Annunciation shooting followed by other school threats, worries about ‘copycat’ incidents

A teenage boy accused of threatening to shoot up a northern Minnesota school. Another teenager charged with bringing a gun to a St. Paul high school. A Duluth man arrested for threatening to shoot out the windows of an elementary school.

In the three weeks since the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, several other churches and schools across Minnesota have reported threats of violence.

Such threats are far from new, but professors who study gun violence say the evidence is clear that mass shootings often lead to a “copycat” effect, where those considering an act of violence or making threats are more motivated to do so.

“It’s very, very common nearly after all of these events that we see this type of increase,” said James Densley, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Metropolitan State University.

Densley said several factors are at play. That includes the heightened community awareness around threats following a mass shooting, mass shootings’ potential to motivate others desiring similar notoriety, and hoaxers who want to cause chaos.

Last week, prosecutors charged a 72-year-old man with threatening to murder a federal judge after authorities were flagged to his manifesto, which they allege contained troubling ramblings, photos of guns and messages about killing children and targeting a specific church for violence.

Officers learned an Episcopal church in Minnetonka also had reported the suspect Aug. 28 for “abnormal behavior” toward its members. The church became concerned after discovering the man’s conviction in 2019 for threatening to kill a judge, the federal complaint said.

On the same day, police in Duluth arrested a man for allegedly threatening to shoot out the windows of Laura MacArthur Elementary School. Officers who searched his home found a shotgun, an assault-style rifle with an attached bayonet and ammunition at his house, police said.

And in St. Paul, a 16-year-old student was charged with a felony after he allegedly brought a loaded gun to his high school and fled while being patted down by a staffer. Police captured him in a resident’s yard about a mile away.

Meanwhile, dozens of college campuses across the country have been deluged in recent weeks with hoax calls about armed suspects and other violence, laying bare the challenges of detecting fake threats quickly to prevent mass panic.

The reasons behind potential copycat incidents can be complicated. It can be difficult to determine whether potential perpetrators are motivated to carry out a similar horrific crime or simply want to cause panic.

The Annunciation shooter cited numerous high-profile killings, particularly involving schools, in a manifesto posted online. The writings showed fascination and reverence for school shooters.

“They’re really seeking the infamy; they’re seeking the fame from these awful actions,” Jewett said. “I think that also explains why you would have — immediately after such a shooting — some people who also want to seek some attention and they would come out with these threats."

Jewett added that media outlets can unknowingly play a role in encouraging copycat incidents because a suspect reads a story and wants the same treatment for themselves.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports the names of mass shooters when they are identified, but it tries to avoid repeated use of their names in ensuing coverage.

“I think mentioning names of shooters should just be a taboo,” Jewett said. “If you’re never mentioned by name, then you’re not famous, period.”

Academic studies in the past decade have examined how news stories can have a harmful impact by circulating the name of a particular mass shooter. The studies emphasize how news outlets put a disproportionate amount of focus on mass-homicide incidents instead of more common gun violence such as domestic incidents.

“Once the genie is out the bottle, there’s not a lot of putting it back in again,” Densley said of the social media world, where shooters’ names are often reported instantly. “So it’s really just a case of striking that right balance of: ‘If you’re going to use the name, use it in a context which then provides greater analysis and solutions-focused journalism.’”

In the years since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, the popularization of the internet and social media has also contributed to the increasing amount of school threats and shootings, Densley said. He urged anyone who sees signs of interest in school shootings or other troubling behavior to report it.