Introduction
The question that this paper attempts to answer is using an example of the mass killing at the Walmart shopping center located in El Paso in 2019 to discuss links with theory and a criminological explanation of Patrick Crusius’ actions. The mass killing that will be reviewed in this paper occurred in El Paso, The United States, and it appears to be a victim specific mass shooting where the killer targeted immigrants from Latin America. The significance of this case is that the murderer chose a particular population for his violent action and created a justification for the killings, suggesting that this is a pseudo commando type of a case. In this case, the perpetrator killed himself after committing the crime.
The nature of mass killings implies that more than one individual is killed in a specific place within a short period of time. In the case of EL Paso mass shooting, the police arrived at the scene within six minutes, preventing the killer from committing suicide and capturing Patrick Crusius. This paper aims to review relevant criminology literature on massacres and victim-specific crimes, overview the case of El Paso shooting and discuss this case from a criminological perspective.
Review of Relevant Academic Literature
Firstly, it is necessary to review the definition of mass killing to determine the specifics of the case and determine whether El Paso shooting can be classified as a mass killing. Keenan and Jeffrey (2019, p. 10) argue that mass killings have been a matter of concern for “psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, public health experts, and policymakers.” According to this source, the definition of the crime in question is killing four or more people, not including the killer, in one instance. However, other definitions exist as well, for example, Palermo and Ross (1999) identify this crime as a sudden murder on more than one person at a single location. Morse’s (2017) work provides a detailed analysis of mass killings using the example of Las Vegas, although the author mentions that the conclusions are applicable for all massacres. This source helps understand that despite the differences in understanding and classifying mass murders and mass shootings, there are similarities across different definitions – usually, the characteristics imply that one murderer kills more than one person within a day at a specific location.
Despite the similarities that were discussed above, mass killers can differ in their motives and the way they plan and carry out the attack. According to Davis (2016, p. 2), the following are the main categories of such crimes – “The Disciple, The Family Annihilator, The Pseudo commando, The Disgruntled Employee, and The Set-and-Run Killer.” The behavior of the killer, the relationship with the victims, the selection of the target and other aspects determine to which of the four categories a specific occurrence belongs. In the case of El Paso, it is the pseudo commando type, which is the most typical type of mass killing.
Next, important characteristics of pseudo commando shooters should be reviewed. Typically, people who commit these crimes kill themselves in the process or are killed by police, and the intention to commit such suicide can significantly increase the death toll (Davis, 2016). The mass shootings that are usually motivated by hate towards a specific group of people and a conflict with society. Gonçalves and Matos (2016) that the level of displayed hatred towards immigrants or women differs among countries and communities, while Oram et al. (2017) issues such as violence against women, which is sometimes manifested in mass killings is a matter of mental health problems.
It is a common assumption that a mass killer has to have severe mental illness in order to carry out such a crime. Skeem and Mulvey (2020) search for connections between mental illness and mass shootings, which is cited to be the underlying reason for the events at El Paso. The findings of the authors suggest that while severe mental health impairment contributes to the likelihood of carrying out mass murder, it plays a limited role.
The information about the mass killing itself, the events and the motif of the shooter was collected from the newspaper articles. For example, Falconer (2020), Hutchinson, B. and Mallin (2020), and some other news reports. Since this is a new case, not many details in the form of scholarly research are available to discuss the specifics. Hence, another pseudo commando type of mass shooting will be mentioned to draw parallels between the two crimes. A similar well-known case that is also victim-specific and pseudo commando type of killing is the Ecole Polytechnique shooting that happened in Canada in the 1980s, where the killer targeted women, and the local newspaper described the attack in the following manner:
“Marc Lepine, 25, separated the men from the women and before opening fire on the classroom of female engineering students he screamed, “I hate feminists” (The Montreal massacre, no date).
Other sources that were reviewed to understand the specifics of this case and the killer’s motivation are Pidduck (2018), who assessed all literature work that examines the Ecole Polytechnique massacre and Rosenberg (1996), who collected and analyzed the memories of witnesses that saw the 1989 massacre. These sources are very helpful for understanding the specific details of this case and in making some judgements about El Paso’s case, which will be discussed in the “Discussion” section.
Overview of the Case
The case in question is a pseudo commando mass killing which happened in August 2019 in El Paso, Texas. The events occurred in the morning, at approximately 10.40 a.m. when the shooter entered the parking lot of the store, opening fire. Consistently with other cases of this type, the killer believed that he could prove a point about social justice with his actions and also he can use this instance as a way of committing suicide. The 2019 El Paso shooting occurred as a local Walmart, where the gunman entered a store and opened fire aiming to kill the Hispanic population (El Paso Walmart shooting suspect charged with federal hate crimes, 2020; Texas man accused in El Paso mass shooting charged with federal hate crime, 2020). This fact suggests that this was both a victim-specific shooting and a hate crime. In total, twenty-two people were killed as a result of gunman’s actions and twenty-four were seriously injured (Falconer, 2020). The attack happened when Cruise walked into the parking lot and the supermarket with a semiautomatic rifle and opened fire. This mass killing in question is considered to be the largest anti-Hispanic mass shooting in the United States.
Discussion
In this case, as a result of police intervention, the gunman was captured, which allows the investigators and scholars to analyses his motives and evaluate his mental health. Several key details prevented this shooting from being deadlier, since based on the reports the gunmen showed no remorse and admitted to police that he was the shooter. Moreover, in the reports, it is cited that Cruise states that he targeted the Hispanic population of El-Paso (Falconer, 2019). Hence, there are several approaches to classifying this mass murder, since apart from the fact that this was a shooting at a supermarket, a public space, it specifically targeted Mexicans, making it hate crime. The shooter is a 21 years old man who lived in Dallas, ten hours away from the city where he committed the crime. Prior to the attack, he published a hateful message online with signs of racism (Falconer, 2019). These hints and the reviewed literature suggest that the mass shooting in question is the pseudo commando type.
Cruises’ behavior is consistent with the pseudo commando type of mass killing. This is the most typical type of behavior in mass shootings in general (Davis, 2016). The shooter is usually a loner, who has a conflict with society and shows some type of antisocial behavior. In Cruises’ case, this was connected to his anti-immigrant views and hostile attitude towards Hispanic people in general. Hence, one motivation for the presudocomando’s behavior is the need to show that something about society is wrong and fix it by committing a crime.
Apart from the conflict with society, such murderers also demonstrate some type of paranoia. Davis (2016, p. 18) cites an example of the first known mass killer Camden, who killed 14 people in his hometown and later told the psychiatrist that “he believed that some of his neighbors had been slandering him.” Cruise (2019) did not showcase any specific signs of paranoia or another psychiatric condition, however, several news outlets reported that his mental health may be a reason behind his actions.
In comparison, another victim-specific pseudo commando mass shooting should be mentioned as well. In this case, “on December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine entered a classroom and shot fourteen women before killing himself” (Pidduck, 2016, p. 10). Marc Lépine’s self-proclaimed motive was “fighting feminism,” which means that this mass killing is victim-specific. In his notes, he mentioned the names of 19 other women who Lepine intended to kill, apart from the 14 females who he killed at this University (Pidduck, 2016). When Lepin entered the classroom, he specifically ordered men and women to step towards opposite walls. This case is significant for several reasons, mainly because it was the largest mass shooting in Canada, it led to an intensification of control over gun ownership in the state, and because this particular massacre targeted women only. Hence, the similarities of the two cases are the fact that the shooters choose their victims beforehand, the hateful nature of both crimes, the notes or online publications that help understand the motive, and a possible underlying mental health condition that provoked the attack.
Although many aspects of El Paso shooting are consistent with the typical characteristics of pseudo commando shootings, there are several distinct differences. Another aspect of an unusual or antisocial behavior is that Cruise surrendered himself to the police, stating that he was the shooter (Falcon, 2019). Unlike other mass shooters, Cruise did not attempt to commit suicide after carrying out the attack, which is another important feature of his actions. Other aspects that often characterize this type of crime are murdered dying in the so-called “face of glory” after they commit their acts since they view it as something rightful. Notably, Levin’s mother spoke out saying that she is a feminist, which perhaps served as a catalyst or an initial cause of her son’s crime (Mother of Marc Lepine finally breaks her silence, 2006). The psychiatrist’s evaluation of Levin’s actions suggests that he choose the mass shooting as a way of committing suicide (Skeem and Mulvey, 2020). Moreover, he demonstrated other psychological problems, such as personality disorder and attachment disorder. A similar evaluation is not available for Cruise yet, hence the evaluation of his mental health is currently based on assumptions.
Conclusion
Overall, this paper aims to examine the mass shooting that occurred in El Paso, the United States, at a local Walmart store in August 2019. This case is distinctive because the shooter targeted the Hispanic population, making it a victim-specific crime. Patrick Crusius entered the parking lot at 10.40 a.m. and started shooting people, proceeding to move through the store. Fortunately, he was noticed early, and the store’s administration was able to notify the personnel and the customers, which enabled their escape and swift police response. However, twenty-two people were killed as a result of this mass shooting and Cruise was arrested and charged with a hate crime. His actions are consistent with those of pseudo commando killers, who usually focus on social injustice and choose to fix it with a violent act.
Another case with a similar typology is a 1986 mass shooting at the Ecole Polytechnique in Canada, where Mark Levin targeted women. This killer clearly stated his anti-feminist beliefs and had a background of mental health problems. Similarly, the reviewed news reports suggest that Cruise also has mental health problems. The literature review presented in this paper helps understand the nature of such mass killings, the motivation of the people committing the crime and the underlying mental health concerns.
Reference List
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