THE WEEKLY REVEAL

Hello! In this issue:

• A mass shooter’s mother talks about what she’s learned and how it could help prevent future violence.
• Police often resell their service weapons, which then turn up in crimes across the country.
• Coming soon: “The Grab.”
• Boston police’s search for a killer in 1989 upended the mixed-race neighborhood of Mission Hill. It was all based on a lie.

THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

Lessons From a Mass Shooter's Mother

In 2014, in the college town of Isla Vista, California, a 22-year-old man murdered six people and injured 14 others before killing himself.

Elliot Rodger didn’t suddenly “snap” one day out of the blue; he planned the attack and spiraled into crisis in the years leading up to it. The horrific incident left violence prevention experts wondering: What were the missed warning signs?

One person who held some of the answers was the killer’s mother, Chin Rodger. She has long avoided the media, fearing that speaking publicly would only hurt the victims’ families more. But 10 years later, she’s come to see a greater purpose – that sharing what she knows about her son’s behavior before the attack could help others identify similar warning signs and prevent further violence.

This week on Reveal, Chin Rodger talks publicly for the first time with Mother Jones reporter Mark Follman about her contributions to the field of threat assessment, with teams of people who specialize in connecting the dots and intervening before tragedy strikes.

Combining our newsroom with Mother Jones dramatically increases our potential to create change – from new laws and policies to civil and criminal investigations, better-informed conversations and community-driven solutions.

To help support this bigger, better Center for Investigative Reporting and fuel greater impact, please become a monthly member today.

OUR LATEST

Shot by a Civilian Wielding a Police Gun

Candace Leslie was leaving church when she got the call she will never forget.

Someone shot and killed Leslie’s 19-year-old son in September 2021 outside his new apartment on Indianapolis’ northeast side. At the scene, police recovered a Glock pistol. Unbeknownst to investigators at the time, the gun once served as a law enforcement duty weapon, carried by a sheriff’s deputy more than 2,000 miles away in California.

The Glock was one of at least 52,529 police guns that have turned up at crime scenes since 2006, the earliest year for which data was provided. While that tally includes guns lost by or stolen from police, many of the firearms were released back into the market by the very law enforcement agencies sworn to protect the public.

Reveal partnered with The Trace and CBS News to review records from hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the United States. We found that many had routinely resold or traded in their used duty weapons – a practice that has sent thousands of guns into the hands of criminals.

Read more.

COMING SOON

The Grab: In Theaters and Streaming June 14

A Quote to Remember

“The burn that I had was anger at the police officers, but it was mostly because they embarrassed me.”

Tito Jackson had just finished playing basketball when he was stopped by Boston police in 1989. They were out in full force in the Mission Hill neighborhood, looking for the person responsible for a shocking shooting: A pregnant woman was killed and her husband critically injured. Even though Jackson was just 13 or 14, he was strip-searched along with several others – in full view of a girl he had a crush on.

It would be months, and countless searches like this of Black teenagers and men, before the whole of the city realized the police had it all wrong.

Listen: The Racist Hoax That Changed Boston

In Case You Missed It