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From: npr JACLYN DIAZ

May 27, 2022

2 mass shootings — 1,700 miles apart but bound by startling similarities

In the span of less than two weeks, an elementary school and a grocery store more than 1,700 miles apart were shattered by gun violence. Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., now both share the tragic loss of friends and family. These two tragedies happened on separate ends of the country and yet, both share similarities: how the violence was carried out, certain aspects of the suspects, and the ease in which the weapons were accessed.It's unclear as of now what the specific motive was in the Uvalde, Texas, shooter's mind. But the gunman responsible for the attack that killed 10 members of the Black community of Buffalo apparentl  and, that he was motivated by white supremacist ideology.

Though the motivations in these particular cases likely differ, the suspects of these shootings, and others like it, have a lot in common, according to James Densley and Jillian Peterson, co-founders of The Violence Project. Their research organization studies gun violence, mass shootings and violent extremism."Usually what's motivating these shootings is a element of self-hatred, hopelessness, despair, anger, that's turned outward to the world," said Densley, who is also a sociologist.