March 9, 2025 (EIRNS)—According to a study published on March 7 by the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network about 7% of U.S. adults (about 1 in 15 adults) has been physically present during mass shootings. The researchers also found that 2% of U.S. adults have been injured by these events, meaning that they had been shot, hit by shrapnel, trampled by people fleeing the scene, or suffered similar injuries. The study was conducted by researchers at Colorado University at Boulder and found that the younger generation ("Gen-Z,” adults born after 1996) was more likely to be exposed to the mass shootings than their parents or grandparents. “This study confirms that mass shootings are not isolated tragedies, but rather reaches a substantial portion of the population, with profound physical and psychological consequences,” said senior author David Pyrooz, a professor of sociology and criminologist in the Institute for Behavioral Science at CU Boulder.
The study defines “mass shootings” as an event in a public space where four or more people are shot, and defines the term “physically present” as being in a location where “you could see the shooter, or you could hear the gunfire.”
