm the student.
Gneiting’s initial confusion highlights the subtle yet powerful misperceptions surrounding the violent capabilities of females. While Gneiting ultimately acted with immense courage to stop the threat, her momentary hesitation underscores how easily real threats posed by females can be misread, leading to dangerously delayed interventions in critical moments.
The Numbers Might Surprise You
While statistical data confirms that less than three percent of mass shootings are perpetrated by females, other metrics challenge the assumption that women do not engage in targeted violence. Research indicates that approximately 25 percent of rampage and targeted attacks involve female participants. Furthermore, historical analysis of collaborative attacks planned by a male and a female reveals a striking dynamic: when couples plan such violence together, the female is virtually 100 percent of the time the primary planner, with the male partner following her lead.
Movements such as No Notoriety, founded by the parents of a victim slain in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting, actively work to strip attention away from mass and targeted shooters to deny them the fame they often crave. Yet educators emphasize that studying the profiles of perpetrators remains vital for threat assessment professionals who need to understand behavioral markers to prevent future tragedies.
The Truth About Female Perpetrators of Mass and Targeted Violence
The history of targeted violence in the United States includes notable female perpetrators whose actions demonstrated a chilling capacity for premeditated slaughter. One of the earliest modern school shootings in the country occurred in 1979, when 16-year-old Brenda Spencer opened fire with a rifle from her home toward Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California. Spencer killed the school principal and a custodian, while injuring eight children and a responding law enforcement officer. When authorities later asked her for a motive, she offered the chilling and now-infamous reply, "I don’t like Mondays."
Other female-perpetrated rampage, mass, and targeted attacks have unfolded across diverse public and corporate environments, including shopping malls, post offices, corporate facilities like Kraft Foods, university campuses such as the University of Alabama, and corporate offices like the YouTube headquarters. Beyond completed attacks, numerous female-led shooting plots have been successfully uncovered and thwarted through public vigilance, tips to authorities, and effective threat assessment protocols.
When Law Enforcement Takes Action
Proactive intervention has successfully prevented catastrophic violence when law enforcement and intelligence agencies act on credible tips regarding female subjects. A notable case involved Elizabeth Lecron of Toledo, Ohio, who documented a fascination with the Columbine High School massacre, exchanged communications with Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, and began formulating a detailed plan to execute a mass killing at an upscale local bar.
Lecron’s plot was neutralized after a concerned acquaintance of a male associate reported that the associate was undergoing alarming behavioral changes and growing increasingly violent under Lecron’s direct influence. Acting on this tip, local law enforcement and the FBI initiated an investigation. A subsequent search of Lecron’s apartment uncovered detailed instructions and raw materials for constructing pipe bombs, alongside multiple firearms, ammunition, black powder, and boxes of screws intended to maximize casualties in the planned assault, as well as a secondary targeted location.
What’s the Motivation?
Behavioral analyses of female mass shooters and attackers reveal core motivations that closely mirror those of their male counterparts. Like male perpetrators, females who engage in targeted violence frequently seek notoriety, harbor a deep accumulation of perceived grievances, and desire revenge. Many exhibit an obsessive fascination with previous high-profile attacks, particularly the Columbine shooting, and share high indicators of underlying suicidality. In psychological profile and operational intent, female attackers are generally far more similar to their male counterparts than they are different.
Experts stress the critical need for continued investment in research focused on recognizing at-risk females to prevent future targeted violence. Overcoming societal sexism and broadening the scope of threat assessment training are essential first steps, particularly as incidents involving female subjects emerge in various contexts. Regardless of gender, authorities emphasize that communities must remain vigilant, reporting concerning behaviors and warning signs displayed by any individual—male or female—who may be on a pathway toward violence. By confronting media biases, dismantling sexist assumptions, and acknowledging the documented propensity of some females to engage in extreme violence, security professionals and the public can better protect communities from preventable tragedies.