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Recent mass public shootings in venues as diverse as a school, a church, and a concert, have alarmed policymakers and the public alike. Despite mounting interest among journalists and academics, questions regarding the nature and prevention of mass shootings remain. For example, to what extent do mass shooters have histories of mental illness, substance abuse, or violence? Does strengthening or weakening gun control laws have an impact on the incidence or severity of mass public shootings? Are mass shooters influenced by media coverage of these events? This study is comprised of seven datasets that contain information on mass shooting incidents between 1976 and 2020. Mass public shootings were defined as any event in which four or more individuals, not including the assailant(s), were killed by gunfire in a public setting within a 24-hour period, absent any associated criminal activity (such as a robbery, gang conflict, or illicit drug trade). Three of the datasets have information on characteristics of mass shooting incidents, offenders, victims; two have information on media coverage surrounding these events; and two have information on averted or thwarted mass shooting incidents.

This collection includes data collected from a subsample of participants interviewed near the end of the thirteenth follow-up of the Northwestern Juvenile Project (NJP). NJP is a longitudinal assessment of alcohol, drug, and mental health service needs and outcomes of juvenile detainees. The thirteenth follow-up occurred approximately 16 years after the baseline interview. The subsample of participants received two additional modules that were added to the interview. These interview modules, the Juvenile Justice Experiences module and the Weapons-Related Injury module, retrospectively assessed behaviors and experiences during adolescence. The original NJP sample included 1,829 randomly selected youth recruited at intake to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (CCJTDC) in Chicago, Illinois from 1995 to 1998. The sample was stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, age, and legal status (for a total of 13 strata) to obtain enough participants to examine key subgroups. Both additional modules were administered at follow-up thirteen to a subsample 389 participants. The Juvenile Justice Experiences module assessed experiences with corrections in the juvenile justice system. Items were drawn from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP) which ask a series of questions covering an individual's emotion and mental states among youth who are in custody. NJP utilized a modified SYRP to assess juvenile justice experiences retrospectively among the sample. The Weapons-Related Injury module was created for the NJP, and assesses gunshot-related and stabbing-related victimization during adolescence.