In some respects, the alleged mass murderer in Aurora, Colo. fits a profile of the typical mass killer that my colleague James Alan Fox and I developed some 30 years ago. In all likelihood, the Colorado killer was depressed and socially isolated, having no place to turn when he got into trouble. In addition, he […]

On the morning of the latest mass shooting, in a place that has become synonymous with tragedy, Tom Mauser’s phone started ringing at 5 a.m. When he turned on the news his first thought was “Oh God,” followed by an immediate: “Not again.” “We’re not going to turn our country into one big fortress,” said […]

As experts in forensic psychiatry try to figure out from afar what is wrong with James Holmes, they are focusing on three details of the shooting: The targets were strangers to the killer, not colleagues or acquaintances; the shooter did not commit suicide or invite his own death at the hands of police; and Holmes […]

1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it? To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember when my first practice was. I grew up with my dad coaching and running a rowing camp in Maine and I have pictures of myself sitting in a shell […]

As part of their senior design project at Northeastern University, Glen Chiachhieri and seven other computer and electrical engineering students built this Wi-Fi repeating robot that’s designed to make it easier to deploy a wireless network in dangerous or hazardous places.  

Condominium values in Boston’s core reached a record high during the second quarter of this year as eager buyers drove up sales, according to data­ scheduled to be released Tuesday. The increase adds to mounting evidence that the state’s housing market is on the mend, housing specialists said. “The feeling out there is prices are […]

Every day spent sitting in a cubicle at work marked just another day the founders of Off The Grid Excursions (OTG) were planning their next trip. “We wanted a break in our day-to-day routine,” says co-founder Jaclyn Carron, who had caught the travel bug at an early age. After all graduating from Northeastern, the group […]

I spoke this morning with James Alan Fox, who said mass killings were not unknown in the U.S. prior to 1966 — when Charles Whitman took to the Texas tower with an arsenal and began picking off civilians — but they were exceedingly infrequent. Ever since 1976, we’ve been averaging more than 20 per year. […]

The news media’s focus on Holmes also inspired some familiar criticism. Was the attention to the details of an alleged mass killer’s life not just wrong but also potentially lethal? Could the media’s gaze inspire the next nobody to commit a similar act in a sick attempt to become somebody, too? “How often must we […]

AUDIO: Northeastern Sociology and Criminology Professor and author Jack Levin joins John and Dale to talk about the horrible tragedy in Colorado this past week. Levin shares his opinion about how the killer does not fit the typical profile, what may have caused the killer to do this, if an insanity defense is likely to […]

There are few criminal events as stunning and frightening as a mass shooting. The suddenness, randomness and unpredictability of episodes like Friday’s early morning massacre at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater cause us all to wonder whether any place is safe.  

Northeastern University School of Law has named Jeremy R. Paul its new dean, the university said on Thursday. Paul joins Northeastern from the University of Connecticut where he is currently the dean of the law school and a professor.