Domestic Lone Wolf Terrorists: An Examination of Patterns in Domestic Lone Wolf Targets, Weapons, and Ideologies

Abstract

This study identified patterns in domestic lone wolf terrorist attacks by examining data from the RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI) and the University of Maryland Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) Global Terrorism Database (GTD). To date, the databases have captured information on 92 separate attacks by domestic lone wolf terrorists. This study reviewed the incidents and identified patterns in the targets attacked, weapons utilized, and ideologies of the domestic lone wolves; emerging patterns from the other variables of interest; and the lethality of single-incident versus multi-incident domestic lone wolves. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and graphs were utilized to analyze and display the findings.