What is Mass murder?
[[File:Russia 3843 - Mass Grave (4182521302).jpg|thumb|Mass grave for the [[Katyn massacre]], in 1940, in which about 22,000 people were killed.]] [[File:Sept 11 monument in NYC - August 2004.jpg|thumb|Series of hand-painted [[tile]]s, dedicated to the victims of the [[September 11 attacks]], on the [[fence]] of a car-lot in [[New York City]].]] The term '''mass murder''' refers to when a [[murder]] of four people or more happens by the same person or group at the same time.<ref name=FBI>{{cite web|title=Serial Murders|publisher=The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]|url=http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder/serial-murder-1|accessdate=Feb 4, 2014}}</ref> Usually the murders happen at the same time or over a relatively short period of time.<ref name=FBI/> ==Definition== The [[FBI]] defines mass murder as the killing of many people without any cooling-off period. By comparison a [[serial killer]] has a cooling-off period between murders.<ref>Lee Mellor, ''Rampage: Canadian Mass Murder and Spree Killing'' (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2013), p. 15</ref> Murder can be done by a person, a [[gang]], a [[Terrorism|terrorist]] group, a [[government]] or [[police]]. ==Causes== Mass murderers commit their crime for many reasons. Examples of why they do it include: [[politics]], [[religion]], [[ethnicity]], [[sadism]] and [[Mental disorder|mental disorders]]. In many cases, the killer commits [[suicide]] or is killed by police. The [[University of Texas massacre]] in August 1966, the 1999 [[Columbine High School massacre]], the [[September 11 attacks]], the [[Virginia Tech massacre]], the [[2012 Aurora shooting]] and the 2012 [[Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting]]<ref>{{cite web|title=School Shooting: 28 dead|publisher=The [[New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/gunman-kills-20-children-at-school-in-connecticut-28-dead-in-all.html|accessdate=Feb 4, 2014}}</ref> are some examples of mass murders that have happened in the [[United States]]. ==Examples== The [[United Kingdom]]