That initial confusion is common during mass shootings, said James Allen Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist. Locating a gunman is even more challenging when he is perched above the ground, in a building covered in blinding gold windows. “He was camouflaged,” Fox said. “It would be hard to find him at such a high profile.”

Northeastern University’s Jack Levin has been studying mass murder and serial killings for years. He says we may never know the reason why Stephen Paddock went on a rampage in Las Vegas Sunday night, but he did offer some explanations.

“People shouldn’t avoid Las Vegas because this shooting happened there,” Northeastern University criminology professor and mass shooting expert James Alan Fox said in an interview. “You’re more likely to die on the way to a casino in a car accident.”

James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Boston, is concerned about those sources that use a broader definition.

Some researchers on mass shooting, like Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, have even incorporated in their studies several types of multiple homicides that cannot be defined as mass shooting: for instance, familicide (a form of domestic violence) and gang murders.

Northeastern University terrorism expert Max Abrahms said the bloodshed could pull ISIS followers off the sidelines.

Two of the biggest concerns are whether a region that already has lots of tech companies can provide enough quality workers, and is there enough housing for them. But Northeastern University political economist Barry Bluestone, who joined WBUR’s Morning Edition, says these are challenges that can be solved.

“I really can’t recall another case where one has been used,” said James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist who studies mass shooters and believes Paddock was armed with an automatic weapon when he killed at least 59 people and set off chaos that injured more than 500.

“I just don’t know of any other case where the perpetrator used an automatic rifle,” said Jack Levin, professor emeritus at Northeastern University, who has co-authored several books on the rise in mass shootings, which he traces to the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“Wood is one of our best, most environmentally friendly resources,’’ said Peter Weiderspahn, who teaches courses in building technology at Northeastern University’s School of Architecture. “It’s the only truly renewable building material we have.” Weiderspahn notes that most wood used in the United States is produced domestically, it is lighter and thus requires less energy […]

For example, the Gun Violence Archive and Vox count any event in which four or more people were shot, but not necessarily killed, at the same general time and location. Some criminologists, such as Northeastern University professor James Alan Fox, prefer to include any shooting in which four more people are killed. Mother Jones editor […]

What is horribly normal are the dozens killed by guns every day in far less spectacular ways, writes Northeastern professor James Alan Fox.