What drives a person to commit mass murder? With such a heinous crime, it's difficult to understand the motivations and mental illnesses that exist within a person's mind which lead them to carry out violence on a devastating level. However, research can help explain the existing patterns to better understand the factors at hand and prevent these crimes from happening in the future.

Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and New York State Psychiatric Institute Dr. Ragy Girgis is the curator of the Columbia Mass Murder Database. He provides a glimpse into his research and discusses how we can prevent mass murders today.

Follow Emily on Instagram: @realemilycompagno

If you have a story or topic we should feature on the FOX True Crime Podcast, send us an email at: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices