Los Angeles Times

Two mass shootings in three days. Are these copycat crimes?

Do a pair of back-to-back mass shootings in California suggest that older men will be the next generation of mass murderers? Don't count on it, experts say. The 72-year-old who killed 11 people in Monterey Park and the 66-year-old who's alleged to have murdered seven near Half Moon Bay may have committed the crimes within 48 hours and 400 miles of each other. But they are likely to remain ...
FBI agents enter to investigate the crime scene after shooting at the Spanish Town shops in Half Moon Bay, California, January 24, 2023.- An Asian farm worker was in custody January 23, 2023 after seven of his colleagues were killed in front of children at sites in California, days after a mass shooter killed 11 people at a Lunar New Year celebration near Los Angeles.

Do a pair of back-to-back mass shootings in California suggest that older men will be the next generation of mass murderers?

Don't count on it, experts say. The 72-year-old who killed 11 people in Monterey Park and the 66-year-old who's alleged to have murdered seven near Half Moon Bay may have committed the crimes within 48 hours and 400 miles of each other. But they are likely to remain outliers in a mounting tally of younger perpetrators.

The reason: Although older men are quick to catch contagious diseases, they seem virtually immune to the kinds of contagion that prompt violent displays of mimicry.

"We don't see many 60- and a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston.

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