Khadijeh HamadSoc 221-02Dr. Marnia LazregSandy Hook shootingNewtown, Connecticut experienced one of the deadliest school shootings in American history on December 12, 2012. Within 10 minutes, 20-year-old Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members. followed by his own imposed death. This tragic event has sparked countless investigations into how could someone have done this and what causes these types of events to transcend. Most cases of mass shootings are often categorized into two types of causes. The first interprets the event as an act of revenge. The suspect seeks revenge on those he believes have wronged him in a violent and exposed manner. Often explained as the person just "broke". Another reason concerns cognitive problems. Claiming that the person suffers from a mental illness makes them unable to regulate their behavior, but also prohibits them from conforming to societal norms and therefore they unintentionally react with violence. There are common characteristics shared by mass shooters. These are typically young white men living in a rural community, who have experienced some sense of social insignificance. Mass shootings usually end with the suspect being killed by the cops (cop suicide) or committing suicide. While these classifications do play a role in some mass murders, we find that the societal factors experienced by the shooter are imperative in allowing us to better understand why so many lives were lost on December 12, 2012, and on many other occasions. The French sociologist Emile Durkheim brings us a better understanding of the paper ......ration. Claiming that "society's pressure to conform to its immoral value system could cause any living creature to break down, and perhaps commit a mass shooting to express outrage" (CITE NEWSWEEK). And on December 12, 2012, that's exactly what Adam Lanza did. Fueled by paranoia and social isolation, which morphed into a deep-seated hatred for a society he believed was manipulating him, Adam Lanza came out and “expressed his outrage” in a horribly violent manner. No longer influenced by societal norms, he killed children he believed were destined to be part of the "sick immortal society" and the adults who helped create such a community. After expressing his outrage, all that was left was a disturbed individual with weak social ties. Explaining the ultimately selfish suicide. However, even after his death, Lanza created a state of anomie.