Former FBI special agent in charge says the criminal mindset has 'changed'

PHOENIX - It's impossible to understand why someone would shoot and kill innocent people, but mass shootings and violent crimes continue to happen.

A former FBI special agent in charge says the mindset of violent criminals has recently changed, and he explained why.

"The mindset has changed. The lines that we knew not to cross are no longer there. The lines have been erased, and the filter has been taken out," says longtime FBI agent Michael Tabman.

He's talking about the mindset of violent criminals, like the man who police say had ties to white supremacy and just shot and killed 8 people, including two children, at an outlet mall north of Dallas.

"Whether his problems are real or imagined, it doesn’t matter. There are problems that he felt he had a scapegoat for, and he’s going to show them, 'cause he’s tough he can shoot an unarmed person and get revenge and be a hero. But those are part of their own hallucinations, fantasy world," Tabman said.

In the Phoenix area, we've had particularly brutal crimes, like the 20-year-old who allegedly shot and killed a gas station employee. Glendale Police say he didn't steal anything – he reportedly just walked in and fired 10 times at point-blank range.

There was also the man who shot and paralyzed a young woman working a double shift at a BoSa Donuts. Another gunman shot and nearly killed Phoenix Police Officer Tyler Moldovan.

"It's very obvious that we have many troubling dynamics that are coalescing together to create this bundle of problems for us as a society," Tabman said.

Violent political rhetoric isn't helping, he says. Access to guns, in his opinion, is a problem.

"They have access to weapons of mass murder, they are more capable of committing mass murder," he said.

Copycats can happen following a crime, and the internet can be a dark place for someone who's having dark thoughts.

Trying to figure out why a crime is committed is complicated, especially when it makes no sense.

"When you talk about the little devil on the shoulder, the devil is getting a much louder voice now than the angel on the other shoulder," Tabman said. 

There were seven shootings over the weekend, including the mall shooting, which brought the total number of mass shootings in the U.S. to over 200 for 2023.