History Behind Vehicle-Ramming Attacks and Mass Murders

New Orleans New Year’s Day Attack

The attack in New Orleans at 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day (see white Ford pickup in image) is the 26th vehicle-ramming attack since 1979. Based on my research, of these 26 attacks, only 5 have occurred in the U.S. — 5 too many!

I have two follow-on observations:

1. Frequency of these vehicle-ramming attacks has dramatically increased in 2010s and continued on that trajectory.
2. World-wide percentage of U.S. vehicle-ramming attacks and mass shootings don’t correlate. So, while only 5 out of 26 mass vehicle-ramming attacks have occurred in the U.S., a whopping 1/3 of all mass shootings worldwide have happened in our country. And based on my interviews with experts, frequency of mass shootings in America have increased dramatically since the 2000s.

I also have two recommendations for you:

1. In my interview with Dr. Jillian Peterson, she describes the journey of how a person goes from being a baby, to becoming a mass murderer. Dr. Peterson is the co-author of “Violence Project — How to Stop the Mass Shooting Epidemic”. She is also a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Hamline University, where she is the Executive…