Secret Service Threat Assessment Center Examines 50 Cases to Prevent Workplace Violence
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service is expanding its threat mitigation efforts beyond protecting dignitaries, leveraging its research capabilities to address the persistent threat of workplace violence across the country.
A new report compiled by the agency’s National Threat Assessment Center examines 50 cases of workplace violence that occurred over the past decade. The analyzed incidents include high-profile tragedies such as the 2018 shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, where a gunman killed five employees. Collectively, the 50 cases reviewed in the study resulted in 119 deaths and 128 injuries.
Lina Alathari, who leads the threat assessment center, explained that the initiative stemmed from broader examinations of mass attacks which revealed that most targeted locations were businesses. The center was originally developed to study how various types of attacks could be prevented, applying those insights to school shootings, mass violence, and now commercial and professional environments.
The report is designed to offer actionable guidance for businesses, human resources departments, local law enforcement agencies, and mental health professionals tasked with mitigating risks. Alathari emphasized that attackers almost always exhibit warning signs prior to carrying out an incident. While the examined cases show that perpetrators do not belong to any single demographic group, they display striking behavioral patterns.
Grievances consistently rank as the primary motive that can trigger an attacker to act. The data indicates that retail and service businesses are targeted most frequently due to easy public access, followed by manufacturing plants and healthcare facilities. The relationship between the targeted business and the perpetrator is typically direct and personal. For instance, 16 of the attackers were actively employed at the sites they targeted at the time of the incident, while others maintained connections through current or estranged romantic partners.
Domestic violence emerged as a significant factor in the study’s findings. More than 40% of the suspects involved in the reviewed cases had histories of domestic violence, though they were not always formally charged with crimes related to those actions. Given this prevalence, the report urges workplaces to actively recognize warning signs and provide robust support systems for employees.
Workplaces should empower individuals who may be experiencing stalking, harassment, threats from romantic partners, or other family members to feel secure enough to come forward and ask for help. Regarding methods, firearms were used in the majority of attacks, though perpetrators also utilized knives, explosives, and vehicles, with nearly a quarter of the incidents involving more than one weapon.
The resolutions of the studied incidents varied significantly. In more than 75% of the cases, attackers stopped causing harm on their own and were subsequently arrested at the scene. Nearly half of the suspects died by suicide, while law enforcement officers ended the violence by killing the suspect in 14% of the cases.
The National Threat Assessment Center highlighted specific administrative vulnerabilities, pointing to a case where a suspect had been terminated but retained active badge access, enabling them to return and enter the facility. Experts advise employers to monitor for common behavioral indicators, including noticeable behavioral changes, depression, increased absenteeism, discussions of weapons, expressions of violent thoughts, and direct or indirect threats against co-workers.
As part of its ongoing outreach, the Secret Service led 400 training sessions on preventing mass violence last year, reaching approximately 50,000 participants nationwide. Researchers stress that intervention opportunities exist in nearly every situation, underscoring that proactive measures are essential to saving lives.
