How We Process Mass Shootings

08:18

December 03, 2015

Flowers sit on the sidewalk on Waterman Avenue near the Inland Regional Center on December 3, 2015 in San Bernardino, California. Police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Officials are still looking for clues of a motive behind Tuesday's mass shooting that left at 14 people dead in San Bernardino, California. The suspected attackers were identified by police as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27. Both were killed last night in a gun battle with police.

As authorities work to uncover the story of the killing and the motivation behind it, everyday Americans are struggling to process the violence - especially as mass shootings become more common.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Dr. Jonathan Metzl, a sociologist and psychiatrist who studies mass shootings, for a look at how people come to terms with such attacks and grapple with biases as they search for an explanation.

Guest

Jonathan Metzl, M.D., professor of sociology and psychiatry, and the director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.. He tweets @JonathanMetzl.

This segment aired on December 3, 2015.