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Mass shooting worries have many recalibrating crowded situations

Master fear with facts and control what you can to deal with anxieties about mass shootings, experts say.

Posted Updated

By
Chelsea Donovan
and
Ali Ingersoll, WRAL reporters

Seven people died during Monday's shooting in Highland Park, Ill., making the attack on a Fourth of July parade the third deadliest shooting this year (after Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, and Buffalo, N.Y., on May 14).

The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks mass shootings, notes that, for the most part, they are an American phenomenon. Mass shootings are most commonly defined as one single event that results in a minimum of four victims shot – either injured or killed – not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.
By that definition, there have been 20 mass shootings reported in the United States in the first five days of July, fewer than the first five days in both July 2021 and 2020.

So far this year, there has been more than one mass shooting a day. On average, one person dies during these incidents while more than four are injured.

In Highland Park on July 4, 30 people were injured. That is the highest total for injuries in any mass shooting over the last five years.

While there have been fewer mass shootings in the first six months of 2022 compared to 2021, the number of mass shootings during that time period is almost double what it was five years ago.

Statistics like those leave individuals wondering whether any public place is safe. In Uvalde, 21 elementary school students and two teachers died during the school day. In Buffalo, they were grocery shoppers as young as 32 and as old as 86.
A recent WRAL News Poll found that more than half of North Carolinians surveyed (51%) are worried they or a loved one will be a shooting victim.

Bob Cooke, a former police officer who teaches classes in what to do in an active shooter situation, said, "It's scary to me. It's got to a point you can't go out in public anymore."

Psychotherapist Dr. Kamala Uzzell said she hears the same.

"I get a lot of calls from clients experiencing acute crisis when they are thinking about going to events," she said. "Many of us are becoming overwhelmed by the frequency and intensity of mass shootings plaguing our country."

Both suggested understanding the risks, being aware of surroundings and knowing what to do in a worst-case scenario.

Cooke teaches his students to visualize what they would do if someone opened fire.

"The body will never go where the mind hasn’t been," he said.

"Have a plan when you walk in ... know where the exits are."

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