The Sandy Hook Shooting
On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed Nancy Lanza, Rachel D’Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria Leigh Soto, Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Dylan Hockley, Madeleine Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse Lewis, Ana Marquez-Greene, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler, and Allison Wyatt in one of the worst mass shootings in US history. What drives someone to target their rage on our most vulnerable population? How does mental illness tie into this kind of violence? Why do tragedies like Sandy Hook appear to be an increasing occurrence in the US? This week Drs. Micono and Morelos discuss Adam Lanza and the Sandy Hook shooting with mass shooter expert, Dr. Heather Morris.
Dr. Heather Morris is an active duty military psychologist currently assigned to the Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) Behavioral Sciences Directorate in Quantico, Virginia. She is a board certified clinical psychologist with a background in forensic psychology. She has experience treating and evaluating criminal offenders, and worked at a police psychology firm where she consulted with schools, universities, and workplaces on insider and outsider threats, conducted violence threat assessments, and has extensively researched critical incidents involving active shooters. She entered the United States Air Force in April 2013, as a Captain, and promoted to the rank of Major in 2018. Dr. Morris also co-authored the book chapter entitled Kinetic Insider Violence and Mass Shootings in the third edition of Violence Goes to College: The Authoritative Guide to Prevention, Intervention, and Response in 2018. Dr Morris recently obtained the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals’ certification in threat management and is currently working on developing OSI’s behavioral threat assessment and management team.