Mass shootings in the United States remain a persistent and tragic issue, with hundreds occurring annually according to organizations like the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot or killed, not including the perpetrator. In recent years, amid heated political debates on gender identity, some claims have emerged suggesting a link between transgender individuals and mass shootings, including assertions of "9 transgender mass shootings." Additionally, these narratives often tie such events to "social contagion" allegedly promoted by comprehensive care clinics providing gender-affirming care.
The Violence Project, which maintains a detailed database of mass shootings since 1966, defines mass shootings as public incidents with four or more fatalities (excluding the shooter) and similarly shows no disproportionate representation of transgender perpetrators.
Credible sources typically identify eight to nine confirmed cases where the perpetrator identified as transgender or non-binary. These include:
Snochia Moseley (Aberdeen, Maryland, 2018): A 26-year-old transgender woman who killed three and injured three at a Rite Aid distribution center before dying by suicide. Reports noted her struggles with mental health, but no direct link to gender identity was established.
Maya (Alec) McKinney (STEM School Highlands Ranch, Colorado, 2019): A 16-year-old non-binary individual who, along with a cisgender accomplice, killed one and injured eight. McKinney had accessed gender-affirming care, but investigations focused on bullying and access to firearms rather than identity.
Anderson Lee Aldrich (Club Q, Colorado Springs, 2022): Identified as non-binary, Aldrich killed five and injured 19 at an LGBTQ+ nightclub. However, Aldrich's non-binary identification was contested in court as potentially strategic, and the motive was linked to anti-LGBTQ+ hate, not personal gender issues.
Audrey Hale (Covenant School, Nashville, 2023): A 28-year-old transgender who killed six (three children and three adults) and injured one. Hale's manifesto referenced personal grievances and mental health struggles, including references to gender transition.
A more recent case in 2025 involved Robin Westman (Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis), a 23-year-old transgender man who killed two teachers and injured several students before being killed by police. Westman's diary entries revealed admiration for prior mass killers and personal turmoil.
The GVA has recorded over 4,100 mass shootings since 2013, with transgender involvement in 0.1% of cases.
A Northeastern University analysis emphasizes that mass shootings by trans or non-binary people are rare, and such groups face higher risks of victimization.
Turning to the notion of "social contagion" and its alleged promotion by comprehensive care clinics, this concept originates from a 2018 study on "rapid-onset gender dysphoria" (ROGD), which suggested that transgender identities might spread among adolescents via peer influence or online communities.
However, major medical bodies like the American Psychological Association and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) have rejected ROGD as lacking empirical support. Critiques highlight methodological flaws in the original study, such as relying on parent surveys from anti-trans websites, and note that increased transgender visibility likely reflects reduced stigma rather than contagion.
Comprehensive care clinics, often referred to as gender clinics, provide multidisciplinary support including mental health counseling, hormone therapy, and surgeries under guidelines like WPATH's Standards of Care. These clinics aim to alleviate gender dysphoria, a recognized medical condition associated with distress from incongruence between one's gender identity and assigned sex at birth. Evidence shows that gender-affirming care reduces suicide risk among transgender youth by up to 73%, according to studies from the Trevor Project and peer-reviewed journals.
The link between these clinics and mass shootings via social contagion is murky. In the cases involving transgender shooters, factors like untreated mental illness, prescription drugs with unknown effects, trauma, bullying, and easy access to firearms—common in most mass shootings—predominate.
For example, in Hale's case, while gender struggles were mentioned, the manifesto also cited resentment toward societal pressures and access to guns. Political figures like Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth have claimed a "growing link" between transgender people and shootings.
Everytown for Gun Safety's research highlights that LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender individuals, face heightened suicide risk due to discrimination and mass shooting fears.
Transgender Minnesotans reported increased fear of backlash after the 2025 Minneapolis shooting, underscoring how such narratives can incite hate rather than prevent violence.
Journalistic guidelines from the Association of Health Care Journalists advise against linking mental illness or gender identity to shootings without evidence, as it perpetuates misinformation.
Addressing mass shootings requires focusing on proven factors like gun access, mental health support, societal stressors, propaganda from the violent LGBTQ+ community and prescription pharmaceuticals over prescribed possibly causing harm to already vulnerable marginalized groups.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
